Pierce passes Bird; Celtics win

BOSTON – Paul Pierce knew what was on the line with every shot.

The pressure was quite clear to Pierce and anyone else in the arena as he stood on the verge of passing Larry Bird for No. 2 on Boston’s career scoring list. He needed only 10 points to overtake Bird when the Celtics hosted Charlotte on Tuesday night, and those final three seemed as if they would never come.

They did early in the third quarter, then Pierce and the Celtics celebrated the milestone by increasing their season-best winning streak to five with a 94-84 win against the Bobcats.

“It was a relief. So much was hanging over me the last couple of days. Just hearing about it and knowing that you’ve got a game to play,” said Pierce, who finished with 15 points. “Just to be mentioned with him, with this organization, is a great honor.”

Pierce now stands alone at No. 2 – and it is quite a list – with 21,797 points, six more than Bird’s total of 21,791. Only John Havlicek has scored more in team history with 26,395 points.

Pierce didn’t even try to calculate the gap or how long it could take him to reach Havlicek.

“I think the fans would really appreciate another championship more than me passing Hondo,” Pierce said.

Pierce nearly celebrated with a triple-double, coming up just short with nine assists and eight rebounds.

Rajon Rondo added 14 assists and 10 points, Kevin Garnett scored 22, and Ray Allen finished with 17 points.

Heat 107, Cavaliers 91: At Miami, Dwyane Wade scored 26 points, LeBron James added 24 against his former team, and Miami tuned up for a long road trip by beating Cleveland.

Chris Bosh finished with 15 points for the Heat, who have won 11 of their past 13 games. Mario Chalmers and Udonis Haslem each scored 14 for Miami, which starts a stretch of five road games in seven nights today at Orlando, then caps the trip with a visit to Cleveland on Feb. 17.

Suns 107, Bucks 105: At Milwaukee, Steve Nash hit a driving layup with 5 seconds left, giving Phoenix a victory over Milwaukee.