NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) – Ray Allen and Glen Davis each scored 20 points to lead Boston past the New Orleans Hornets 89-85 and put the Celtics level with Chicago for the Eastern Conference lead.

Kevin Garnett on Saturday added 12 points and nine rebounds for Boston while Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo each struggled, both producing only nine points for the Celtics, who improved to 49-19.

Allen grabbed a rebound to set up two Davis free throws with 15 seconds remaining and Allen added two more free throws with 2.8 seconds to play to clinch Boston's victory.

The Celtics trailed by 15 points just after half-time but a 23-6 Boston run to close the third period put them on top 67-64 and they never trailed again.

"The energy level changed," Davis said. "We started doing the things we know how to do best. We changed the tempo of the game and we made them uncomfortable in the things they had been doing."

The NBA's stingiest scoring defense kept New Orleans to 6-of-21 shooting in the third quarter for only 13 Hornets points while Boston, also the NBA's most accurate shooting team from the field, connected on 12-of-16 in the quarter.

One night after losing 93-77 at Houston, the Celtics snapped a three-game road losing streak.

"We played so poorly last night and we really just started the game the same way today," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "It meant a lot to the guys to come back. They wanted this win."

David West scored a game-high 32 points for the Hornets, who also had 23 points from Italian playmaker Marco Belinelli and 10 points each from Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor.

Chris Paul went 0-for-9 from the field, going without a basket for only the fourth time in his NBA career, and finished with four points while also contributing 15 assists.

"It's going to be hard for us to win if I play like that," Paul said. "I've got to do better."

The Hornets fell to 40-31, seventh in the Western Conference, 1 1/2 games ahead of eighth-place Memphis in the last two West playoff spots.