BOSTON: Paul Pierce scored 27 points as the Boston Celtics continued their unbeaten start to the NBA season with a 97-87 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday.
Chris Paul had 22 points and eight assists for New Orleans, and then had to be held back after the game when he tried to follow the Celtics off the court to their locker room. Paul and Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo also exchanged words in the second quarter, drawing matching technical fouls.
Ray Allen scored 17, Kevin Garnett had 14 and Rondo had 10 assists for Boston, who pulled away with an 11-3 run in the last four minutes.
Peja Stojakovic scored 26 as a reserve for New Orleans. Emeka Okafor had 10 rebounds for New Orleans.
l IN Miami, Dwyane Wade scored 25 points to push his career total to 10,005, while Udonis Haslem had 19 points and 11 rebounds off the bench as Miami beat the Bulls 95-87 to improved to 3-0.
Carlos Arroyo scored 12 points, Mario Chalmers added 11 and Michael Beasley overcame a 3-of-12 shooting night to finish with 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who took the lead for good on a jumper by Wade with 3:01 remaining.
Luol Deng scored 26 points for Chicago, who got 17 points from John Salmons, 11 from Brad Miller and 10 from Joakim Noah.
l IN Toronto, Jameer Nelson scored 30 points, J.J. Redick had a career-high 27 and Orlando used a season-high 17 3-pointers to beat Toronto 125-116.
Dwight Howard had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Ryan Anderson scored 20 and the Magic remained unbeaten from three NBA matches following an 8-0 run in the pre-season.
Chris Bosh led Toronto with 35 points and 16 rebounds while Andrea Bargnani had 26, including 22 in the second half.
Former Magic swingman Hedo Turkoglu had 19 points for Toronto, who have lost two straight following a season-opening victory over Cleveland. -- AP