On Tuesday night in Cleveland, the Kings led the Cavaliers by a point before falling under the fury of LeBron James in the second quarter.

Last night, the Kings led the Celtics by two points entering the second quarter after uncorking the kind of shooting percentage in the first (64.7 percent) that typically brings Celtics blood to a boil.

So forgive the Kings for wincing. Though they came back with some hot moments in the second half, Sacramento again fell under the force of a team in search of a high playoff seed.

The Celtics, powered among other things by Eddie House's crazed bid for a place in NBA All-Star weekend's 3-point contest, simply flattened every bid by the opposition in last night's 119-100 win at the Garden. The victory was the ninth straight for the defending champions.

The Celtics, whose latest winning streak is the longest active run in the league, continue to chase another grail.

``He needs to be in the 3-point contest,'' said House's chief pitch man, Kevin Garnett. ``That's what this press conference is about. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett are here to say that Eddie House needs to be in the 3-point contest.''

House, who came in shooting a hot 14-for-23 from 3-point range over the previous three games, turned in a torrid 8-for-9 performance from beyond the arc on his way to 28 points against the Kings.

``I wish I could have thrown a net out there and held him on one end of the floor,'' Kings coach Kenny Natt said. ``Give the guy credit. He is a great shooter, and his teammates looked for him, and he moved well without the Basketball.

``That's what good teams do. They know who's hot, and they get the ball to the right guy.''

With Rajon Rondo adding a 24-point, nine-assist performance to House's effort, there wasn't much the Kings could do to salvage one of their rougher back-to-back sequences of the season.

The Celtics reverted to their first-quarter ways after entering halftime with a 68-49 advantage, allowing Sacramento to chop the lead down to 14 points by the end of the third. A late-quarter 11-1 run by the Kings, including treys from Bobby Brown and John Salmons, did the trick.

House entered the fourth quarter 4-for-4 on trey attempts and buried two more over the first three minutes, the latter providing a 100-84 Celtics lead after the Kings had drawn as close as 12 points. His fourth 3-pointer of the quarter - No. 8 for the game - was good for a 110-88 edge that Sacramento was unable to challenge.

Coach Doc Rivers had little trouble joining the House campaign.

``Going by his last three or four games, for sure he should be in it,'' Rivers said of the 3-point contest. ``Eddie shoots it so quick. Usually the small guys don't do well historically in the 3-point contest, I don't think. I couldn't tell you who the last five winners are, but they're usually bigger guys. But Eddie can break the mold.

``He's been unbelievable. He's moving without the ball so well. The biggest change we've made is in taking him off the ball more. And I think that's really helped him.''

- mrmurphy@bostonherald.com