At 25-2, the Celtics are one victory away from matching the best start in NBA history.

Guard Ray Allen led a balanced Boston scoring attack with 27 points. Center Kendrick Perkins finished with 25, and forwards Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce added 17 and 16, respectively.

The Bulls (12-14) were led by Luol Deng with 19 points, while Andres Nocioni had 16 and Derrick Rose, who was slowed in the second half by a right knee contusion, added 14.

''They're the world champions for a reason and we're trying to find ourselves a little bit with a young team, and we were short-handed tonight,'' Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said.

Tyrus Thomas didn't make the trip to Boston because of a concussion suffered Wednesday against the Los Angeles Clippers, and then the Bulls lost starting power forward Drew Gooden to a sprained right ankle in the first quarter.

Gooden was hurt while going for a defensive rebound when his foot came down on Perkins' foot. Gooden did not return, and his status for tonight's game against Utah at the United Center is uncertain.

''No Tyrus Thomas tonight, Drew Gooden gets hurt, [and] inside we couldn't handle them,'' Del Negro said. ''That was the difference.''

Just like they did in their first visit to Boston in October -- a 96-80 loss that wasn't that close -- the Bulls got off to a horrendous start and looked completely overmatched. The Celtics jumped to a 15-4 lead, and Del Negro called two timeouts in the first 4? minutes. Boston led 31-21 after the first quarter.

The Bulls got back in the game when both teams went to the bench early in the second quarter. Nocioni converted a four-point play -- he was fouled by Glenn Davis while making a three-pointer from the left corner -- to trim the Boston edge to 40-39 six minutes before halftime.

Twenty-five seconds later, Larry Hughes nailed a 22-footer to give the Bulls a 41-40 lead -- their first of the game and the two games in Boston this season.

With the starters back in for the final few minutes of the second quarter, the Celtics quickly regained the lead. But the Bulls, who shot 13-for-17 in the second quarter, were within 57-55 at halftime.

Even though the Bulls had great momentum coming off a 34-26 second-quarter advantage, the third quarter began much like the first. The Celtics scored the first nine points to stretch their lead to 66-55.

The Celtics kept up the pressure on the offensive end for the entire quarter, and the Bulls -- who were constantly scrambling and often out of position -- couldn't get many stops. Boston, which led by as many as 18 points in the third quarter, pumped in 41 points in the third for a 98-82 lead entering the fourth and was never threatened thereafter.

''I like the way our guys competed,'' Del Negro said. ''The first half I thought it was a pretty competitive game. After they got off to a big lead, we fought back. In the third quarter, they took control of the game, and we didn't have any firepower with all the injuries we have.''

Bulls RECAP

Bulls 21 34 27 26--108

Boston 31 26 41 28--126

Bulls min fg-a ft-a o-t a pf pts

Deng 38:08 8-15 2-2 4-7 2 3 19

Gooden 5:50 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 2

Gray 22:26 2-5 0-0 2-8 3 6 4

Gordon 24:57 4-9 1-1 0-0 1 1 10

Rose 22:58 5-10 2-2 0-0 5 1 14

Nocioni 33:27 5-10 2-2 2-6 3 2 16

Noah 26:56 5-6 0-0 4-5 3 5 10

Hughes 20:03 3-7 2-2 0-0 1 2 9

Sefolosha 22:08 4-7 0-0 1-3 4 1 8

Simmons 12:00 3-6 2-5 0-1 1 1 8

Hunter 11:07 3-7 0-0 1-1 0 1 8

Totals 240 43-85 11-14 14-31 23 24 108

Percentages: FG .506, FT .786. 3-Point Goals: 11-22, .500 (Nocioni 4-6, Rose 2-3, Hunter 2-5, Deng 1-1, Hughes 1-3, Gordon 1-4). Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 21 (34 PTS). Blocked Shots: 5 (Sefolosha 2, Simmons 2, Deng). Turnovers: 20 (Gordon 5, Gray 4, Hughes 3, Rose 3, Nocioni 2, Deng, Hunter, Sefolosha). Steals: 5 (Deng 3, Noah, Sefolosha). Technical Fouls: None.

Celtics min fg-a ft-a o-t a pf pts

Pierce 28:37 6-9 3-3 0-4 6 2 16

Garnett 25:36 7-11 3-3 0-1 4 4 17

Perkins 30:00 12-15 1-3 4-8 1 0 25

RAllen 33:06 10-18 2-2 0-3 5 0 27

Rondo 29:49 2-3 0-0 4-5 15 3 4

Davis 13:07 1-2 2-2 1-1 1 4 4

TAllen 20:47 4-6 1-2 0-0 4 2 10

House 18:11 3-10 0-0 0-3 2 0 9

Powe 14:41 2-3 2-2 2-3 1 3 6

Pruitt 13:30 1-3 0-0 1-2 1 0 3

Scalabrine 9:17 2-4 0-0 1-4 0 1 5

O'Bryant 3:19 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Totals 240 50-84 14-17 13-35 40 19 126

Percentages: FG .595, FT .824. 3-Point Goals: 12-24, .500 (R.Allen 5-9, House 3-5, T.Allen 1-2, Pierce 1-2, Pruitt 1-3, Scalabrine 1-3). Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 14 (11 PTS). Blocked Shots: 4 (Garnett 2, Perkins, Scalabrine). Turnovers: 13 (T.Allen 4, House 2, Perkins 2, R.Allen, Davis, Pierce, Rondo, Scalabrine). Steals: 14 (Garnett 4, Rondo 4, T.Allen 2, Pierce 2, Perkins, Pruitt). Technical Fouls: Defensive three second, 9:17 third.

Officials--Steve Javie, Mark Lindsay, Rodney Mott. A--18,624. T--2:09.

TONIGHT

Jazz AT Bulls

The facts: 7:30, Comcast SportsNet, 1000-AM.

The story line: After getting manhandled inside by Boston

on Friday night, the short-handed Bulls return home looking to rebound in their fourth game in five nights. The Jazz is coming off a double-OT win at Detroit.

John Jackson