Boston ? Raef LaFrentz feels healthy, and it showed.

The former Kansas University forward was 7-for-7 from three-point range in the first half and scored 27 of his 32 points in the opening 24 minutes to lead the Boston Celtics to a 102-82 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night.

LaFrentz, who had his 2003-04 season cut short following right knee surgery in December 2003, matched his career high for points, added eight rebounds and finished 7-for-9 on three-point attempts.

“If I’m healthy, I know I can shoot the ball,” he said. “If you don’t have your legs, you can’t shoot the ball.”

LaFrentz admitted that he wasn’t confident last season.

“Anytime you go through an injury, that takes away some confidence you have in your ability and in yourself,” he said.

The 6-foot-11 LaFrentz thrives when the team is moving the ball around.

“One of the things we’ve always said: ‘If Raef gets a lot of attempts, that means the ball is moving extremely well,'” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “Now, obviously, he was making them too.”

Ricky Davis and Paul Pierce, another former Kansas standout, scored 19 points apiece, and Mark Blount had 17 for Boston (3-3).

Stromile Swift had a season-high 17 points and Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming 14 each for the Rockets (2-4).

The Celtics held double-digits leads at the end of every quarter and hardly were tested. The Rockets, who beat New Jersey on Saturday, appeared worn down from the start.

“They were much more assertive, aggressive on the boards, on every loose ball, they were just playing harder than we were tonight,” Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy said.

Boston's Raef LaFrentz shoots over Houston's Derek Anderson (8) during the first quarter. The Celtics won, 102-82, Sunday in Boston as LaFrentz tied his career high in points and went 7-for-9 from three-point range.

LaFrentz, averaging just 9.2 points per game, connected on four threes in the opening 9:16 that helped Boston open a 24-12 lead. He hit three three-pointers in the final 3:35 of the second quarter that gave the Celtics a 55-44 lead at the half.

LaFrentz finally missed his first three-point attempt 5:30 into the third quarter.

The Rockets closed to 57-49 on McGrady’s basket early in the third quarter and stayed within 13 points until the Celtics broke it open with a 18-7 run to close the quarter. Boston led 84-63 after three.

“LaFrentz got off to such a great start because of our mistakes,” McGrady said.

The only suspense the rest of the game was whether LaFrentz would establish a career-high, which he had a chance for with 3:29 to play. He missed a free throw that would have completed a three-point play. LaFrentz came out with 2:31 remaining.

Boston’s bench, led by Davis, was cheering for LaFrentz to get his career high.

“No, I had no idea,” LaFrentz said with a smile when asked if he knew he was close.

LaFrentz scored 32 points with Denver on April 18, 2001. He fell one short of the NBA record for three-pointers in a half, held by five players. McGrady was the last, doing it on Jan. 26, 2004.

Sonics 126, Raptors 121, OT

Toronto – Rashard Lewis scored 41 points, and Seattle blew a huge lead in the fourth quarter but recovered in overtime. Former Kansas standout Nick Collison added 20 points for the Sonics.

Mike James had a career-high 36 points for the Raptors, 0-6 for the first time in their 11-year history. Rookie Charlie Villanueva added 26 points and 12 rebounds.

Seattle led by as many as 18 in the fourth, but James cut the lead to a point with a three-pointer with 26 seconds left. Vladimir Radmanovic made two free throws with 4.2 seconds remaining to make it 117-114, but James made a free throw before intentionally missing the second.

Chris Bosh grabbed the offensive rebound and made a short jumper, tying it at the buzzer. Collison scored four points in the final two minutes of overtime to seal the victory.

76ers 113, Clippers 108

Philadelphia – Allen Iverson had 28 points and 10 assists, and Lee Nailon added 21 points to help Philadelphia win its fourth straight game.

After a three-game losing streak to open the season, the Sixers are in first place in the underwhelming Atlantic Division.

Elton Brand had 32 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers, Cuttino Mobley added 23 points, and Corey Maggette had 20.

Los Angeles got as close as 88-86 early in the fourth. Iverson hit a jumper, then had a steal and drew a foul on a crashing layup. Nailon later added an easy basket for a 101-88 lead.

Cavaliers 108, Magic 100, OT

Orlando, Fla. – LeBron James became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 4,000 career points and finished with 26.

Larry Hughes had 22 points for Cleveland, which has won four straight.

Steve Francis led Orlando with 22 points, and Dwight Howard had 21 points and 16 rebounds.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who had 20 points, scored two baskets, and Hughes hit a jumper as the Cavaliers jumped to a 94-88 lead in overtime and never trailed after that.

Nuggets 102, Timberwolves 91

Denver – DerMarr Johnson scored 17 points in his first start of the season, and Marcus Camby had 18 points, 22 rebounds and seven blocked shots for Denver.

Carmelo Anthony matched his season high with 23 points for the Nuggets.

Wally Szczerbiak led the T’wolves with 20 points.

Knicks 105, Kings 95

Sacramento, Calif. – Larry Brown finally got his first victory as New York’s coach, with rookie Channing Frye scoring 19 points.

Stephon Marbury had 17 points and seven assists for the Knicks, who jumped to a big early lead and hung on late to halt their worst start in 18 years during Brown’s first season in charge of his hometown team.

Jamal Crawford and Eddy Curry added 16 points apiece as New York snapped an eight-game losing streak in Sacramento.