Los Angeles - Emotionally drained and physically fatigued, the Boston Celtics got their second wind and blew past their opponents.

Paul Pierce scored 26 points, Ray Allen added 22 and the defending NBA Champion Celtics pulled away for a 110-100 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday night.

"It was a big win," Pierce said. "I thought we were mentally and physically drained coming into this game, especially after the tough loss. It took us a while, but this team continues to find ways to win."

After having their 12-game winning streak snapped in a 110-109 overtime loss to the LA Lakers on Thursday night, the Celtics bounced back, outscoring the Knicks 38-24 in the decisive fourth quarter.

"Last night was so emotional, it would have been easy to give in, but we showed a degree of mental toughness," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "We told them it's going to be close and we have to make our run at the end. And, we hung around long enough to play basketball."

Kevin Garnett had 15 points and 11 rebounds, Leon Powe scored 13 off the bench, while Rajon Rondo chipped in with 12 points, 10 board and seven assists for Boston
(42-10) which took the season series, 3-1.

Al Harrington scored 27 points, David Lee had 18 along with 18 rebounds for the struggling Knicks (21-28) which lost their third in a row in what was hyped as "Dream Week" against league powerhouses.

After being torched by the LA Lakers Kobe Bryant for a modern day Madison Square Garden record 61 points on Monday, Cleveland's LeBron James dazzled them with
52 points on Wednesday, the Knicks faded down the stretch to the Celtics.

"We probably played our best ball tonight," Lee said. "I thought we fought the whole game, we were the aggressors, but came up a little short."

The Knicks carried a 76-72 advantage into the final stanza. The Celtics, however, put on a shooting exhibition, hitting 14-of-18 shots, including five three-pointers against their defenseless opponents.

"We played them tough for at least 40 minutes," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Then for the last eight, Boston did some things that made the world champions: They hit some big shots."

The Knicks led 80-79 until Allen got hot. The newly-named All-Star replacement scored 11 consecutive Celtics' points, including a pair of threes-pointers. Eddie House followed with a jumper and one from behind the arc, helping the visitors to a 95-86 cushion with 4:05 remaining.

"I really thought that stretch where Ray got it going got us out," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "That was huge for us."

After Chris Duhon's three-point play pulled New York within six, Garnett went to work as a playmaker.

The All-Star forward assisted on the next four baskets before before making his own layup to open up a 106-93 advantage with 1:33 left.

"We just played through Kevin," Pierce said. "He found the open man and we executed down the stretch."

Elsewhere:

New Orleans Hornets 101, Toronto Raptors 92 Serbian sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic scored a season-high 28 points, including seven of New Orleans' franchise-matching
15 three-pointers, and the Hornets ended a four-game slide.

Indiana Pacers 107, Orlando Magic 102 Danny Granger scored 14 of his 33 points in the final period, and the Pacers avoided a four-game season series sweep by the visiting Magic to snap a three-game losing streak.

Dwight Howard topped Orlando (37-12) with 21 points and 20 rebounds, while Turkish native Hedo Turkoglu had 20 points with 11 assists.

Atlanta Hawks 102, Charlotte Bobcats 97 Marvin Williams scored 29 points, and the Hawks overcame a 17- point deficit to win their second in a row

Raja Bell scored 17 points while Emeka Okafor had 15 with 19 rebounds in Charlotte's (19-30) fourth straight setback.

Oklahoma City Thunder 102, Portland Trail Blazers 93 Kevin Durant scored 31 points, Nick Collison had 21 with 13 rebounds and the host Thunder (12-38) snapped a three-game skid.

Brandon Roy led Portland (30-19) with 32 points and nine rebounds.

LA Clippers 126, Memphis Grizzlies 105 Zach Randolph had 35 points, Ricky Davis added a season-high 24, including six of their franchise-record 16 three-pointers and the Clippers snapped a seven-game losing streak with their first road victory in 12 tries.

Denver Nuggets 124, Washington Wizards 103 Carmelo Anthony scored 23 points and the Nuggets welcomed back Chauncey Billups and Kevin Martin by routing the league-worst Wizards (10-40) for their fourth straight victory.

Billups (right ankle sprain) had 16 points and Martin (strep throat) added 11 for Denver (34-16) which is off to its best start since joining the NBA in 1976.

Utah Jazz 111, Sacramento Kings 107 Deron Williams scored 34 points, including the go-ahead with 20 seconds left as the Jazz handed the Kings their 10th loss in the last
11 games.

Kevin Martin led Sacramento with 37 points.

Phoenix Suns 115, Golden State Warriors 105 Grant Hill scored a season-high 27 points, Steve Nash had six of his 19 in the final 85 seconds and the Suns earned a split of the home-and-home series.

Corey Maggette scored 25 points and Stephen Jackson had 24 for Golden State (16-35) which won 124-112 at home on Wednesday night. (dpa)