Rihanna stops by the TD Garden tonight on her “Diamonds” world tour. The Barbadian singer currently touring in promotion of her latest album Unapologetic which debuted at number one on the Billboard charts. (more)

Nate Robinson collected nine points in 90 seconds for the Boston Celtics during a key 16-0 first half run to win over the Charlotte Bobcats 104-80 Wednesday night at the TD Garden. Paul Pierce shot 9-for-13 from the field to earn a game high 27 points. The Celtics are certainly excited to have their captain back following his struggles with a handful of minor injuries. “He’s our X-factor in a lot of ways,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “I don’t know if we need him to play great to win, but I know when he plays great that it’s tough for us to lose.” Boston was able stay on top through the entire game. Robinson netted one of his four three pointers to conclude the first block to put the C’s up 10. The Bobcats remained relevant up until the start of the fourth when Celtics increased their nine-point lead to 21. “If we just played a little better at home, we probably would have the best record in the league from the way we have been playing on the road,” said Pierce. “This is the place that we have to start establishing ourselves and make it a place like in the past couple of years where teams don’t want to play here, especially going into the playoffs.” The Celtics will first travel to Philadelphia to take on the 76ers Friday before attempting to further improve their home record Sunday against the Washington Wizards. Purchase your Boston Celtics tickets right here with us at Ace!

New additions Drew Gooden and Travis Outlaw contributed 10 points apiece to lift the Los Angeles Clippers past the Charlotte Bobcats 98-94 last night at the Staples Center. Rasual Butler and Chris Kaman led in scoring with 20 and 18, giving the refreshed roster their second straight victory. The 27-28 Bobcats have been successful against some of the league’s top organizations despite losing 11 games to a number of sub-par teams. “I’m not worrying about that. Those games are over,” said head coach Larry Brown. “I mean, who would have suspected us to beat Cleveland three straight? And last year, we beat the Lakers twice and still had a lot of bad losses. We have 27 games where we’ll decide whether we deserve to be in the playoffs or not. So if we don’t make it, it will be on us.” The Clippers are now 22-33 with hopes to find their rhythm for the last few months of the season. They’re next scheduled to face the Detroit Pistons tomorrow night as the Bobcats head to Utah to meet up with the Jazz.

Carmelo Anthony scored 40 points to rally his Denver Nuggets past the Cleveland Cavaliers 118-116 in OT yesterday at the Quicken Loans Arena. LeBron James produced a game-high 43 points, 13 rebounds and 15 assists, two steals and four blocks. Despite the monster stat line, it was Melo who finished strong in the end to halt the Cavs win streak at 13. “It’s finally me being on the other end I guess,” said James. “I’m so used to being on the other end making shots and looking at guys. It’s a great player and a great shot. If I got any closer, I was going to foul him. Big shot.” Kenyon Martin and Chauncey Billups helped Anthony with 18 apiece for Denver. JR Smith shot 50% from the field to collect 14 points off the bench. Cleveland will next match-up with the Charlotte Bobcats as the Nuggets continue their east road trip to DC for a game against the Wizards.

This week has been all about breaking franchise records in Lakerland. Following Kobe Bryant netting 44 points in Tuesdays loss to Memphis to pass Jerry West on the all-time Lakers scoring list, Phil Jackson added another piece to his resume Wednesday during LA’s 99-97 victory over the Bobcats at the Staples Center. Charlotte kept the pressure on but Los Angeles wouldn’t fold in order to give their beloved coach his 545th win as a Laker. Jackson is the only coach to earn the most wins for two separate franchises (Chicago, Los Angeles). His incredible run with Jordan, Pippen and Co. won six NBA titles before he traveled West to collect another four. “It’s been a really good run,” said Jackson. “Having this opportunity to coach this team is always special. The fact that we’ve had some great teams, great players, is always a credit to them. It’s not really an individual record in my mind.” Last night’s game featured Andrew Bynum leading the way with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Lamar Odom came up with 19, including a few necessary buckets to keep the advantage down the stretch. Bryant, despite just recently edging the top spot within the orgnization could only produce five points. The 4-time NBA champ has been struggling with a broken finger on his shooting hand. “It was just stiff — stiff and tight,” he said. “Lamar stepped on my foot as I was changing directions, so it just made it worse. It just set it back to Square One.” The Lakers will next matchup with the Nuggets tomorrow as the Bobcats prepare to challenge the Hornets back in Charlotte on Saturday.

Ray Allen caught fire with 27 points, hitting five of six from downtown as the Boston Celtics went on to defeat the Charlotte Bobcats 108-90 last night at Time Warner Cable Arena. The Celtics are starting to look like the premier team people witnessed during the seasons initial games when they started out at 6-0. Celtics head coach Doc Rivers saw Allen as yesterday’s clear MVP choice, saying “Ray made shots early. When your shooter makes shots, the floor opens a little bit more for you. It opened up our low-post game.” The C’s were in control from the jump, walking into the locker room with a 23 point lead at the half. Charlotte won the remaining two quarters despite their lack of success early on. “You could have taken five people from the stands and they’d have run their stuff and I think it would have been just as competitive,” said Bobcats coach Larry Brown. “It was like the varsity against the JV.” Paul Pierce and Kendrick Perkins contributed with 21 and 16 to cover the majority of the scoring behind Allen. During the post-game conference Gerald Wallace said “I think even Doc Rivers had 12 points.” Boston is scheduled to matchup with the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday, December 3rd. Boston Celtics tickets are available now!

Vince Carter first checked in to start the second quarter and proceeded to contribute for 15 points as the Orlando Magic cruised by the Charlotte Bobcats 93-81 Tuesday at Time Warner Cable Arena. Carter decided he was ready to compete yesterday since having ankle problems for the past week or two. “I was totally surprised,” Stan Van Gundy said. “He made the decision, not me. He had a good run extending the lead in the fourth quarter.” Orlando was up 35-23 in the first and continued to build their lead throughout the second. The Bobcats made a run soon after which continued into the second half, but they lost control down the stretch in the final minutes. “We played the last four minutes of the first half with a lot of energy,” said Charlotte coach Larry Brown. “We had to fight uphill and they’re hard to guard, especially when Vince is in there.” The Magic and Bobcats have no time to rest up with games scheduled for tonight. Orlando is set to host the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Amway Arena. Charlotte is now traveling to Detroit for their game against the Pistons.

Paul Pierce dropped 15 points before sitting out the entire fourth quarter as the Celtics went on to dominate the Charlotte Bobcats 92-59 last night in Boston. Now 2-0 and well rested after winning over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, the C’s have proved to be at the top of their game heading into early November.  “It’s great we could rest our bodies,” said Pierce.”The more rest, the better. That means we’re playing well, especially the starters.” Ray Allen netted a game-high 18 points from his 38 minutes played.  Rajon Rondo racked up another double-double with 10 points and 11 assists.  Gerald Wallace led Charlotte with just 10 during in their dismal 59 point effort. “I don’t know if they call that coaching,” said hall of fame head coach Larry Brown. “Our team wasn’t prepared. Weren’t ready to play. That’s nobody’s fault but the coach.” The Celtics are now 2-0 heading into their next contest against the Chicago Bulls this Friday at the TD Garden.  Boston Celtics tickets are now available!

The Memphis Grizzlies have officially extended an offer to free agent veteran guard Allen Iverson.  The press first caught wind of the news through Iverson’s twitter page, and it was later confirmed by GM Chris Wallace.  “We’re heading into the home stretch before the season, and we have had interest in Allen all summer,” Wallace said. “We’ve been in touch on a fairly consistent basis and had dialogue with his agent, Leon Rose, since the beginning of free agency.” Although the Grizzlies have already formulated a set deal for the 10-time All-Star, there are still other teams in the picture.  Charlotte Bobcats head coach Larry Brown has been speaking with Iverson about teaming up again.  The Miami Heat and LA Clippers have also had conversations with him but have a more difficult route in signing the free agent with the luxury tax in place.  The deal from Memphis will likely be the biggest contract Iverson will see, knowing the franchise is around $3.5 million under the salary cap going into this season. The former Piston was also a member of the Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers earlier in his career.  Last season between Denver and Detroit he only played 57 games, averaging a career-low 17.5 points per game. All NBA regular season tickets are available here at Aceticket.com!

Ray Allen hit the go ahead 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining for the Celtics to beat the Charlotte Bobcats 111-109 in double overtime.  After missing the rim completely on an attempted jump shot with 33 seconds left in the period, Allen remained poised and drained the one they really needed. “That’s Ray,” said Celtics captain Paul Pierce.  “He’s a future Hall of Famer, and great players find a way.  When Ray shoots and misses shots, it doesn’t discourage him.”  Pierce led the Celtics in scoring with 32 points, followed by Allen with 22.  Rajon Rondo and Eddie House supplied 39 combined points for the Celtics, and were two of the major factors for Boston’s second half comeback. Celtics coach Doc Rivers couldn?t be happier with last night?s results going into the last few games of the regular season.  “There were so many times when we were down and could’ve gave up, and just made big shots,” said Rivers. “Our guys executed down the stretch.” Boston remains one game ahead of the Orlando Magic for second place in the Eastern conference with the win.  They will host the Atlanta Hawks next this Friday night at 7:30 pm. Boston Celtics tickets are now available!