Celtics crush Suns to maintain grip on East top seed

BOSTON (Reuters) - The Boston Celtics snapped a rare two-game losing streak with a 117-97 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, Kevin Garnett leading the rout with a 30-point haul.

Boston improved to an NBA-leading 56-15 as they maintained their march to the Eastern Conference top seed heading into the playoffs.

The victory allowed the Celtics to pull six games clear of the Detroit Pistons, who lost on Wednesday, for the East lead with 11 games remaining.

The Celtics avoided matching their season-worst losing streak of three games as they continue their amazing turnaround from also-rans to contenders since acquiring Garnett in the off-season.

"The whole face of the Celtics turned around when the trade happened with this guy," Paul Pierce, who added 27 points, told reporters.

"Everyone talks about MVP and they talk about numbers but this guy has changed the whole culture around here."

Pierce scored 12 of his points in the fourth quarter to help the Celtics pull away.

Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo both had 14 points and Kendrick Perkins chipped in with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Amare Stoudemire led the Suns with 32 points, who lost despite shooting 56 percent, dropping to 47-26 in the tight Western Conference standings.