In the first three quarters Boston Celtics captain Paul Pierce was awful. He was 3 for 13 from the field and the Toronto Raptors were running the Celtics out of the TD Banknorth Garden leading by as many as 16 points in the third.
But Dr. James Naismith made basketball four quarters and it was a good thing he did. Not only did Pierce redeem himself but the Celtics did as well. Behind Pierce’s 27 points in the last 16 minutes (22 in the final quarter) and 36 for the game Boston (7-1) came back and beat Toronto 94-87 in a devastating loss for the Canadian Dinosaurs (4-3).
Pierce was absolutely magical. The Garden was rocking. It was truly something to watch. At one point 9 guys on the floor were watching Pierce as he took over.
In addition to Pierce, Kevin Garnett had a double-double with 21 points and 10 boards while Ray Allen added 19 points for the Green.
The Raptors were paced by Jermaine O’Neal who had a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds, Anthony Parker (Candace’s big brother) had 15 points and Jason Kopono added 14 points in the collapse.
The Celtics are back on Wednesday night when they face Atlanta at home.
