No Garnett, no Allen, no problem
Even Boston’s other ‘Big 3’ was way too much for the Miami Heat to handle at home.
Leon Powe scored a career-high 25 points with 11 rebounds, Rajon Rondo tied a career-high with 23 points, and Tony Allen scored 20 points with six assists to lead the NBA-best Celtics to an overwhelming 117-87 victory Tuesday night over the Heat.
Miami followed the win that snapped their 15-game losing streak with an absolute clunker.
The Celtics played without Kevin Garnett (strained abdominal muscle) and Ray Allen (flu), and the third member of their star triumvirate, Paul Pierce, was scoreless for most of the first half and finished with only seven points.
Still, Boston led by 17 after one quarter and 31 in the second before settling for a 22-point edge at intermission.
Wizards 108, Raptors 104 (OT): Andray Blatche had 19 points and eight rebounds in only his second start of the season, and Antawn Jamison finished with 24 points and 20 rebounds, leading host Washington over Toronto.
Pistons 110, Pacers 104: At Indianapolis, Rasheed Wallace had 24 points and 10 rebounds to help Detroit beat Indiana.
Tayshaun Prince scored 17 points and Chauncey Billups added 13 points and eight assists for the Pistons, who won their third straight game.
Nets 87, Bucks 80: At East Rutherford, N.J., Jason Kidd scored of seven of his nine points in the final 1:42 and added 11 assists as New Jersey snapped a nine-game skid with a win over Milwaukee.
Bulls 96, Timberwolves 85: Kirk Hinrich finished with 27 points after a rough start, and host Chicago beat Minnesota, spoiling Randy Foye’s return from a knee injury. Foye scored 11 points in 17 minutes in his first game this season.
Rockets 111, Warriors 107: Yao Ming scored eight of his 36 points in the final 2 1/2 minutes and had 19 rebounds to help host Houston beat Golden State.
•Free-agent forward Chris Webber signed a contract with Golden State, returning to the team that drafted him in 1993. Details of the deal were not released. Warriors coach Don Nelson said Webber would join the Warriors on Thursday.
Suns 125, Hawks 92: Amare Stoudemire scored 22 of his 24 points in the first half on 10-of-11 shooting and host Phoenix rolled to a victory over Atlanta.
Lakers 120, Knicks 109: Kobe Bryant had 24 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, Sasha Vujacic scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, and host Los Angeles rallied for a win over New York.
The Lakers trailed 99-91 when Vujacic made a pair of 3-pointers to get them going. A jumper by Bryant with 5:07 left snapped a 104-all tie and put Los Angeles ahead for good.
Grizzlies suspend Swift
The Memphis Grizzlies suspended forward Stromile Swift for tonight’s game against the Denver Nuggets for conduct detrimental to the team.