BOSTON — Paul Pierce walked into the postgame interview room with his right hand wrapped in ice, cooling down after a hot-shooting final quarter.
"We're cooling it down," Kevin Garnett joked after Pierce scored 22 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter to lead Boston's 94-87 comeback win over the Raptors on Monday night.
It was something the Raptors' defenders couldn't do.
"I've had a sprained hand for about a week, so we're just icing it down," Pierce said. "I try not to think about it. It's been bothering me."
If it was, it certainly didn't show Monday night.
Pierce made 7-of-9 shots in the final quarter — including a pair of 3s just 40 seconds apart midway into the period — as Boston overcame an eight-point deficit en route to its fifth straight win.
"You look at the shots Paul Pierce made," Toronto coach Sam Mitchell said. "He drove the basket a couple of times, but he was making a lot of 18-, 19-foot shots with guys contesting him."
Garnett added 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Ray Allen had 19 points for the Celtics (7-1). Boston scored 58 points in the second half after getting just 36 in the opening 24 minutes.
"I love when Superman goes in the booth and transforms," Garnett said of Pierce's performance. "I love it. I got the best seat in the house."
Jermaine O'Neal recovered from a rough night in Sunday's win over Charlotte, leading the Raptors (4-3) with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Anthony Parker scored 15 and Jason Kapono 14 for Toronto.
"In the fourth quarter, they did a good job of making shots," O'Neal said. "Ray, Paul and the others have an incredible comfort level with each other. We've got to figure a way to keep those guys down, especially when we're up 15 or 16 points in a game."
With the score tied 84-all, Boston center Kendrick Perkins, who had trouble containing O'Neal most the game, blocked a turnaround and Pierce hit a jumper on the other end, giving the Celtics an 86-84 lead with 1:38 left.
On the ensuing possession, O'Neal lost the ball out of bounds. Pierce then hit a 17-footer to give Boston a four-point edge before putting the game away with a spinning, driving scoop shot that made it 90-84 with 34.4 seconds left.
When the ball went through the hoop, Pierce turned and pump his right fist as the Raptors called timeout.
Boston, which trailed by 15 points early in the third quarter and by six entering the fourth, used a scrappy, trapping halfcourt defense to bottle up the Raptors' offense while going on a 9-2 run to close the score to 71-70 on Pierce's jumper with 8:19 to play.
The teams traded 3-pointers — with Pierce getting both for Boston — before Eddie House made a 3 from the right corner to give the Celtics their first lead since the game's opening minutes, 79-77, with 4:45 to go.
TRAIL BLAZERS 106, MAGIC 99: At Orlando, Fla., Brandon Roy scored 27 points to lead the Trail Blazers to their first road win with a victory over the Magic. Dwight Howard had 29 points and a season-high 19 rebounds and Hedo Turkoglu added 35 points for the Magic, who finished their homestand 4-1.
HEAT 99, NETS 94: At Miami, Dwyane Wade scored 19 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, and the Heat rallied from a 10-point deficit midway through the final quarter to beat the Nets. Michael Beasley scored 19 points and Daequan Cook added 15 for the Heat, who are 3-0 at home for the first time since the 1999-2000 season — and had to dig deep to get there, after the Nets seemed to have the game completely under control for much of the second half.
PACERS 107, THUNDER 99: At Indianapolis, T.J. Ford had 24 points and 10 assists to help the Pacers beat the Thunder. Ford scored 11 points in the final period as Indiana (3-3) pulled away. Danny Granger added 20 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, who won their second straight.
SUNS 107, GRIZZLIES 102: At Phoenix, Leandro Barbosa scored 16 of his team-high 27 points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 43.8 seconds left, and the Suns withstood a furious fourth-quarter rally to beat the Grizzlies.