BOSTON (AP) – The Boston Celtics taunted Jalen Rose early, and Ricky Davis got on Milt Palacio when it was over.

Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker each scored 24 points, and the Celtics nearly blew a 16-point fourth-quarter lead before pulling out a 110-109 win over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.

The victory was the fifth straight for the Atlantic Division-leading Celtics and their ninth in 10 games since acquiring Walker from Atlanta on Feb. 24.

A few players on Boston’s bench were teasing Rose after Pierce nailed a jumper and was fouled on Boston’s first possession of the game, saying “He’s going to foul you out.”

After Pierce missed a jumper in the closing seconds, the Raptors came down for the final shot without calling timeout. Palacio’s drive bounced off the backboard, and the buzzer sounded.

“I felt like we had a better chance of getting to the basket or maybe getting a foul,” Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said of not calling timeout in the final six seconds.

Davis appeared to be yelling into Palacio’s ear as the Raptors guard walked to midcourt.

“We were talking trash the whole fourth quarter,” Palacio said. “I kept telling him he wasn’t going to score on me, and he kept telling me I wasn’t going to score on him. He thought he played me. I thought I got fouled.

“We don’t play defense,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said of his team’s fourth-quarter fade. “That was horrible. We’ve come a long way when we win a game and the guys have their heads down. They were upset, frustrated.

Tony Allen finished with 16 points for Boston, including a pair of big baskets in the final 1:46. Davis had 14.

Rose led the Raptors with a season-high 35 points and Chris Bosh had 20 before leaving with a bruised lower back early in the final quarter.

Rose scored seven straight points, giving the Raptors a 107-106 lead on a driving shot over Pierce with 2:03 to play. Allen broke free inside for a jam, but Toronto regained the lead on Rafer Alston’s jumper with 1:30 to play.

Allen’s drive made it 110-109 14 seconds later.

Boston had a 20-8 run to start the second half, hitting seven of its first nine shots, and led 90-74 after three. Walker had 12 points in the quarter on 5-for-5 shooting.

Bosh and Marcus Banks appeared to get their legs tangled in front of the Boston bench, causing a nasty spill for the pair.

Notes: Donyell Marshall, who finished with 16 points, hit four 3-pointers after an NBA record-tying 12 Sunday against Philadelphia. The Raptors, who made a league record 21 3-pointers Sunday, had eight.

AP-ES-03-16-05 2300EST