The Celtics , in their home opener, limited Charlotte to a truly embarrassing 59 points. Jackson, acquired in a trade seven games ago, was supposed to change that for the Bobcats. Charlotte came into last night on a four-game win streak to play a Celtics team that, despite its own four-game run, was not playing up to its record.

The best that could be said for the Bobcats, however, was that they hit 90. Jackson shot just 4-for-13 from the floor, and the team with the shakier streak looked better than it has in a week.

Such was the nature of the Celtics' 108-90 win against the Bobcats. The C's have defeated the Bobcats by an average margin of 25.5 points in the teams' two meetings this season.

Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen (27 points), Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins started their 18th straight game as a unit, and in the case of the first three, the time for rest should have been at hand.

Garnett went back into the game with 6:30 left, to considerable boos. The Celtics , leading by 19, had four-fifths of their starting unit on the floor, with the exception of Marquis Daniels.

The move wasn't very productive. Charlotte responded with its best stretch of the night, a 15-2 run that cut its deficit from 28 points to 15 (98-83).

Celts coach Doc Rivers finally pulled Garnett and Rondo with 3:02 left, to derisive cheers from what was left of the crowd. Pierce and Perkins came out a minute later.

The Celtics started the third quarter with a 23-point, 62-39 cushion, and took good care of the lead in the third quarter.

Rasheed Wallace, a minute after a hoop that gave the visitors an 85-64 lead, rubbed it in with a 3-pointer for an 88-66 lead at the end of the quarter.

If there was indeed any doubt, the Celtics erased it in the first two minutes of the fourth, starting with three Allen free throws. Eddie House buried a 20-footer the next time down, and then went deeper with a 3-pointer for a 96-68 lead.

The C's led, 29-18, at the end of the first quarter, and the primary beneficiary of the ball movement was once again Perkins. When he wasn't posting up the Bobcats' Tyson Chandler, Perkins was cutting for easy baskets off Rondo's dribble penetration and Garnett's passes out of the post. The result was a 10-point, four-rebound, one-block first quarter for the center.

In the second quarter, Wallace picked up his second foul, complained, and was quickly whistled for his eighth technical. The `T' was his third in three games. On Sunday, he was fined $30,000 for his comments about the refs.

Nazr Mohammed increased the stakes when he attempted to go at Garnett at the start of a timeout with 2:54 left. Mohammed also received a technical for his aggression, which followed Garnett plowing into the Charlotte big man.

Keeping quiet wasn't going to help the Bobcats at that point, either.

- mrmurphy@bostonherald.com