Ray Allen scored 27 and Kendrick Perkins added a career-high 25 points as the Boston Celtics rolled to their 17th straight victory, 126-108, over the Chicago Bulls.
Rajon Rondo had 15 of Boston's 40 assists and the defending NBA champions improved to a league-best 25-2 this season. Kevin Garnett scored 17 and Paul Pierce had 16 for the Celtics, who can equal a couple of records if they win at home against the New York Knicks Sunday.
The 17-game run is the second-best in franchise history, joining the 1959-60 squad. The team record victory streak is 18, established during the 1981-82 campaign. Also, the best a team has ever started in the NBA before a third loss is 26-2, set by the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers and equaled by the 1969-70 Knicks. Both of those teams went on to win the NBA title.
"Our mentality has always been, since last year, to take it a game at a time," said Garnett. "That's what we've been focused on. We have a Knick team that's coming in Sunday, better team, a more well-rounded team and a confident team."
Perkins went 12-of-15 from the field, all part of a 59.5 percent shooting effort for the Celtics, who forced 20 turnovers and used a 41-point third quarter to pull away. More photos
