Los Angeles  - With the game on the line, Paul Pierce had the ball and the Boston Celtics star didn't have to think twice about what he was going to do with it.

Pierce hit Ray Allen for the game-winning three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in the second overtime, lifting the Celtics to a dramatic 111-109 home-court victory over the pesky Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night.

"When you have one of the greatest shooters to ever play the game it's a no-brainer," said Pierce, who finished with a game-high 32 points. "I'll proclaim Ray the greatest shooter that I've ever seen in the history of the NBA. You have to talk about guys that have done it crucial situations and Ray has done it."

Boston trailed by one when Raymond Felton missed a 13-foot jumper. Eddie House fed the rebound to Rajon Rondo, who streaked to the other end before spotting Pierce.

He penetrated the lane, drawing three defenders before finding Allen, who knocked down the wide-open three from the right corner for the last of his 22 points.

"I drew the defence, Ray's wide open and regardless if he did air-ball the shot before that, I have total confidence in him," Pierce said.

"I just wanted to get to the open spot and be ready to shoot," said Allen, who buried one of his five three-pointers, with 12 seconds left in the first overtime that forced the second five-minute session."

With one last shot at the win, Bobcats' Raja Bell launched a straight-away jumper that banged off the iron as time expired.

Rondo had 21 points with nine assists, House scored 18 off the bench for the defending champion Celtics (57-19) who moved one-game ahead of Orlando into second place in the Eastern Conference for home-court advantage in the playoffs.

"It was a fun game for us in a lot of ways," Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "Any chance you get to work on end of the game situations is phenomenal and that's all this game was."

Gerald Wallace had 20 points with 10 rebounds, Frenchman Boris Diaw added 17 points for the Bobcats (34-41), who despite having their three-game winning streak stopped, remain 1.5 games behind idle eighth-place Chicago for the final playoff spot in the East.

Coach Larry Brown was miffed over the discrepancy that had the Bobcats awarded just seven free throws to 26 for the Celtics.

"Give Boston credit, they played really well when they needed to, and we did about as good as we could do," he said. "I think we set an NBA record for fewest free throws in a double overtime game. When you don't get to the free throw line and shoot 102 shots, there's something wrong."

Elsewhere LA Lakers 104, Milwaukee Bucks 98 Kobe Bryant scored 30 points, Lamar Odom had 20 with 10 rebounds and the travel-weary Lakers (59-16) snapped a two-game slide to complete a 5-2 road trip.

Ramon Sessions had his first career triple-double with 16 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds for the Bucks (32-44) who fell four games behind Chicago for the final playoff spot in the East.

Dallas 98, Miami Heat 96 German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points, and the Mavericks beat the visiting Heat for the 10th straight time in the regular-season series.

Dwyane Wade had 23 points for the Heat (39-36), which dropped into a fifth-place tie with idle Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference playoff chase

Phoenix Suns 114, Houston Rockets 109 Steve Nash had 25 points with 17 assists, and the Suns stayed four games behind eighth place Dallas for the final Western Conference playoff spot with seven left.

Ron Artest scored 28, China's Yao Ming had 20 with 14 rebounds for the Rockets (48-27) who dropped out of a first-place tie with idle San Antonio atop the Southwest Division.

New Orleans Hornets 104, LA Clippers 98 Chris Paul had 30 points with 14 assists, David West scored 19 points, and the visiting Hornets moved one-game behind Southwest Division leader San Antonio.

Eric Gordon led the Clippers (18-57) with 25 points while Zach Randolph had 24 with 14 rebounds..

Toronto Raptors 99, Orlando Magic 95 Chris Bosh had 24 points, including the game-sealing jumper with 29 seconds left, and Spaniard Jose Calderon added 21, extending the Raptors' winning streak to a season-high five games.

Dwight Howard had 30 points and nine rebounds for Orlando (55-19), which had its six game winning streak stopped..

Golden State Warriors 143, Sacramento Kings 141 (OT) Monta Ellis poured in a career-high 42 points, Kelenna Azubuike had 27 with 13 rebounds and the host Warriors withstood Kevin Martin's personal-best 50-point performance to end a five-game skid.

New Jersey Nets 111, Detroit Pistons 98 Keyon Dooling scored 23 points, Devin Harris had 19 with 11 assists, and the host Nets ended a season-high, five-game slide.

Richard Hamilton scored 29 points for the Pistons (36-39) who were without Rasheed Wallace, serving a one-game league suspension for accumulating 16 technical fouls during the season.

Memphis Grizzlies 112, Washington Wizards 107 Rudy Gay scored 25 points, Spanish rookie Marc Gasol had 18 with nine rebounds, carrying the Grizzlies past the visiting Wizards.

Caron Butler topped Eastern Conference-worst Washington (17-59) with 31 points. (dpa)