BOSTON – Paul Pierce and Raef LaFrentz beat the New Jersey Nets the same way they used to rough up opponents at the University of Kansas.

Pierce had 28 points, 10 re bounds, and 10 assists for his fifth career triple-double, and LaFrentz added 21 points and eight rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics to a 110-89 victory over the Nets last night.

Jason Kidd had 25 points for New Jersey, which had its four-game winning streak snapped. Vince Carter added 22 points and five assists for the Nets. Kidd, Carter and Billy Thomas (13) were the only players in double figures for New Jersey.

“To get a triple-double through three quarters is pretty impressive,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “You could tell early on, his body chemistry and how he got everybody else involved that he wanted this game.”

Pierce had 14 points and four assists in the third quarter to help the Celtics, 4-2 in their last six games, open an 87-58 lead with 1:35 left in the quarter. Pierce and LaFrentz combined for 26 of the Celtics’ 32 points in the period.

“When Raef and I played together in college, we always had good chemistry,” said Pierce, who teamed with LaFrentz at Kansas from 1995-98. “I try to find him on the court because he has good hands and is a great finisher.”

Gary Payton added 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting for the Celtics. With the victory and Philadelphia’s loss to Houston, Boston moved back into first place in the Atlantic Division. Over the last 11 games, Boston is 8-3 at home against New Jersey.

The Nets are 10-11 since acquiring Carter, who ended his streak with three straight games of 30 or more points, but has 39 assists in the last five games. Stephon Marbury scored 30 or more points in five straight games for New Jersey from November 3-11, 2000.

“They jumped on us early,” Carter said. “Any time you get down to a high scoring team, it makes the hole that much deeper.”

Boston outscored New Jersey 23-10 in the final 8:16 of the first half to take a 55-39 lead.The Nets shot 5-of-24 from the floor in the second quarter.

New Jersey was 9-of-17 on 3-pointers and is 25-of-46 in the last three games.

“We got outplayed tonight and allowed too many easy baskets,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said.

After hitting seven 3-pointers, Kidd made his only 2-point field goal with 7:09 remaining in the third quarter. Kidd fell one short of tying his career high of eight 3-pointers against Golden State in 1997.

Nets rookie center Nenad Krstic was taken to the hospital after complaining of shortness of breath. His X-rays and MRI were negative.