NBA - Garnett, Rondo pace Celtics over Bulls

(Reuters) - Kevin Garnett
and Rajon Rondo led all
five Boston starters into
double-digit scoring as the
Celtics eased to a 104-92
victory over the Chicago
Bulls on Friday.
The Atlantic Division-leading
Celtics have won six consecutive
games to improve to 15-4, while
the Bulls have lost two in a row
to slip to 9-8 for the season.
Garnett had 20 points and a
season-high 17 rebounds and
Rondo scored 12 points and had
19 assists. Fellow starters Paul
Pierce scored 18 points, Ray
Allen added 14 and Shaquille
O'Neal scored 12.
Derrick Rose led the Bulls with
20 points, despite shooting just
7-for-17.
"I really liked the way Kevin
(Garnett) asserted himself on
both sides tonight," Pierce said.
"He stepped up to the challenge,
guarding (Joakim) Noah,
guarding (Carlos) Boozer,
knowing that's the meat of their
front line.
"He went out there trying to be
better than everybody. That's the
vintage Kevin we know. He's
shown a lot of flashes of his old
self this week."
The Celtics opened the third
quarter with a 17-6 run to
stretch their 53-48 halftime lead
to 16 points, led by Rondo, who
scored eight points during the
stretch.
Noah had a double-double for
Chicago with 14 points and 11
rebounds, but lost his head-to-
head battle with Garnett.
"It's tough because we lost right
now, but you know they're a hell
of a team and that's what we're
striving to be, one of the best
teams in the game," said Noah,
son of former French Open
tennis champion Yannick.
Boston started the game quickly
and opened a 14-point first
quarter lead but with the Celtics
starters benched, the Bulls
rallied in the second quarter to
tie the game on three occasions.
"We have to do a better job
containing the ball," Bulls coach
Tom Thibodeau said. "Our weak
side has to be more alert. We
have to have better body
position on cuts. We have to
defend with greater intensity."

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