The Truth made himself known in the final period on Monday night, leading a scoring surge that powered Boston to a 94-87 win over the Toronto Raptors.

Paul scored an astounding 22 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter, and as Kevin Garnett explained to the Associated Press, it was something to behold.

"I love when Superman goes in the booth and transforms...I love it. I got the best seat in the house."

Remarkably, No. 34 hit seven of his final nine shots, helping Boston to overcome an eight-point deficit.

It marks the Celtics' fifth straight win.

PRAISE FROM DOC
Boston coach Doc Rivers spoke glowingly of his superstar after the game. As reported by the Boston Herald:

And the Celtics need to thank Pierce, chief among many, for bailing them out of a 15-point second-half hole. After making just two of his 10 shots in the first two periods, the captain went for 27 of his 36 points in the latter two, bagging eight of his 12 shots from the floor (3-for-4 on 3-pointers) and 8-of-9 from the free throw line.

“When he made his first one,” coach Doc Rivers said, “they called a timeout and I just jokingly said it’s about time; we’ve been waiting for a couple of games for this. You know, Paul is such a great scorer and the one thing you knew, and he said it, is, ‘Oh, you know I’m going to keep shooting. That’s one thing you never have to worry about with me is lack of confidence.’

“That’s why he’s a great player. That’s why great players are great players. The average player could not have withstood that in the first half. The average player misses shots and he shuts off. The great player misses shots and he starts thinking the odds are on his side.”

CONFIDENCE BOOST
For his own sake, Paul was happy to have a night like this one.

“I’ve been sort of in a slump lately, and hopefully with a game like this I can start playing a little bit better. But it is what it is. It’s going to be a long season. I don’t worry about slumps. I just try to do what I need to do to help this ballclub win.”

NEXT UP 
The Truth and Co. take on Atlanta at home on Wednesday night.

RELATED STORIES
Ref-reshed Paul Pierce goes off (Boston Herald, Nov. 11, 2008)
Pierce's huge 4th rallies Celtics past Raptors (Associated Press, Nov. 10, 2008)
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jMmEGIJahMhaousdkCt-fO9lY9MAD94CMSA80

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