Los Angeles  - The Boston Celtics gave themselves an early Christmas gift - and one that money can't buy - a place in the franchise and NBA record books.

Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo scored 18 points apiece as the surging Celtics rolled to their 19th consecutive victory Tuesday night, beating the visiting Philadelphia
76ers 110-91.

"We haven't really kept up with the streak, but any time you win, any time you establish yourself in history is always a great thing," Garnett said. "I'm happy to be a part of it. It's a special group and we're working hard."

However, Garnett and his teammates continue to downplay the historical run, focusing instead on the big picture.

"It's like steam in the air," he added. "It all evaporates, if we don't win the championship again."

With a remarkable 27-2 start, the reigning league champions also set a NBA-record for the best start by a team with two loses, previously held by the 1966-67 Sixers and
1969-70 New York Knicks en route to winning NBA championships.

Ray Allen scored 16 points, Leon Powe had 15 off the bench for the Celtics, who led 58-44 at halftime and were never challenged.

With the Celtics comfortably ahead midway through the final quarter, the rabid fans at the TD Banknorth Garden began chanting, "Beat L. A!" anticipating the nationally-televised Christmas Day NBA Finals rematch of last spring against the Kobe Bryant-led Lakers.

Celtics captain Paul Pierce refused to get caught up in the hype. "It's not like we circled this game," he said. "If we beat the Lakers do we win the championship? Do we get another ring? No."

Added Pierce: "Our ultimate goal is to win the championship. It's just another game on the schedule we have to play against one of the teams in the Western Conference and try to build on what we've been doing the last few weeks."

Louis Williams and fellow-reserve Maurice Speights topped Philadelphia (12-16) with 16 points apiece.

Elsewhere: LA Lakers 100, New Orleans Hornets 87 Kobe Bryant scored 26 points, Spain's Pau Gasol had 20 and the visiting Lakers gave Phil Jackson his 999th career coaching victory.

Chris Paul finished with 17 and 10 assists for New Orleans (16-8) which trailed by 19 at halftime.

Cleveland Cavaliers 99, Houston Rockets 90 LeBron James scored 27 points and Mo Williams had 23 as the Cavaliers (24-4) improved to a league-best 14-0 at home by snapping the Rockets' season-high four-game winning streak.

Rafer Alston scored 20 points, while foul-plagued China's Yao Ming finished with 19.

Dallas Mavericks 100, Memphis Grizlies 82 German wunderkind Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points, Jason Terry had 17 and the Mavericks' (16-11) dominance over the Grizzlies reached 13 consecutive games.

San Antonio Spurs 99, Minnesota Timberwolves 93 Frenchman Tony Parker scored 36 points, Tim Duncan had 19 with 12 rebounds and the Spurs sent the visiting Timberwolves to their 13th consecutive loss.

Al Jefferson scored 28 points while Randy Foye had 26 with 16 rebounds for Minnesota (4-23) which is three losses from equaling the franchise-record for futility.

Detroit Pistons 104, Chicago Bulls 98 Rodney Stuckey erupted for a career-high 40 points, and the Pistons stopped a modest two-game slide despite losing All-Star guard Allen Iverson for most of the second half with a groin strain.

New Jersey Nets 108, Indiana Pacers 107 Devin Harris hit the game winning buzzer-beating jumper to lift the visiting Nets past the Pacers.

Vince Carter led New Jersey (14-14) with 38 points while Harris finished with 29 and 11 assists. Danny Granger topped Indiana (10-18) with 26 points

Atlanta Hawks 99, Oklahoma City Thunder 88 Marvin Williams scored 21 points, while Joe Johnson had his second career triple-double with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, leading the Hawks to their sixth win in the last seven games.

Kevin Durant scored 28 points for the Thunder, which dropped to league-worst 3-26, including 1-13 on the road.

Charlotte Bobcats 80, Washington Wizards 72 Emeka Okafor had 29 points with 18 rebounds, and the Bobcats sent the lowly Wizards (4-22) to the worst start in franchise history despite Caron Butler's 31 points.

Miami Heat 96, Golden State Warriors 88 Dwyane Wade scored 32 points, Daequan Cook added 15 of his 20 in the second quarter and the host Heat (15-12) matched its entire win total of last season.

C. J. Watson netted 18 points for injury-depleted Golden State (8-22) losers for the 16th time in the last 19 games.

Milwaukee Bucks 94, Utah Jazz 86 Michael Redd scored 27 points, leading the host Bucks to their fifth win in the last six games despite a season-high 22 by Utah's Andrei Kirilenko.

Portland Trail Blaers 101, Denver Nuggets 92 LaMarcus Aldridge scored 22 points, Joel Przybilla grabbed 19 rebounds and the Trail Blazers split the home-and home series to move into a tie with the Nuggets atop the Northwest Division.

Lineas Kleiza scored 20 points while Brazil's Nene had 17 and 13 rebounds for Denver (18-11) which won Monday's opener 97-89. (dpa)