NBA: Boston 106, New Jersey 104

BOSTON, April 8 (UPI) -- Rajon Rondo scored Boston's final points with 1:18 to play Wednesday and the Celtics hung on down the stretch to edge New Jersey 106-104.

Rondo's basket gave the Celtics a seven-point lead and that turned out to be just enough. New Jersey's Vince Carter missed an attempt that would have tied the game with 12 seconds to play and Devin Harris failed on a 3-pointer that would have won it with 2 seconds to go.

Ray Allen claimed the rebound for Boston after the miss by Harris, finally clinching what was Boston's fifth straight win.

The Celtics remained one game in front of Orlando for the second seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Both Boston and Orlando have four games left.

Rondo led Boston with 31 points, hitting 10-of-15 from the field and 11-of-13 from the line. Eddie House added 15 points.

Carter scored 33 for the Nets, who are out of playoff contention. The defending champion Celtics need one more win to get to 60 for the season.