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By Dwayne C. Nelson

The Boston Celtics own the Miami Heat.

Riding an eight-game win streak, yesterday’s matchup against the Celtics was supposed to be a statement game for the Heat. Instead, Boston made the statement at the end of the day.

The Celts, playing without Shaquille O’Neal and getting only one point from Paul Pierce, held off a late charge to cool off the Heat, 85-82, at TD Garden. Boston (39-14) is now 3-0 against Miami (39-15) this season.

Rajon Rondo posted a triple-double (11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists) for the Celtics, and Chris Bosh paced the Heat with 24 points and 10 boards in a losing effort.

Here are the rest of last night’s scores with each squad’s top performers.

Orlando 89, L.A. Lakers 75.

Orlando: Dwight Howard, 31 points,  13 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Lakers:  Andrew Bynum, 17 points and 9 rebounds.

Portland 105, Detroit 100.

Portland:  LaMarcus Aldridge, 36 points.

Detroit: Tracy McGrady, 16 points, 5 assists and 3 steals.

Memphis 116, Denver 108.

Memphis:  Zach Randolph, 14 points and 16 rebounds.

Denver:  Carmelo Anthony, 28 points.

Golden State 100, Oklahoma City 94.

Golden State:  Monta Ellis, 33 points and 7 assists.

Oklahoma City: Kevin Durant, 29 points.

Washington 115, Cleveland 100.

Washington:  Nick Young, 31 points.

Cleveland:  J.J. Hickson, 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Toronto 98, L.A. Clippers 93.

Toronto: Andrea Bargnani, 27 points and 6 rebounds.

Clippers: Baron Davis, 20 points and 7 assists.

Sacramento 113, Phoenix 108.

Sacramento: Tyreke Evans, 21 points and 7 assists.

Phoenix:  Steve Nash, 22 points and 18 assists.

Top 5 NBA Teams

With a tad bit over a month to go before the playoffs get cranking, it’s becoming more and more apparent who the best teams are in the league. Here are my Top 5 teams right now:  1. San Antonio Spurs (45-9), 2. L.A. Lakers (38-17), 3. Boston Celtics (39-14), 4. Miami Heat (39-15), 5. Chicago Bulls (36-16).

Dwayne C. Nelson is an arts & entertainment and sports blogger whose content is featured on various Web sites, including Associated Content, Yahoo! Sports, Urban Daily and News One. You can now follow him on Twitter to stay abreast of his latest posts.

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