NBA: Ray Allen scores 20,000th career point in Celtics 104-102 victory over Wizards

WASHINGTON — The Boston Celtics won their ninth straight game and their 10th in 11 road games. They had a player score his 20,000th point and held their opponents without a rebound for an entire quarter.

Even with all those superlatives, the Celtics didn't secure their 104-102 win over the Washington Wizards until the final moments Thursday night.

It took Rajon Rondo's driving dunk with a minute remaining to break a tie in the game and help Boston (18-4) break a tie with Orlando — which lost at Utah later — for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

"We believe we can win games in any situation, and that's a good sign," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

Rondo had a season-high 21 points and 11 assists, and former Sonic Ray Allen had 18 and became the 32nd NBA player to score 20,000 points.

Primarily a passer, Rondo changed his game for one night.

"Tonight it was me being aggressive. I still wanted to pass first, but tonight I had to take the shot," Rondo said.

Gilbert Arenas led Washington with 25 points, but missed a pair of free throws with 26.7 seconds to play. Arenas missed five of his six free throws.

Allen passed 20,000 career points on a three-pointer with 4:44 left in the third quarter. He came in needing 14 points for 20,000, and it was on his mind.

"All day today, it was like, 'Don't get hit by a car. Get out here, don't get hurt, take care of your body,' " he said.

Refs official criticizes Donaghy

NEW YORK — The lead negotiator and spokesman for the NBA's referees says Tim Donaghy made threats against him, and that the disgraced former official's accusations about his colleagues shouldn't be believed because he is a "compulsive liar."

Lamell McMorris said Donaghy also threatened fellow referees, whom he has accused of misconduct.

"His attacks have been malicious and his claims continue to be unfounded," McMorris said in a statement.

McMorris declined to give specifics of the threats.

This was a difficult week for the referees union, with Donaghy appearing on "60 Minutes" and ESPN to give interviews to coincide with the release of his book. Donaghy insisted he never had to make calls to affect games he bet on because he knew of biases certain officials had against certain players that would influence the way the games would be called.

Notes

• Carmelo Anthony scored 40 points for Denver, but the Nuggets fell 101-99 to Detroit in Auburn Hills, Mich. Former Kentwood and Eastern Washington standout Rodney Stuckey had 26 points for the Pistons.

• Kobe Bryant is the leading vote-getter for the NBA All-Star Game, and Tracy McGrady is on track to start beside him in the Western Conference backcourt despite not playing yet this season.

Bryant had more than 692,000 votes in the first set of returns, about 20,000 more than East leader Dwyane Wade. Also on track to start for the West are NBA leading scorer Carmelo Anthony and Dirk Nowitzki at forward, and Amare Stoudemire at center.

McGrady is nearing a return from microfracture knee surgery, but leads Steve Nash by more than 9,000 votes for the West's second guard spot.

LeBron James and Kevin Garnett lead at the East forward position, Dwight Howard has a huge advantage over Shaquille O'Neal, and his Orlando teammate Vince Carter is second among guards.

The All-Star Game is Feb. 14 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

• The Washington Wizards will honor late owner Abe Pollin by wearing a patch on their jerseys for the rest of the season.