The Toronto Raptors lost to the lowly Boston Celtics on Monday. Even worse, they lost first-year forward Jorge Garbajosa with a suspected broken left ankle.

Paul Pierce scored 23 points as the Celtics outlasted the visiting Raptors 95-87 before a crowd of 14,708 at the TD Banknorth Garden.

Jorge Garbajosa is wheeled away on a stretcher late in Monday's road loss.
(Elise Amendola/Associated Press)

It marked Boston's first win in four meetings with the Raptors, who were shaken by the horrific injury suffered by Garbajosa.

"He is a big part of our team, so we're definitely going to miss him," Raptors guard T.J. Ford said. "I hate that it happened because he brings so much to the table.

"On the defensive end, on the offensive end, his knowledge of the game. Man, it's tough."
 
Garbajosa was chasing down a dunking Al Jefferson when he landed awkwardly on his left ankle, which bent the wrong way.

Jefferson winced and immediately turned away in disgust as Garbajosa lay clutching his leg and yelling for help.

"I looked down and he was all twisted up," Jefferson said. "He was screaming and I could feel his pain."

Raptors teammate Jose Calderon gently covered Garbajosa's lower leg with a towel before he was taken away on a stretcher with 4:31 remaining.

Team spokesman Rover Yau said Garbajosa would remain in hospital overnight for evaluation.

"I really thought he broke his leg," Jefferson said.

Jefferson contributed 22 points and a team-best nine rebounds as the Celtics (21-49) halted a three-game losing skid.

Delonte West scored 22 points, while rookie Rajon Rondo had 16 points and matched Pierce's team-high eight assists.

Gerald Green came off the bench to net 10 points.

"We didn't shoot the ball particularly well," Pierce said. "But we got the turnovers and got the easy baskets."

Boston has been respectful of late, having won six of their last 10 games and 11 of 17.

"These guys are making the plays necessary and playing tough defence," Pierce said. "We have to give credit to our defence."

Ford drives Raptors offensively

Ford led all scorers with 28 points and nine assists for the Raptors (38-32), who had won two straight games and six of their previous eight.

Anthony Parker poured in 16 points followed by Chris Bosh with 15 points and a game-best 11 rebounds.

Garbajosa had five points and five rebounds before being hurt.

"That hurts us," Bosh said. "But the team has gotten it done without me.

"It's gotten it done without T.J., Jose, Anthony — the list goes on. This is just another situation that we have to get ready for and make sure everybody steps up their play."

Trailing 85-76, Ford drove the lane and completed a three-point play to cut Toronto's deficit to six points with 1:15 left in the fourth quarter.

Rondo landed a pair of free throws to put Boston ahead 87-79, but Ford completed another three-point play to trim it to 87-82 heading into the final minute.

After Green nailed a jump shot as the time-clock sounded, Ford responded with a three-point basket to bring Toronto to within four points at 89-85 with 26 seconds left.

But the Raptors were forced to foul at that point and conceded a bevvy of free throws before Calderon capped the scoring with an uncontested layup at the buzzer.

"Nobody played good, everybody played bad," Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell said. "We didn't play the way we've been playing.

"We threw the ball away, we tried to make great passes instead of make simple passes. We had 19 turnovers."

With files from Sports Network