The first quarter was one of runs. The Celtics came out strong and got off to a 10-4 lead in the first 5 minutes. The Pistons came back to tie it at 14 with 2:20. They traded baskets and the quarter ended with the Celtics up 20-18. Doc started the 2nd quarter with Powe, PJ, House, Pierce and Posey. Leon already had 2 rebounds in just 2 minutes of play but for some reason, Doc sat him in favor of Big Baby who played 6 minutes with only 1 point to show for it. Doc played Tony Allen almost 5 minutes but he looked rusty and finished with just 1 foul.
The game was tied at 27 before the Pistons went on a run to close out the quarter up 50-43. The Celtics shot 47% in the first quarter while holding the Pistons to 38% but by the half that was reversed. At the half, the Pistons were shooting 52% and the Celtics were shooting 39%. The Celtics were beating the Pistons on the boards 22-12 and the free throws were even at 17. But, the Celtics turned the ball over 5 more times than the Pistons.
The Celtics came out strong to start the third quarter and quickly cut into the lead. Ray Allen got it going finally as he got a layup on the first play of the second half and then he got a steal and pulled up for a jumper to cut the lead to 2 with 8:45 left in the third. They tied the game at 54 and then traded baskets until the Celtics allowed the Pistons to go on a 12-2 run to put the Pistons up for good. The Pistons led by as many as 11 points in the 4th quarter. The Celtics cut it to 100-97 on a Ray Allen 3 points with 10.7 seconds left but they couldn't get over the hump and the final score was 103-97.
Ray played only 29 minutes as he was in foul trouble for much of the game but he finally snapped out of his slump in the second half and finished with 25 points on 9-16 shooting to go with 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Chauncey Billups was playing possum in game 1 as there were a lot of questions as to whether he was still hurting from the hamstring injury but he came out tonight and was aggressive from the beginning and he finished with 19 points and 7 assists and showed no signs of the injury that seemed to hamper him in game 1. Rondo passed up open jumpers all game and that allowed the Pistons to double off of him on Pierce and Garnett. On one possession he even passed up a wide open shot that resulted in a 24 second violation. He was a monster on the boards, however and finished with 10 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals.
KG once again had a strong game with 24 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocks. Perk had 4 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 30 minutes and played some good defense inside. Pierce continued his strong play with 26 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 block. The bench came up short tonight as they scored only 9 points compared to 17 for the Pistons' bench. The Celtics have to get more from their bench if the Celtics are to win this series. Doc played Eddie House at the back up point, but his shot wasn't there and he went scoreless in 7 minutes. PJ Brown once again gave the Celtics a boost with 2 big jumpers to go with 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
Both teams shot 49% for the game. The Celtics won the battle of the boards 39-31. The Pistons shot 32 free throws to 25 for the Celtics and the Celtics turned the ball over 12 times to 9 for the Pistons. The Pistons picked up their defense and the Celtics struggled to get their offense going against it. On the other hand, the Celtics had big lapses in their defense and allowed way too many easy baskets. The Celtics walked the ball up the court and didn't pass the ball like they did in game 1. The Celtics must now do something they haven't been able to do in either of the first 2 series. They have to win on the road. They will have to get a better effort from their bench and they will have to tighten up their defense if they expect to win in Detroit. It's time for the Celtics to play a little possum and come out when the Pistons don't expect it and steal game 3 to regain their home court advantage.
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