BOSTON -- Paul Pierce came to Boston's rescue last night in more ways than one.

His 22 points and four rebounds were great, but the emotional lift that Pierce gave the Celtics when he returned from what looked like a severe knee injury catapulted Boston to a 98-88 victory.

"We saw him being carried off and we didn't know what the situation was," Boston forward Kevin Garnett said. "We kept asking, was he all right? Doc was trying to get us back to the huddle. One thing we know about P is he's very tough and we've seen him play through numerous injuries throughout the season.

"There were times when we thought he wasn't going to play, he played. He played his best, if you ask me. When he wasn't really responding, it was like, uh oh, what was going on? Doc had us back organized, and when he came out, you just heard the roar of the crowd. He was walking, he was up on his own strength, and he rejuvenated us, I think to the point where he gave everybody life."

While guarding Los Angeles superstar Kobe Bryant on a drive to the basket with 6:49 remaining in the third quarter, Pierce jumped, then landed on the foot of teammate Kendrick Perkins. He twisted his right knee in the process, straining it.

"Well, when I first fell to the ground I heard a pop in my knee, and all I felt was pain when I grabbed it," Pierce said. "And at that point I thought it was just, I thought I tore something. That's the way I felt at the time. Usually when I go down, I'm getting right back up, but it was an instance where I turned my knee and it popped, [I] heard it pop, and I was just in pain where I just couldn't move.

"Once I got to the back, I felt on it, then I stood on my two feet and just tried to see where the pain was at. It was on the inside of my knee. I tried to put weight on it, wasn't bad. I tried to lateral, a little soreness. Once I felt I could put weight on it, I was like, I had to get back out there to help my ballclub.

"That was all that was going through my mind, just being a part of it. I just wanted to get back out there."

Pierce was relieved that the injury wasn't as bad as he thought, because when it happened, he thought his season was over.

"I thought that was it," Pierce said. "I mean, I thought -- a lot of things going through my mind. I thought I tore something. Once I heard the pop, and I couldn't move it at first, I thought that was it.

"I really didn't test it until I got to the back, but obviously it's in pain right now. The doctor said I have a strained meniscus. We'll see how it feels tomorrow and the next day and go from there."

Boston All-Star Ray Allen said the Celtics would have continued to attack if Pierce did not return, but luckily for the Celtics, he did.

He came back to a standing ovation after just 1:45 of game time elapsed.

"I just told [coach Doc Rivers], `Let me get out there, see how I feel, and go from there,'" Pierce said. "I just didn't want to sit down and get stiff. So I said, let me give it a try and see how I feel."

Pierce wasn't just a decoy when he returned. He buried back-to-back 3-pointers in a 22-second span in the final two minutes of the third quarter that erased a two-point Celtics deficit and put Boston ahead for good, 75-71.

Allen said he was surprised that Pierce returned to the game.

"The way he was carried off, it seemed like he was done for the game, and then he came running back on the floor, and it was a great feeling for me, and just for me thinking about him because I didn't want -- any time anybody gets hurt at any point, whether they're on your team or on the other team, you just hate to see somebody go out through injury," Allen said.

"I was just glad for him that he was fine and that he picked it up. He came back in and he played well."