The beat will not stop for Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics.

The Truth dropped a game-high 21 points with eight rebounds and four assists as the Celtics remained undefeated with a 105-74 blowout win over the Philadelphia 76ers on the road on Tuesday night.

The Captain played an integral role in securing the win in the absence of production from Boston’s other starters as NESN.com blogger Jessica Isner notes:

“Unsung Hero: Paul Pierce continues to thrive in this offense, finishing the evening with a game-high 21 points in 31 minutes. In four of five games this season, he has scored over 20 points, and he’s currently averaging 21.8 points per game and a 44.4 shooting percentage. He’s also hitting 59.1 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.”

The victory combined with a loss by the Orlando Magic leaves Boston as they only unbeaten squad in the Eastern Conference and the first team in the NBA to five wins. The Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets are both 4-0 to start the season out west.

Though it’s early, Boston Globe columnist Christopher Gasper noted in a recent column that he believes the Celtics have a shot to match or pass the 1995-1996 Bulls for most wins in a season. The Bulls went 72-10 that year.

“What this Celtics team shares with the 72-win Bulls is swagger. They walk into the gym expecting to win and genuinely enjoy demoralizing their opponents. Teams are intimidated by KG and irritated by Rondo.”

BACKUP BUCKETS
In addition to No. 34’s 21 points, the Celts got some key contributions from a pair of their reserves to run over the 76ers.

Rasheed Wallace scored 20 points and drained six threes off the pine while Eddie House added 12 points and four triples.

As Paul told the Boston Globe, contributions like that from the bench make the starters’ jobs a lot easier:

“They take a lot of pressure off us,” Paul Pierce said. “We saw it early, the potential of our bench. Hopefully, they’ll continue to do the things to make them play great.

“The more rest the better. That means we’re playing well, and, knowing it’s a long season, it’s going to pay off late in the season.”

According to The Truth, the depth and quality of the Celtics’ bench has also helped the starters when they face-off during practice:

“It’s tough to stop them, actually, and that’s why I think our defense is so good,” Pierce said, “because if we stop them, we can pretty much stop anybody.”

NEXT UP
No. 34 and the Cs will look to remain unbeaten tonight when they go nose-to-nose with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Truth will be reunited with former Celtic Al Jefferson, who went to Minnesota in the trade that brought KG and eventually a title, to Boston.

Paul enters play tonight averaging 21.6 points per game through Boston’s first five games. Tip-off from the Target Center in Minnesota is schedule for 8 p.m. EST and all the action can be seen live on CSN.

RELATED STORIES
Pierce keeps Celtics undefeated (The Associated Press, Nov. 3)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hArNp-OtsrczoSKcAh7qtf...
Celtics Plow Past Sixers En Route to Fifth Straight Win (NESN, Nov 3, 2009)
http://www.nesn.com/2009/11/sixersceltics-recap.html
Celtics bury the Sixers with treys (Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 3, 2009) http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/sports_breaking/20091103_Celtics...
Celtics keep the beat going by thrashing Sixers (Boston Globe, November 4, 2009)
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2009/11/04/celt...
Scouting Reports: Celtics at Timberwolves (Boston Herald, November 4, 2009)
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view/20091104scout...
Running with the Bulls (Boston Globe Celtics Blog, November 3, 2009)
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2009...

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