Washington ? Someone forgot to tell the Washington Wizards not to tick off Paul Pierce.

After being assessed a technical foul early in the fourth quarter Monday night, Pierce scored 16 of his 37 points as the Boston Celtics handed the Wizards their 13th loss in their last 16 games, 104-99.

Boston has won five in a row.

“I think that’s something that woke me up,” Pierce said of the technical with 11:32 remaining. “I wasn’t getting a fair shake on the calls, so I guess it’s one of those days. If the ref is not going to control the game, I have to put the ball in the basket.”

Pierce sandwiched three-pointers around Antoine Walker’s three-point play to give Boston an 85-76 lead with 9:17 left. Then he added a two-handed slam and layup to make it 89-78.

“When you’ve got it going, especially in the fourth quarter when the game’s on the line, you definitely want the ball,” Pierce said. “You want to take advantage of the opportunities.”

After Richard Hamilton pulled Washington to 90-88 on a three-pointer with 3:55 left, Pierce worked inside for another three-point play. Jahidi White’s two free throws pulled the Wizards to 99-96, and Pierce hit a three-pointer with 8.8 seconds left for a 102-96 lead.

“That’s why I’m in the All-Star game,” said Pierce, who shot 15-for-23 from the field, including 5-of-9 from three-point range. “The guys are going to find me. They expect me to deliver. With the shot clock winding down, you need a bucket desperately they’re coming back.

“It was a big shot,” added Pierce, who also led the Celtics with nine rebounds while scoring 30 or more points for the 25th time this season. “We needed it for the win.”

“The shot Paul hit at the end was an unbelievable shot,” Celtics coach Jim O’Brien said. “We were lucky that it went in.”

Antoine Walker and Tony Delk scored 19 apiece for the Celtics, who got 11 each from Kenny Anderson and Rodney Rogers as they won their fifth straight for the second time this season.

Hamilton scored 37 points to lead Washington, which got 24 from Courtney Alexander. The Wizards, who have lost seven of nine without injured Michael Jordan, committed 21 turnovers for the second consecutive night. They visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday for the first of a seven-game road trip.

“We have to value the ball,” Wizards coach Doug Collins said. “I told our guys that because we’re going to start to get them down the floor a bit, that doesn’t mean that now we’re going to start kicking the ball all over the gym.

Clippers 108, Timberwolves 99

Minneapolis Darius Miles had three soaring dunks among his 20 points Monday night, and Los Angeles crept closer to a playoff berth with a victory over Minnesota. Jeff McInnis had 17 points and 14 assists as the Clippers won their third straight on the road and their sixth in seven games by opening the final period with a 23-10 run.

Grizzlies 79, Jazz 78

Memphis, Tenn. Pau Gasol scored 20 points and Jason Williams added 15 to lead Memphis to a victory over Utah.

Spurs 93, Nuggets 78

Denver Tim Duncan had 21 points and nine rebounds as San Antonio won its seventh straight game. San Antonio, 13-3 against the Midwest Division, also had a 10-game winning streak in December and won seven straight in November.

Kings 107, Bulls 103

Chicago Peja Stojakovic scored 29 points, including a pair of free throws to seal the game, as Sacramento held on. Chris Webber finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds, and Vlade Divac added 14 points and 14 rebounds. It was the third straight victory for Sacramento, which has the NBA’s best record, and its sixth in a row over the Bulls.

Hawks 121, Warriors 96

Atlanta Jason Terry scored 32 points and Shareef Abdur-Rahim added 19 as the Hawks set a season high for points. The Hawks had their second-largest margin of victory this season. Golden State, losing for the 15th time in its last 18 games in Atlanta, overall has dropped 14 of the last 15 on the road. The Warriors were led by Antawn Jamison’s 27 points.