BOSTON, March 27 (Ticker) -- Paul Pierce bailed out the Boston Celtics.

    Pierce made a driving layup with 10 seconds remaining as the Celtics avoided an embarrassing loss with a 102-99 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

     A jumper by Tony Battie with 60 seconds to play gave the Celtics a seemingly safe 98-91 lead. But Golden State reeled off the next eight points, capped by rookie Gilbert Arenas' 3-pointer from the top of the key with 15 seconds to play.

    On the Celtics' ensuing possession, Pierce drove the middle of the lane and was able to score over 6-11 Erick Dampier and high-riser Jason Richardson.

NBA TV highlights from Warriors-Celitcs: 56k | 300k The Celtics needed to squeak one out over a game Warriors squad.

  "The play he (Celtics coach Jim O'Brien) drew up was a similar play to the one in Miami," said Pierce, referring to a game earlier this season. "Golden State I don't think scouted the play well. We cleared out the whole left side, I saw a lane, went hard to the basket and got a layup.

"I want the ball when it's late in the game. I want an opportunity to try to win the game. Coach put me in that situation tonight and gave me a chance to do it and I came through for him."

Without a timeout, the Warriors went to Arenas, who drove the length of the court but was stopped along the left baseline and threw a pass into the lane that Pierce intercepted.

"We just said we weren't going to let the ball get to the rim," Celtics forward Antoine Walker said. "Gilbert was attacking the rim and we just collapsed on him."

Pierce, who scored 23 of his 33 points after halftime, sank a pair of foul shots with one second left to seal it. It was Pierce's 30th game in which he scored at least 30 points this season.

Walker added 22 points for the Celtics (41-31), who clinched their first .500 season since 1993.

Former Celtic Danny Fortson scored 20 points to lead Golden State, which lost for the 11th time in its last 12 games.

Facing one the NBA's worst teams, the Celtics were lethargic in the opening half, when they shot 30 percent (14-of-46) from the field and trailed, 45-37. Fortson had 10 points in the half to pace the Warriors.

The Celtics looked more like a playoff team to start the second half as they used 9-1 run to start the period, pulling even at 46-46 on a dunk by Battie.

Pierce, who struggled in the first half, came up huge in the third quarter. He scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, scoring from both inside and outside.

A 3-pointer by Walker with 2:31 left in the third quarter snapped a 65-65 tie and triggered an 8-2 run to close the quarter for Boston, which made 14-of-20 shots in the period.

Walker struggled from the field, making 9-of-25 shots. But the versatile forward helped in other areas as he added seven assists and four steals.

Coming off Tuesday's surprising win at Minnesota, the Warriors battled back, tying it at 84-84 on a 3-pointer by Arenas, who finished with 14 points.

Richardson finished with 18 points and Antawn Jamison 13 for Golden State, which shot 40 percent (36-of-90) and held a 56-41 rebounding advantage. Fortson and Dampier each collected 13 rebounds.

"It's awful, especially tonight," said Fortson, who was acquired prior to last season in a four-team trade from Boston. "I wanted to get this one tonight in the worst way I could but unfortunately, you know, Paul hit a tough shot at the end."

Walker was good from beyond the arc with 4:40 left to give Boston an 87-84 lead. Battie capped a 14-7 surge with his jumper to make it 98-91 with 60 seconds left.

But Jamison made a layup and 3-pointer before Arenas drilled a shot from beyond the arc to give the Warriors the lead.

"We couldn't let the game slip away from us," Walker said. "We needed to get that control early before they continued to build confidence. But they never buckled, despite the fact that we got the momentum back."

After their poor first half, the Celtics shot 51 percent (21-of-41) the rest of the way to finish at 43 percent (37-of-86).