C’s extend streak with 111-82 rout

Celtics 111, Sonics 82

NBA. The Celtics sure didn’t sleep on Seattle last night.

Rather, they delivered one of their biggest beatdowns of the season, walloping the lowly Sonics, 111-82 at the TD Banknorth Garden.

The Celtics (51-12) won their 10th straight game for the first time since 1986 — when they last won an NBA championship, and when coach Doc Rivers was a third-year point guard for the Hawks — and earned their sixth consecutive double-digit victory.

They’ll try to keep their streak going tomorrow when they host the Jazz.

Paul Pierce scored 14 points, all in the first quarter, and added 11 assists. Ray Allen dropped 18 points on the Sonics (16-49), with whom he spent his last four and a half seasons before being traded to Boston. And Kevin Garnett had 18 points and six boards. None of the C’s three stars played in the fourth quarter due to Seattle self-destructing faster than Eliot Spitzer.

Pierce got it going early and helped the Celtics turn a quick four-point deficit into a 10-point lead after the first quarter. The C’s captain scored 14 of the team’s first 25 points — none louder than when he crossed up two Seattle defenders before a driving lay-up that resulted in a three-point play — and had three assists in the opening frame, all of which led to 3-pointers.

While Pierce was quiet in the second quarter, the rest of the Celtics helped double their lead at the break, 64-44. Sam Cassell, who finished with six points, made his Garden debut in the second and knocked down a jumper during his first possession at his new home.

The third quarter was more of the same, as Garnett scored nine points and Pierce dished out seven assists to help the Celtics extend their lead to 32. Rajon Rondo added the exclamation point with a 360-degree breakaway dunk that put the C’s up  84-56.

The Celtics could have stopped scoring with 3:33 to play in the third quarter and still won the game.