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Celtics beat Raptors, who lose another to injury

Apr 8, 2010 - 3:18 AM TORONTO(AP) -- It's a good thing Michael Finley didn't have anything else in his suitcase.

Finley made three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with 14 points as the Boston Celtics capitalized on another injury to a Toronto player by beating the Raptors 115-104 on Wednesday night.

Finley nearly didn't play after he strained his back picking up his luggage at the team hotel.

"That's when you know you're old," Boston coach Doc Rivers joked.

Boston trainer Ed Lacerte loosened the 37-year-old Finely up with a massage, and the veteran reserve pitched in 11 points in the fourth.

"If the game had started at 3 o'clock I probably wouldn't have played," Finley said. "Ed worked on me before the game, I went and shot around and it was better so I was able to play."

Rajon Rondo led Boston with 21 points and Paul Pierce added 20.

Kevin Garnett scored 19 points and Ray Allen had 18, including 10 in the final quarter, as the Celtics won their eighth straight over Toronto, sweeping the series for the second consecutive season.

"Our shooting won the game for us tonight," Rivers said. "When Ray and Michael get it going at the same time and they're both on the floor, that makes us really good because we can still pound the ball down low and affect the other team's ability to take the low-post game away because they're so worried about the guys out on the perimeter."

Sonny Weems scored a career-high 21 for the Raptors, who played their first game since All-Star Chris Bosh suffered two facial fractures in Tuesday's loss at Cleveland.

Things got worse for Toronto when Hedo Turkoglu left late in the first after bumping heads with Boston's Tony Allen. Turkoglu sustained a nasal contusion and was taken to hospital for a CT scan.

"When it rains it pours, I guess," Toronto swingman Antoine Wright said. "We're dropping like flies right now."

The Raptors' team doctor, Paul Marks, said before the game that Bosh is expected to need "weeks" to recover from surgery Wednesday to repair his nasal fracture, which happened when he was struck by an inadvertent elbow from Antawn Jamison. Bosh remains in a Cleveland hospital and is scheduled to return to Toronto on Thursday.

Andrea Bargnani, Jarrett Jack and Wright scored 17 points, and DeMar DeRozan had 14 for the Raptors, who have lost three straight.

Weems scored 17 in the first half but made just one field goal after the break.

Rondo shot 6 for 7 in the second half and scored 16 points.

"We told him to be more aggressive and attack," Rivers said. "In the second half we used Rondo as out attack weapon."

Reggie Evans started for Toronto in place of Bosh. Turkoglu returned to the starting lineup in place of Wright, who left Tuesday's game with a sore left ankle.

"I thought our guys played as hard as they could," Toronto coach Jay Triano. "I commended them for their effort after the game, they really battled. Did we play really well and make shots? No, but they didn't back down and they fought."

Finley hit 3-pointers on either side of a layup by DeRozan in the fourth to give the Celtics their biggest lead, 98-85, with 6:53 left.

"I feel like he's one of the best shooters still in the game," Rondo said of Finley. "He definitely has the best form. Anytime he's open I'm trying to give him the ball."

Toronto scored eight straight points, cutting it to 99-91, but Rondo made a jumper and answered Jack's floater with a three-point play, keeping the Celtics comfortably in front.

NOTES: Toronto's last victory over the Celtics was Jan 23, 2008, a 114-112 win at Boston. ... Toronto's bench outscored the starters 58-46. ... The Raptors held an opponent below 25 assists for the first time in six games. The Celtics had 22 assists.