BOSTON — Everything was working so well for Paul Pierce that his teammates just kept getting him the ball.

Pierce scored 17 of his 24 points in the third quarter to lead the Boston Celtics to their ninth straight win, 107-88 over the Orlando Magic last night.

"We were just taking advantage of the matchups," Pierce said. "We saw something that we could do and we just kept going to it. My teammates did a good job of setting me up."

Pierce, who scored only five points in the opening half, carried the Celtics from a two-point halftime edge to a 12-point lead entering the fourth quarter.

Isolating against Hedo Turkoglu on a number of trips, Pierce scored 15 of Boston's 20 points as the Celtics pulled ahead 68-57.

When Pierce was contained driving the lane, he fired a pass to Ray Allen, who nailed a 3-pointer from the top to make it 71-57.

After Pierce scored easily against Turkoglu, the Magic tried Rashard Lewis against Pierce, with only a little better success.

"He did what he's been doing all his career," Boston point guard Rajon Rondo said. "He had a rhythm and we continued to call plays for him."

Allen added 21 points, Rondo had 16 points with 12 assists and Kevin Garnett scored 15 points for the Celtics (17-2) in a win over a top Eastern Conference rival.

There were eight technicals whistled in the game, with referee Bob Delaney calling four in the first half.

"This was one interesting game. A lot of technicals," Boston coach Doc Rivers said, before joking: "I better be quiet before I get a technical."

Lewis paced Orlando (13-5) with 30 points. Turkoglu had 19 and Dwight Howard, the NBA's leading rebounder, had 14 points with 15 boards and four blocked shots.

HEAT 130, WARRIORS 129

OAKLAND, Calif. — Chris Quinn hit a tying 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds left in overtime, Michael Beasley stole the ensuing inbounds pass and made the decisive free throw, and Miami pulled off a wild comeback win over slumping Golden State.

Jamal Crawford missed a running jumper at the buzzer and sprawled himself on the court in frustration as the Warriors dropped their seventh straight game, one they had in their grasp until the waning moments.

Crawford scored six of his 40 points in overtime and dished out seven assists, but his team fell short again.

Udonis Haslem scored on a putback for Miami at the buzzer to force the extra session.

BOBCATS 100, TIMBERWOLVES 90

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jason Richardson scored 25 points in another strong performance following arthroscopic knee surgery, and Charlotte beat error-prone Minnesota.

It was the third straight game of at least 21 points for Richardson since his return after sitting out seven contests following the exploratory surgery on his right knee.

Randy Foye scored 23 points, and Mike Miller added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves.

It was the end to a bad day for the Timberwolves, who learned in the morning that top defender Corey Brewer would miss the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

NOTES

Knicks: Stephon Marbury's future with New York was "not resolved" yesterday during a meeting with team president Donnie Walsh, according to the players' association attorney representing him. Walsh suspended Marbury for one game without pay and docked him an additional game's salary last week after the Knicks said the point guard refused coach Mike D'Antoni's request to play in a loss to Detroit last Wednesday.

Rockets: Tracy McGrady is expected to be out at least a week and his playing time will be restricted when he returns while he struggles with soreness in his left knee stemming from offseason surgery. The Rockets also will be without Brent Barry for a while as he recovers from a small muscle tear in his right leg.