The Celtics drained 14 of 20 three-pointers, outscoring the Sixers by 42-3 from distance, en route to a lopsided, 105-74 win at a quiet Wachovia Center that held 11,251 fans.

The Sixers entered the game with the second-highest scoring average in the league at just over 115 a game and the Celtics were the stingiest defensively at 81.3. Guess who won that battle, if you could call it that.

"I would say in that outside of the first 6 minutes, when I thought we played really, really well, it was certainly a stinker," said Sixers coach Eddie Jordan. "We had an eight-point lead, then like most good teams do, they got their swagger up and they started talking about the defense and they put it to us. They took a front seat and we took a back seat. Their confidence grew and our confidence shrunk."

Boston proved it can kill teams in so many more ways than with just its defensive strangulation.

During a 5-minute, 2-second stretch that overlapped the first and second quarters, the Celtics erased a 12-4 deficit by hitting nine straight shots and building a 25-17 lead with 10:47 left in the half. The run included layups, short jumpers and long-range bombs. What it didn't include was a lot of contribution from the Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. No matter, sub Rasheed Wallace hit two treys and scored eight points during the spurt.

Three minutes later, when forward Shelden Williams threw down a dunk, the lead was up to 33-21. And when you possess a defense such as the Celtics do, that is just about an insurmountable lead, even that early in the game.

The margin got as high as 14 in the second quarter, though the Sixers finished the half with an 8-2 run that pulled them to within 44-36.

But any hopes of a comeback by the home team were squashed at the beginning of the third, when the Celtics scored 20 of the first 30 points to begin the second half.

Pierce led the Celtics with 21 points, Wallace drained six of eight threes on his way to 20 points. Eddie House (12) and Rajon Rondo and Williams (11 each) also reached double figures.

"You have a veteran team like the Celtics, they know how to play basketball," said Sixers guard Willie Green. "They know how to grit and grind, how to scratch and claw and win games. They're tough on the road and they take care of the home court. You just got to give credit where credit is due. They are one of the elite teams. They play good defense. They are playing pretty aggressive right now. I think the biggest thing for them now is they get great bench play from Rasheed, Marquis Daniels and Eddie House.

"They make teams shoot tough jump shots with a hand in their face. They pack it in, especially with us. They know we want to get it to the basket, we want to fastbreak, so they did a good job of packing it in and making us shoot tough jump shots with hands in our face, and that's not our strength."

The Sixers had few strengths last night, while the Celtics were powerful in just about every aspect. Boston finished with 27 assists on its 41 field goals, shot 41-for-72 (56.9 percent) from the floor, while holding the Sixers to 29-for-80 (36.3 percent). Had it not been for a Jrue Holiday three in the waning moments, the Sixers would not have gotten one. Instead, they missed 15 of their 16.

Their record sits at 2-2, with wins over the New York Knicks and the Milwaukee Bucks. The losses have been to Orlando and Boston, two of the Eastern Conference's upper tier. And in those two losses, the opponents combined to hit 30 of 49 (61.2 percent) threes. The Celtics bench did most of the damage last night, draining 13 of 16 treys.

"They're veterans, our bench," said Boston coach Doc Rivers. "They know how to play off each other. They're extremely unselfish. You don't see that with a lot of benches. This group is trying to get each other off. They're playing to win. No agendas."

Except to win and to win big. Like last night.