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No Garnett, no problem for Celtics against Thunder

Mar 30, 2009 - 2:34 AM BOSTON (AP) -- Boston Celtics spokesman Jeff Twiss scored it as the first, unofficial triple-double in Glen "Big Baby" Davis' career: 19 points, 10 rebounds - and 10 stitches.

The Celtics power forward left in the third quarter after being elbowed in the head and returned after getting stitched up to score 15 points in the final 10 minutes and lead Boston to a 103-84 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night.

"I'm going to have somebody knock some sense into him, like they did," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "Clearly, once they hit him he was a different person. So, either someone else on the other team, or I'm going to carry a hammer around."

Davis, who has been starting since Kevin Garnett went out with a strained right knee, had just two points in the first half and two more before Kevin Durant's elbow came down on his forehead with 5:47 left in the third quarter and Boston trailing by six. Davis returned to the bench at the end of the quarter and came back in with 9:42 to play and the Celtics up 77-72.

"Baby's a bleeder," said Paul Pierce, who scored 27 points. "I don't know what's going on with him. I just know that if we ever get into it, I know where to hit him."

He then helped Boston score eight of the next 10 points and 13 of the next 18 to break the game open. Down the stretch, he scored 11 straight Celtics points.

"I got hit in the head and it sparked something in me for some reason," Davis said in the locker room afterward, his feet soaking in a bucket of ice and a square bandage covering the cut on his forehead. "I don't know how, but I'm glad it did."

Eddie House scored 14 of his 16 in the second half - nine of them during an 11-1 run in the third quarter when the Celtics took the lead for good. Reserve Mikki Moore scored 12 with 11 boards and Rajon Rondo had 12 assists to help the Celtics win their sixth out of seven despite missing Garnett for the 15th time in 19 games.

Davis doesn't have any real triple-doubles, but during the last five games he has had three of the top-scoring performances of his career and two of his three career double-doubles.

"You don't want Kevin to be hurt," Pierce said, "but the experience these guys are getting is going to be huge for us in the playoffs."

Russell Westbrook scored 23 points and Kevin Durant added 21 for the Thunder, which lost their third straight and fifth of six.

"We did a pretty good job for three quarters," coach Scott Brooks said. "We had a chance to make it a good fourth quarter game and didn't do a good job of executing."

Westbrook drove the lane just before the halftime buzzer to tie it 45-all and the Thunder led by as many as eight points, 64-56, with 4:11 left in the third. But Boston scored 10 of the next 11 points to take the lead, getting a pair of 3-pointers and a long 2 from House.

The Celtics led 71-68 to start the fourth before scoring 15 of the next 20 points.