Celtics Hang On To Notch 16th Straight

The Boston Celtics came perilously close to seeing their remarkable winning streak ended, just hanging on to beat the Atlanta Hawks 88-85 on Wednesday and make it 16 straight NBA victories.

Atlanta's Joe Johnson missed a late free throw that would have tied the game with 2.7 seconds left. Instead the Celtics landed two free throws of their own with less than a second on the clock.

Boston has a franchise-record 24-2 record, and is now only two wins off the Celtics' longest-ever winning streak of 18 set in 1982.

Kevin Garnett scored 10 of his 18 points in the final quarter to help Boston stave off Atlanta, who almost beat Boston in their only other meeting this season, losing by one point on a last-second Boston basket.