HOUSTON (AP) Paul Pierce scored 27 points and Jiri Welsch and Walter McCarty each added 21 to help Boston to a 97-93 win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night, the Celtics' first win in Texas in nearly four years.

Mark Blount had 10 points for the Celtics, whose last win in the state was a 104-99 victory at Dallas on Feb. 18, 2000.

Jim Jackson had 25 points and Steve Francis 19 for Houston, which had won five straight, and six in a row over the Celtics at home.

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