Celtics match club record with 18th straight victory

With a win on Tues the Celtics could be the first team to open a season 27-2

AFP

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. The Boston Celtics equaled a franchise record with their 18th straight National Basketball Association victory, a 124-105 thrashing of the New York Knicks.

Rajon Rondo scored 18 of his career-high 26 points in the third period on Sunday, finishing an impressive 12-of-14 from the floor. The Celtics shot a season-high 66 percent from the floor in matching the best 28-game start in NBA history.

With a win on Tuesday at home against Philadelphia the Celtics could become the first team to open a season 27-2.

Ray Allen scored 18 for the Celtics, whose winning streak tied the 18-game streak set by the club in 1981-82.

Boston's two 18-game streaks and one built by the 1969-70 Knicks are tied for fifth-longest in NBA history.

It's all the more remarkable since while the Celtics are the reigning NBA champions, they are just two years removed from a franchise-worst 18-game losing streak.

The Celtics dropped 18 in a row during a woeful 2006-07 campaign that came months before it assembled last season's championship squad.

Paul Pierce scored 17 points, Kendrick Perkins added 12 with 12 rebounds. The Celtics had a double-digit lead less than four minutes into the contest and led 40-21 at the end of the first quarter. New York's Nate Robinson scored 17 of his 23 points in the second quarter.

Publicidad