Rajon Rondo had 17 points and 11 assists for Boston. The Celtics had won five in a row.

Pierce had 15 points and 10 rebounds, but he couldn’t maneuver into open space after Boston inbounded the ball with 7.9 seconds left. Duncan stayed on him, forcing Pierce to step back near the top of the key for a floater that clanged harmlessly off the rim.

Avery Bradley scored 19 points off the bench for Boston, and Kevin Garnett had 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Ray Allen returned after missing six games with a sore right ankle and added seven rebounds and five points, including a 3-pointer in the final minute that brought Boston within a point.

Green missed for San Antonio and Garnett got the rebound, but the Celtics couldn’t convert.

San Antonio, which averaged 107 points in the first eight games of its winning streak, had 59 in the first half and 28 in the second.

It was 36-all when the Spurs scored 12 consecutive points, including back-to-back 3-pointers from Matt Bonner. After Bradley snapped the string with a jumper, San Antonio rattled off another seven in a row to make it 55-38.

Boston cut it to 11 points by the end of the half and got within four in the third, holding the Spurs to nine points in the quarter. It was two points early in the fourth, and San Antonio led 77-70 before Garnett hit a pair of free throws, Rondo stole the ball and fed it to Bradley for a layup and then Garnett hit a layup to make it a one-point game.

Notes: Kentucky coach John Calipari was courtside, two days after winning the NCAA championship. … Pierce was the Eastern Conference’s player of the month for March. He averaged 22 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists while leading the Celtics to a 12-5 record in the month. … The Spurs were 5 for 8 from 3-point range in the second quarter and 0 for 8 in the third. … All of San Antonio’s points in the first quarter came in the paint.

Pierce scored seven points over a 2:05 span in overtime.

Luis Scola had 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Samuel Dalembert had 11 points and 17 boards for Houston.

The Rockets, who had been outrebounded in 10 consecutive games, grabbed 57 rebounds to 38 for Boston, which beat the New York Knicks in overtime on Sunday.

Garnett finished with 13,100 rebounds, one more than O’Neal.

Rondo had 12 assists, but all of his nine points came in the first quarter.

Houston trailed 57-47 with 8 minutes left in the third but outscored the Celtics 21-6 over the rest of the quarter. Boston made just one basket in the final 8:58 of the period, and just one in the first 7:16 of the fourth.

The Celtics trailed 80-70 with 5:33 left before scoring 14 of the next 16 points, taking advantage of back-to-back Houston airballs and 24-second clock violations and making it a three-point game, 80-77, on a fast break from Pierce to Rondo to Allen with 2:49 left.

Houston again ran down the 24-second clock, with Kyle Lowry forcing up a 30-footer at the buzzer. This one caught the rim and Dalembert got the rebound and made a layup. Pierce made two free throws, then Garnett grabbed another defensive rebound — tying O’Neal — and made a pair of free throws to make it 82-81.

Courtney Lee missed a scoop shot, and Allen got the rebound. The Celtics moved the ball up in transition and then Allen got the ball in the left corner, sidestepped Lee’s lunge and drained a 3-pointer to give Boston an 84-82 lead with 36 seconds left.

Scola missed again for Houston and Allen got the rebound. Rondo broke for the basket and got the ball with a clear shot, but he missed the uncontested layup. Scola hit Dragic for a long jumper to tie it.

Allen had a contested shot at the buzzer to win it in regulation, but it went off the rim.

Allen opened the scoring in overtime, and after Dragic’s jumper, Garnett gave Boston an 88-86 lead. Pierce then ran off seven straight Celtics points, starting with a three-point play that gave them the lead for good.

Notes: Pierce has played in 998 NBA games, third all-time on the Celtics. … Rockets coach Kevin McHale, a former Celtic, got a big cheer when he was shown on the scoreboard before the game. … Dalembert fouled out with 48 seconds left in overtime. … Houston fell to 8-3 against the Eastern Conference this season.

“The coach told me I was out of the game. I have to respect his decision,” said Johnson, who had four catches for 40 yards to become the first Bills receiver with consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. “I can’t complain about it or whine or pout. He made his decision and I am going with it. … I have to take that, and I will.”

Undershirt decoration has become something of a hobby for Johnson, who wore one against Cincinnati last season that said, “Why So Serious?” The NFL fined him $5,000, but he was not penalized; that’s why Johnson said he thought he could get away with it this time.

“I didn’t know it was going to draw a penalty,” he told reporters.

Johnson was also fined $10,000 for pretending to shoot off a rifle against the Patriots last year, mocking the costumed Minutemen who celebrate a New England score. And he drew an excessive celebration penalty against the Jets this season when he pretended to shoot himself in the legs — mimicking New York receiver Plaxico Burress — then imitated an airplane crashing into the turf.

After that one, Gailey warned the team that anyone who drew a demonstration penalty would be benched.

“If I say that, I’m going to do it,” Gailey said. “So he was out.”

Gailey said he didn’t know why Johnson was penalized this time and not against the Bengals last year.

But it didn’t matter, because he had been clear with his warning.

“I got tired of it the first time it happened,” Gailey said. “But you hope people learn from situations. There isn’t anybody who hasn’t made mistakes, but you’ve got to learn from your mistakes. And everybody falls in that category — me too.

“He is not a bad guy; he’s not. He’s a good guy, but he uses some bad judgment at times and if you do that enough and it hurts the team, you’ve got to do something.”

The histrionics add to an already uncertain future for the Bills (6-10) and their No. 1 receiver, who can became a free agent now that their season is over. Johnson said he would prefer to re-sign with Buffalo, but negotiations over a new deal broke down in November when he rejected the team’s latest offer.

“I come here to work just like everybody else in this locker room,” he said. “I know the guys around here put in a lot of work to come out here and go up by 21 points on the New England Patriots. … To end the season like this, it hurts, and it was something today that I feel I made a mistake for my teammates.”

Without Johnson or tight end Scott Chandler, who left in the first half with a knee injury, the Bills blew a 21-0 lead and lost for the eighth in their final nine games. And the Patriots, who were booed off the field after one quarter, coasted into the playoffs with the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

Tom Brady finished the regular season with the second most yards passing in NFL history, 5,235, after throwing for 338. Drew Brees, who last week broke Dan Marino’s record of 5,084 with the Miami Dolphins in 1984, added 389 Sunday for the Saints and ended with 5,486.

The Patriots (13-3) finished the season with eight straight wins. But the playoffs will be a challenge for a defense that gave up the most yards passing in NFL history: 4,727. The previous mark of 4,541 was set by the Atlanta Falcons in 1995.

After Tashard Choice gave Buffalo a 7-0 lead with a 4-yard touchdown run, Ryan Fitzpatrick hit Johnson for an 18-yard score and then connected with C.J. Spiller for a 15-yard TD. At that point, Fitzpatrick was 13 for 16 for 156 yards and two touchdowns and Brady was 0 for 2.

But Brady finished with 23 completions in 35 attempts for three touchdowns — two to Rob Gronkowski — and one interception. Fitzpatrick completed 29 of 46 for 307 yards in all, with two TDs and four interceptions.

Gronkowski set the single-season record for tight ends with 1,327 yards receiving after gaining 108 on eight catches. That broke the mark of 1,310 set earlier Sunday by Jimmy Graham of the Saints. The previous mark of 1,290 was set in 1980 by Kellen Winslow of the San Diego Chargers.

A 1-yard run by BenJarvus Green-Ellis and a 39-yard pass to Aaron Hernandez, which put Brady over the 5,000-yard mark, cut the lead to 21-14. Stephen Gostkowski had a pair of field goals to bring the Patriots within one point, and they went ahead to stay on a 17-yard pass to Gronkowski with 1:32 left in the third quarter; Danny Woodhead ran it in for the 2-point conversion.

Green-Ellis scored another touchdown and Gronkowski added another TD catch before Sterling Moore picked Fitzpatrick off and ran it 21 yards to make it 49-21 just seven seconds later.

Notes: Tight end Chandler didn’t play after the second quarter. … Rookie Stevan Ridley led the Patriots with a career-high 81 yards rushing. … Welker had six catches for 51 yards and led the NFL with 122 receptions and 1,569 yards receiving.