Allen nets 22 in Celtics win over Bulls

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have signed guard

Ray Allen scored 22 points and the Boston Celtics moved a step closer to the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 106-92 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night.

Kevin Garnett scored 20 points and blocked four shots and Paul Pierce added 17 points for Boston, which won its fourth straight and remained six games ahead of Detroit in the conference standings.

Chicago continued to fade from the playoff picture, despite getting a season-high 24 points from Tyrus Thomas, who started for the injured Drew Gooden. With eight games left, the 11th-place Bulls trail Atlanta by five and have to climb over New Jersey and Indiana to make their fourth straight postseason appearance.

The Celtics were coming off an 88-62 win over Miami in which they held the Heat to 17 field goals, an NBA record since the shot-clock era began in the 1954-55 season. This time, they weren't as sharp.

The Bulls shot 41.7 percent, but a bigger issue for Boston was its inability to hang onto the ball. The Celtics committed 20 turnovers, including a career-high seven by Rajon Rondo.

That allowed Chicago to stay in the game. Boston finally broke it open after Kirk Hinrich missed a layup that could have pulled Chicago within six. James Posey and Allen answered with 3-pointers that bumped the lead to 101-87 with 2:50 remaining and put away the Bulls.

Notes:@ Rondo had six turnovers against Memphis on Jan. 4. ... Garnett is a leading candidate for MVP, along with Pierce, the Lakers' Kobe Bryant and New Orleans' Chris Paul. But when it comes to Defensive Player of the Year, coach Doc Rivers said it's no contest; Garnett deserves it. "That shouldn't be a debate," said Rivers, whose team was holding opponents to a league-low 41.9 percent from the field entering Tuesday's game. ... The Bulls' Gooden missed his second game with a lower abdominal strain. ... The Bulls recalled G Shannon Brown and F Cedric Simmons from the Iowa Energy of the D-League.

 

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