Make that four straight authoritative wins for Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics.

The most recent came Sunday, when the Truth scored 15 points in Boston's 92-85 defeat of the Miami Heat, and afterward, he had nothing but praise for the performance of Kevin Garnett, who scored 24 points on 11 of 12 shots from the field. As Paul told the Associated Press:

“He was big for us, especially defensively,” Pierce said. “He was really aggressive on the offensive end.”

It was the first game during the four-game streak that wasn't dominated by the Truth.

In a 113-110 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, Paul tallied a game-high 27 points on 10-of-15 shots, which included hitting three-of-seven attempts from deep. He also logged six assists and six boards, but as ESPNBoston.com columnist Chris Forsberg related, it was the Captain's intelligence down the stretch that secured the victory.

Pierce utilized his court smarts on the defensive end twice in the final 34 seconds, making a pair of savvy plays -- the type only veterans seem to make -- to ensure Boston emerged with a gritty victory.

Both plays involved fouls -- first taking, then giving. Coach Doc Rivers called the former -- a charge Pierce drew from Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala with 34 seconds to go -- the play of the game, but it's the latter that reflects why the Celtics often remain a step ahead of the competition.

With the 76ers trailing by three and little more than a second to play, Jason Kapono received an inbounds pass. Before he could even think about launching the potential tying shot, Pierce purposely fouled him with Philadelphia in the bonus.

You can't overcome a three-point deficit with two free throws. And when Kapono missed on his first attempt at the stripe, he had no choice but to intentionally miss the second and hope for a miracle.

Instead, the ball landed in Pierce's hands and he cradled it close to his body as time expired.

"That's something we talk about, something we work on," said Pierce. "We were in that situation last year against the Bulls and we gave Ben Gordon the 3 when we should have fouled. Early this year in training camp and practice, we've talked about it. With under 10 seconds and up by 3, that's our strategy: to foul. Play the free throw game and get the ball to our best free throw shooters."

A DUNK TO REMEMBER
Two nights later, Paul and Co. rolled to a 116-103 victory over the visiting Toronto Raptors, and while he had another stellar night on the floor (18 points, seven assists, two steals, two boards), it was his dunk over the Raptors' Chris Bosh that had the Boston faithful roaring in stunned appreciation.

For David Willis of the Eagle Tribune Online, the "dunk heard round the world" was worth an entire column. As he wrote:

It was 18 seconds into the fourth quarter. The Celtics captain drove to the basket, flew through the air and slammed a dunk down in the face of four-time NBA All-Star Chris Bosh.

But to say he slammed it in the 6-foot-10 Bosh's face does not capture the moment.

Hardly a waif, the muscular Pierce looked like a linebacker charging through the offensive line to lay out a quarterback — and that is what Pierce did as he sent Bosh flying to the ground, holding himself in pain.

Just to add to the moment, Pierce stood over Bosh in triumph (which drew a technical foul) before continuing on his way.

It was a dunk worthy of any Michael Jordan or Dominique Wilkins ever threw down in a game, with a force that could be felt throughout the building. It appeared for a second that the 32-year-old Pierce, not known as a skywalker, might come away with the rim in his hand.

If ever there was a single play that could define a season, that could shake the cobwebs off a sleeping giant and propel it to greatness, it was that dunk.

THE TRUTH GAINING PRAISE
As Frank Dell'Appa detailed in his Sunday article about Paul, No. 34 has been playing at an extremely high level during Boston's recent win streak.

He is hitting 51.5 percent from the field, 46.3 percent on 3-pointers, and 84.9 percent on free throws. His career bests are 47.1 percent (2006) from the field, 41.2 percent (1998-99) on 3-pointers, and 84.3 percent on free throws (2007-08).

“I’m taking better shots,’’ Pierce said. “It’s the combination of a lot of things. It’s the offense, getting to open spots, it’s working every day. I’m just trying to get better and I’m working at it.’’

Pierce is averaging 35 minutes 44 seconds of playing time, his lowest average since the 2000 season, and committing 2.0 turnovers; his best turnover average was 2.4 per game in the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons.

Coach Doc Rivers went on to list many qualities of Paul's that don't necessarily show in the stat sheet each night, but that he believes have been instrumental to the Celtics' success.

“He’s the MVP in the league as far as I’m concerned,’’ Rivers said. “Just all the things - leadership, preparation, his intensity on the floor, scoring, assisting. Even on nights he didn’t have big numbers, he made the timely baskets or made a timely defensive play. He’s just been very impressive.

“I just think he’s doing everything, making the extra pass. Early on [in Friday’s 116-103 win over Toronto], he had five shots he could have taken and passed them up to get to the next pass. He saw the action that led to the next action. He had a bunch, a ton of hockey assists, or soccer assists.

“The whole starting lineup is really high, percentage-wise. He’s just taking good shots, he’s letting the game come to him. He’s in no rush and he has complete trust in the system and in his team. He knows they’re going to get him the ball when he’s open. No reason to force the shot."

NEXT UP
No, 34 and the Celtics take on Charlotte on the road Tuesday night.

RELATED STORIES
Pierce fouls up Sixers (ESPNBoston.com, Nov. 26, 2009)
http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/columns/story?columnist=forsberg_chris&...
Pierce has been zeroed in lately (Boston Globe, Nov. 29, 2009)
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2009/11/29/celt...
The dunk heard 'round the NBA (Eagle Tribune, Nov. 28, 2009)
http://www.eagletribune.com/pusports/local_story_332011342.html?keyword=...

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