The Boston Celtics moved closer to wrapping up the NBA's top record overall by avenging last weekend's loss in New Orleans and beating the Hornets 112-92 on Friday. Paul Pierce scored 27 points, Kevin Garnett added 21, and Eastern Conference leader opened its advantage to six games over the idle Detroit Pistons with 10 games left. The Hornets had a five-game winning streak halted and saw their Western Conference lead cut to one game over San Antonio. Hawks 106, Bulls 103: In Atlanta, the home team held on after nearly blowing a 22-point lead against a slumping Chicago, giving itself some breathing space in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Atlanta opened the gap to New Jersey to 1 1/2 games in the race for the last playoff spot. Mike Bibby scored 30 points for the Hawks, who were up 72-50 with 7 minutes left in the third quarter. The Bulls twice closed within a point in the final minutes and almost forced overtime. Ben Gordon, who scored 16 points in the fourth, got off a long 3-point attempt that rimmed out as the horn sounded. Pacers 123, Nets 115: In Indianapolis, Danny Granger scored 26 points as Indiana downed New Jersey. The Pacers moved within a game of the Nets, and 2 1/2 games of Atlanta, which holds the last Eastern Conference playoff berth. Suns 107, 76ers 93: In Philadelphia, Amare Stoudemire scored 22 points to lead Phoenix over Philadelphia. Raja Bell had 20 for the Suns, who avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season. Raptors 103, Knicks 95: In Toronto, Chris Bosh had 29 points and 10 rebounds as Toronto beat New York. Rasho Nesterovic added 18 points for the Raptors. The Knicks have won just two of their past 15 games. Spurs 99, Timberwolves 84: In San Antonio, the home side picked up its sixth straight win with a victory over Minnesota. Manu Ginobili 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter for the Spurs, whose winning streak had moved them from fifth in the Western Conference to second, and now only behind New Orleans on percentage. In other games it was: Magic 103, Bucks 86; Jazz 121, Clippers 101; Wizards 114, Kings 108; Grizzlies 114, Lakers 111; Bobcats 96, SuperSonics 93. __
