Big win at the Banknorth Garden 1st home lose of the playoffs

BIG ONE IN BOSTON

The Boston Celtics got to the Eastern Conference finals without having to win a road game. Now they do. At least if they want to get to the NBA Finals. On a night all of Boston’s big three were big – really big – the Pistons were a little bigger, a little better. In a sublime fourth quarter, the Pistons made big shot after big shot and weathered a barrage of Boston daggers amid a furious rally that saw an 11-point Pistons lead sliced to two. The 103-97 win evens the series, 1-1, with games 3 and 4 at The Palace. The Pistons put six players in double figures – all five starters plus rookie Rodney Stuckey, brilliant off the bench – to counter a combined 75 points from Kevin Garnett (26), Paul Pierce (24) and Ray Allen (25), who scored 20 in the second half. The Pistons got 61 points from their four guards, led by Rip Hamilton with 25 and Chauncey Billups – looking much more like himself – with 19. It was the Pistons’ ninth straight win in the second game of a playoff series and Boston’s first loss in 10 home playoff games this postseason.

HAMILTON: “Tonight it was like, all year long we said we love each other, now when we go out there don’t leave anybody hanging. We did a good job of not leaving anybody hanging, not just on offense but on defense and did a good job of getting the win.”

FLIP SAUNDERS: “We had some guys that made big shots – Rip in the fourth quarter, McDyess made a huge shot. We got big-time offensive rebounds late in the game – Rip had one, Tay had one, Dice. … I knew we would play well coming in here tonight. We’ve done that all three series. First game, we’ve not played well on the road. Second game, we’ve come back with a lot more concentration and played better and we did that tonight.”

this is the game that we really need to capture.

lets go home and do some adjustments to regain momentum