BOSTON — Rajon Rondo made things looks easy in the third quarter. Kind of like how the Boston Celtics are making NBA games look.

Rondo scored 18 of his 26 points in the quarter to help the Celtics tie a franchise record with their 18th straight win, beating the New York Knicks, 124-105, last night.

The win improved Boston's record to 26-2, matching the NBA mark for the best start by a team with two losses. The Celtics can break the record at home against the Philadelphia 76ers tomorrow night.

"Rondo was unbelievable in the third quarter," teammate Kevin Garnett said. "He totally took the game over. He had almost a perfect game."

Coincidentally, Boston tied the Knicks and 76ers at 26-2. New York did it in 1969-70 and Philadelphia in 1966-67. Both teams went on to win NBA titles.

The day wasn't all a celebratory one for the Celtics, who were without Glen Davis. The reserve forward was injured in an automobile accident on the Massachusetts Turnpike as he drove to the TD Banknorth Garden for the game. Celtics spokesman Jeff Twiss said the accident happened at about 2:30 p.m. and Davis suffered a concussion and whiplash.

The Celtics said after the game that Davis had been released from Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston. Twiss said he did not know how long Davis would be sidelined.

The Knicks trailed 69-63 before Rondo took advantage of some poor interior defense, driving past defenders — mostly Chris Duhon and Quentin Richardson — for layups and all of Boston's points in a 10-4 run that put the Celtics ahead by 12.

He was 12-of-14 from the floor for the game.

"I think eight of them were layups. So, hah, I make my layups," Rondo said.

Ray Allen had 18 points, Paul Pierce 17, Garnett 12 and Kendrick Perkins 12 for the Celtics.

Richardson led the Knicks with 29 points and Nate Robinson had 23. Duhon added 20 with 10 assists.

"He was more aggressive. He's not usually as aggressive as he was tonight," Richardson said of Rondo. "Tonight he was trying to go to the rim."

Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni knew that stopping Rondo wasn't a priority with all of Boston's other scorers, and the guard made his team pay for it.

"He's fast and he's playing with some good guys," D'Antoni said.

The Celtics led 98-87 after three and scored the first seven of the final quarter, turning the game into a rout when Brian Scalabrine's 3 made it 105-87 with 10:28 to play.

CAVS 102, THUNDER 91

OKLAHOMA CITY — LeBron James scored 31 points, Mo Williams added 20 and Cleveland improved to 23-4, extending the best start in team history. Kevin Durant scored 26 points, and Russell Westbrook added 22 points and matched his career-high with 11 assists for Oklahoma City.

MAVS 97, WIZARDS 86

WASHINGTON —Jason Terry scored 25 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 23 as Dallas sent Washington to its sixth straight loss. Antawn Jamison scored 22 points for the Wizards (4-21), who tied a 42-year-old record for the worst start in franchise history.

HAWKS 85, PISTONS 78

ATLANTA — Mike Bibby scored a season-high 27 points to lead Atlanta over Detroit, which got 20 points apiece from Rodney Stuckey and Rasheed Wallace.