01:00 AM EST on Tuesday, December 20, 2005

BY SHALISE MANZA YOUNG
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics last night bounced back from their worst loss of the season as six players scored in double figures. The Green won the rebounding battle, spread the ball around, pounded the ball down low and did just about everything head coach Doc Rivers asked of them.

The result was a 109-98 thumping of the Golden State Warriors, who were in town for the third game of their five-game East Coast swing. On Saturday, Boston had suffered a 32-point loss in Chicago.

Ricky Davis led a balanced attack for the Green last night with 21 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds; Paul Pierce had 19 points, 9 boards and 5 assists; Mark Blount added 17 points, Marcus Banks had 16, Al Jefferson 13 and Raef LaFrentz 10 as Boston improved to 10-14 and put itself in prime position to finally win two games in a row this season. The struggling Utah Jazz visit the TD Banknorth Garden tomorrow night.

"We played a dangerous basketball team, and we kind of dictated where they were going to get points," Rivers said. "We decided to switch, and we were going to live with Baron Davis with the ball in his hands a lot and making shots but not creating for others. That's what we were trying to do and we got away with it."

The Warriors (14-11) also were coming off their worst loss of the season, a 118-90 lost to the Nets. In that game, they shot only 38 percent from the field.

Last night, Golden State shot 41 percent (37-for-90) and had just 37 rebounds, to 49 for Boston. Nearly 60 percent of those rebounds came from two players -- Troy Murphy (12) and Mike Dunleavy (10). They also had just 15 assists -- 9 by Davis, who also added 24 points.

On several occasions, it seemed Golden State's offensive game plan was to bring the ball up the court and immediately take a 3-point shot, a move that didn't work since the Warriors made just 5 of 21 shots from beyond the arc.

For Boston, even the rebounding effort was balanced -- Pierce led the team with 9 and Jefferson had 8. Both Kendrick Perkins and Ryan Gomes had seven boards, and each got them in a little less than 16 minutes apiece. Jefferson and Gomes led the Celtics with three offensive boards each. As a team, Boston had 13 offensive rebounds, leading to 27 second-chance points.

"It was great," Rivers said of the offensive-rebounding effort. "Before the game, we talked about getting extra shots by forcing turnovers and with offensive rebounds."

The teams played a tight first quarter, won by Golden State after Davis blew by the defense in the closing seconds to put his team up, 27-26.

But keyed by Marcus Banks, who started in place of Delonte West (concussion), Boston took off in the second quarter and had a 62-51 advantage at halftime. The Green were up, 45-36, with 5:30 to go in the half when they turned the ball over on four straight possessions and the Warriors took advantage, scoring eight straight points.

The Celtics settled down before any more damage was done, with Blount hitting two free throws and Davis slamming down a pass from Pierce. Then Banks became a one-man scoring machine, hitting Boston's next 10 points -- on a layup, a 3-pointer from Davis, a coast-to-coast layup after a long defensive rebound and on another trey. The second one hit the front of the rim, popped up and went through the hoop.

Golden State chipped away in the third quarter and eventually tied the score at 78 on a free throw by Murphy (game-high 27 points) with 1:42 to play in the period.

The Celtics answered, scoring 8 of the last 10 points in the quarter. Their lead grew to as many as 13 points near the end of the game.

"Everyone who contributed played well," Gomes said. "Sometimes there are ugly wins and there are good wins, and I think this was right in between. I think we didn't play our best basketball yet, but I think things are coming together. We just have to keep trying to move forward because we haven't won two games (in a row) yet."