The Golden State Warriors can't wait to get off the road. The Boston Celtics may be wishing they were there.

The Warriors try to snap their dismal road skid while the Celtics look to improve their play at TD Banknorth Garden when the teams meet there Wednesday.

Golden State (12-14) has lost eight straight games on the road and is an NBA-worst 1-9 away from this season while allowing 114.1 points per game. The Warriors fell to 0-3 on their current six-game trip with a 105-97 defeat to the New Jersey Nets on Monday.

They led by eight points early in the final period, but were outscored 27-13 down the stretch.

``That's where we lost the game, the fourth quarter,'' said Baron Davis, who led the Warriors with 25 points. ``We hit an offensive wall and stopped moving the ball and running. It was due in large part because we didn't come up with any loose balls, any deflections or any of those long rebounds.

``They beat us to the punch in the fourth quarter. It was like they wanted it a little more.''

The Celtics (10-13), meanwhile, are riding a season-high five-game winning streak - their longest since a seven-game run March 9-19, 2005. Leading scorer Paul Pierce scored 35 points Saturday, including a crucial late jumper, and grabbed 11 rebounds to give Boston a 106-100 road victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

``I've always felt we were right there. We believed it,'' said Pierce, who scored 30 or more points for the third time in four games. ``Things that were beating us up before - lack of defense, lack of execution - is what's winning it for us now. We're solving those problems.''

The Celtics may be winning, but not at home. Four of their last five victories have come on the road, where they are 6-5 this season. Boston is just 4-8 at TD Banknorth Garden in 2006-07, including losses in four of its last five games there.

Boston is the league's only team with both a winning record on the road and a losing mark on its home court.

The Celtics will likely be without second-leading scorer Wally Szczerbiak, who sprained his ankle Saturday, for this contest and the rest of the calendar year.

``If I were a betting man, I'd say we wouldn't have him on the West Coast trip (Dec. 26-Jan. 1),'' Boston coach Doc Rivers said.

The Celtics expected get forward Ryan Gomes back Wednesday, however, after he was sidelined two games with a strained right calf.

Golden State's Jason Richardson returned Monday after missing eight contests with a bone bruise in his left knee, but he scored just six points in 20 minutes of play. He will try to continue his strong play versus the Celtics, against whom he scored 36 points in a 111-109 win on Dec. 28 of last season at Oracle Arena.

The teams are squaring off for the first time this season after splitting two games in the 2005-06 series. The Celtics have taken six of the last nine matchups with the Warriors overall, including three in a row in Boston.