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BOSTON (AP) _ Power forwards Danny Fortson and Elton Brand were coming off their best performances of the season. On Friday night, Fortson topped Chicago's outstanding rookie.

Fortson had 21 points and 10 rebounds two nights after getting a season-high 23 points with 14 rebounds as the Boston Celtics beat the Bulls 106-91. Brand had a team-high 18 points and added nine rebounds, far off his 44-point, 12-rebound show of the previous evening.

``Boston did a terrific job keeping the ball away from Elton,'' Chicago coach Tim Floyd said. ``Fortson was too physical for us.''

The Celtics never trailed in the meeting between two teams already eliminated from playoff contention, leading by as much as 28 points, 97-69, after opening the fourth quarter with an 11-2 run following a 9-0 finish to the third.

``We're much better than our record (33-46) indicates,'' Antoine Walker said. ``We haven't been able to play well on a consistent basis.''

The win was the Celtics' third straight. But they had lost their previous 10 games. Still, they avoided becoming the only team to lose to Chicago (17-62) three times.

``You shouldn't pack it in,'' Celtics coach Rick Pitino said. ``Our fans are here to see us perform and we are out there to get better.''

The closest the Bulls came in the last three quarters was 51-44 in the first minute of the third. Then they had the ball stolen four times in three minutes and fell behind 62-44 with 9:15 left in the quarter.

``The first few minutes of the third quarter they controlled our offensive schemes and that was the turning point,'' Brand said. ``They forced us into turnovers and their physical play forced us out of our game.''

Yet, Pitino said, ``We still have a very long way to go on defense.''

The Celtics won't get there this season, which ends for them Wednesday night at home against the New York Knicks.

``We have three (games) left and I hope we can continue the win streak and finish up strong,'' Pitino said.

Paul Pierce added 20 points for Boston and Walker had 14 with seven assists. For Chicago, Michael Ruffin had career highs of 14 points and 10 rebounds.

``We needed to come out and make a run in the third quarter and we didn't do that,'' Ruffin said.

The Bulls had won their first two meetings with the Celtics, both in Chicago. Then they lost 104-74, the Celtics' biggest winning margin of the season, on March 10 as they scored just 33 points in the second half.

The Bulls did cut Friday's lead to 77-67 with 2:39 left in the third quarter before the Celtics finished with a 9-0 spurt on two free throws each by Pierce and Tony Battie, a three-point play by Eric Williams and a layup by Fortson.

``Their pressure forced us into problems all night,'' Floyd said.

And, with no playoff spot to play for, the Celtics enjoyed the night, often smiling at each other on the court.

``We decided as a team to go out and finish strong,'' Pierce said.

Notes: The Celtics' 16 steals were three fewer than their season high, accomplished twice, the last against the Bulls on March 10. ... Chicago rookie Ron Artest missed his second straight game with a severely sprained right ankle. ... The Bulls started the game ranked last in the league in points and field goal percentage and had allowed the most steals while committing the most turnovers. ... Boston's substitutes scored 61 points while Chicago's backups had 40.