Pierce Scores 22 In Fourth to Lift Celtics

By KC Downey in Celtics ⋅ November 11, 2008 at 3:00pm ⋅ Post a comment

Paul Pierce had a huge game Monday night against the Raptors, scoring 36 points (22 of those coming in the fourth quarter) to lead the Celtics in another comeback win, 94-87. The Truth finished 10-22 from the field and added nine rebounds, four assists, and a block to complete his night.

Toronto coach Sam Mitchell was quite impressed by Pierce’s performance.

“You look at the shots Paul Pierce made…He drove the basket a couple of times, but he was making a lot of 18, 19-foot shots with guys contesting him.”

Kevin Garnett added 21 points and 10 rebounds in the win. While guarding Chris Bosh for most of the night, KG really nuetralized Bosh’s offensive game. Bosh finished with just nine points on 3-8 shooting with seven rebounds.

Jermaine O’Neal, meanwhile, played extremely well while being guarded by Kendrick Perkins. O’Neal scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the losing effort. With the score tied 84-84, Perk recovered to block an O’Neal shot, which led to a Paul Pierce jumper and a Celtics lead they would not relinquish.

Boston was down 48-36 at the half, but began to turn it around in the third quarter to cut the Toronto lead to 6. They then outscored the Raptors by 13 in the final frame to pick up the victory.

The Celts next play against the Hawks Wednesday night.