Boston's current hot streak hasn't included any close wins. The Celtics (15-2) have dominated the competition in their last seven games, winning by an average margin of 13.7 points. While Boston's defense has been stellar all season, allowing a league-low 90.5 points per game, the offense has begun to flourish during the current run.

The Celtics have topped 100 points in five of their last seven games and in each of their last three, including Friday night's 102-78 rout of Philadelphia. Ray Allen led all scorers with 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting, and went 3-for-5 from 3-point range. The veteran shooting guard is 13-for-19 from beyond the arc in his last three games.

"We're setting better picks for him," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said of Allen's recent production. "We realize that to get Ray shots we have to get him open and I think our guys have done a better job."

Kevin Garnett added 16 points and point guard Rajon Rondo had a season-high 12 assists to help the Celtics win easily despite a season-low six points from leading scorer Paul Pierce. Four of Rondo's assists came in a third-quarter stretch where Allen scored 11 points in a row - nine on 3-pointers.

"When the game was over, I told him, 'When you play like that, we're a beast to contend with,'" Allen said of Rondo. "I told him, 'I feed off you.'"

The Celtics' defense presents an imposing challenge for Charlotte (5-10), the only team in the NBA averaging less than 90 points per game (88.9). Boston has also won six straight on the road.

The Bobcats, though, could be riding an emotional high after posting their highest point total of the season Friday night, winning 115-108 in overtime at Indiana. Point guard Raymond Felton tied a career high with 31 points along with seven assists, while backcourt mate Jason Richardson added 21 points in his return after missing seven games due to right knee inflammation.

It was the second win in three games for Charlotte, which is seeking to win consecutive contests for the first time under new coach Larry Brown.

"We're getting better, I can say that," Felton said. "We're getting better with the system, what coach wants us to do. I think we're going to be all right.

"We beat a good team tonight at home, so it shows we're getting better. It takes some time to get used to a system and a new coach, but we have a lot of talent here."

The Celtics have taken 11 of 15 all-time meetings between these teams, including five of seven in Charlotte. Boston is also 4-1 this season and 20-4 since the start of 2007-08 when playing for the second consecutive night.