Boston hits road with new weapon

The Celtics lost to Milwaukee earlier in the season and have dropped five of eight and six of the last 10 meetings. Boston has also lost 10 of 12 and 13 of 16 as the road team in this series.

On Friday, Wally Szczerbiak scored 10 points in his Boston debut, as the Celtics got the best of Ron Artest and the Sacramento Kings, 84-74, at TD Banknorth Garden.

Paul Pierce had 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists to pace Boston to its fourth victory in six tries.

Szczerbiak, who entered the game with 3:30 left in the second quarter and made 4- of-7 shots in 24 minutes, was acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday along with center Michael Olowokandi, center Dwayne Jones and a future first round draft choice for guards Ricky Davis and Marcus Banks, center Mark Blount, forward Justin Reed and two conditional second round draft choices.

Kendrick Perkins added 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Raef LaFrentz ended with 12 points and 10 boards in the win.

Szczerbiak, who will start on Sunday, has had no trouble finding a role, whereas Olowokandi could have a hard time cracking the rotation. Head coach Doc Rivers plans on sticking with his front-court rotation of Kendrick Perkins, Al Jefferson, Brian Scalabrine and Raef LaFrentz.

Olowokandi has never lived up to expectations since being selected by the Los Angeles Clippers as the first overall pick in the 1998 draft. Prior to the trade, he was averaging just 6.0 points, 5.6 rebounds in 23.5 minutes for the Wolves.

Boston, which will close this short trip in Minnesota on Monday, is a dismal 4-16 away from home this season.