Pierce scored 17 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter and Antoine Walker added 19 as the Celtics rallied past the Utah Jazz, 98-92.
Boston trailed by a point with 9:55 remaining, but Pierce had 11 during an 18-6 run that opened a 91-80 cushion with 3:37 left.
The Celtics, who won the last of their 16 NBA championships in 1986, improved to 16-8. It's their best start since the 1991-92 season, when they won 17 of their first 24 games.
 Paul Pierce caught fire when the Celts needed him most. Glenn James NBAE/Getty Images |
The NBA's second-leading scorer, Pierce is averaging 28.5 points during the Celtics' 5-1 stretch. He also helped Boston improve to 9-2 in December, with three of those wins coming in overtime.
"It feels very good to be on top of the Eastern Conference early in the season," Walker said. "This is what we wanted to do, to get off to a great start to the season."
Karl Malone scored 22 points for Utah, which fell to 1-3 on a five-game road trip. Veteran forward Bryon Russell, who missed a month with a hip fracture, was activated from the injured list before the game and scored 10 points off the bench.
"You've got to give them credit 'cause down the stretch they got the ball where they wanted to and they put pressure on us. But we still had opportunities," Malone said. "That's what it's been like a lot this year -- close."
Kenny Anderson, who contributed 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and eight rebounds, made two free throws to put Boston ahead, 75-74, and spark its fourth-quarter run.
"Kenny was brilliant. We knew that they were going to go under the pick-and-rolls. He was able to just stop behind the pick and shoot that," Celtics coach Jim O'Brien said. "We knew they were going to come after Antoine and Paul, and he played the way I know he's capable of playing."
Malone committed a turnover and rookie Jarron Collins missed a jumper on consecutive possessions for Utah. That opened the door for Pierce, who made two free throws and a 3-pointer from the right sideline to increase the Celtics' lead to six.
"We were right there and when you commit turnovers, you don't allow yourself to have an opportunity," Malone said.
Pierce threw down a dunk and nailed a 19-foot jumper before Walker sank a hook shot to make it 87-80 with just under 4 1/2 minutes to go.
Utah committed four turnovers during Boston's outburst. After John Stockton lost the ball with 3:37 left Tony Battie made two from the line to increase the lead to 11 points.
"We weren't able to make any plays to finish the ballgame off," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "We still had a chance, but four out of five possessions we turned the ball over down the stretch. That's pretty tough to win on the road when you have those things happen to you."
The Jazz tried to fight back. Off Anderson's third of four turnovers, Russell drilled a 3-pointer to make it 94-90 with 75 seconds left.
But Pierce blocked a shot by Donyell Marshall and made two free throws to restore Boston's six-point cushion with 39 seconds to go.
"Utah is a very disciplined team offensively and we got some stops when we needed to," Anderson said. "That says a lot about a team like us that is trying to turn the corner."