The Pistons Celtics Rivalry

The Pistons-Celtics Rivalry or Celtics-Pistons rivalry refers to the rivalry between two teams in the National Basketball Association's Eastern Conference, the Detroit Pistons and the Boston Celtics. The rivalry peaked in the late 1980s, featuring players such as Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Isiah Thomas, and Joe Dumars. These teams met in the NBA Playoffs five times in seven seasons from 1985-1991, with the Celtics winning in 1985 and 1987, and the Pistons coming out on top in 1988, 1989, and 1991.

The Celtics had established themselves as the best team in the Eastern Conference for the earlier part of the decade, with 5 Eastern Conference titles from 1981-1987. But with the emergence of the younger Pistons came the first real threat to the Celtic dynasty. The "Bad Boys", as the Pistons became known, used physical and often dirty playing tactics to intimidate their opponents and bully their way to victory. This roused the ire of Boston's players and fans, and the teams' mutual hatred of each other often led to on-court fighting. Detroit's biggest antagonists were Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn and Dennis Rodman. In game 4 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals, Bird and Laimbeer were both ejected for fighting as the Pistons went on to rout the Celtics 145-119, tying the series at 2-2.

Perhaps the most famous moment of the Pistons-Celtics rivalry occurred during Game 5. Leading by one point with just a few seconds remaining, and threatening to take a commanding 3-2 lead in the series, the Pistons' Isiah Thomas had his inbounds pass intercepted by Larry Bird, who quickly dished to Dennis Johnson for the winning layup. With Robert Parish forced to sit out game 6 due to a suspension for punching Bill Laimbeer in the second quarter of game 5 (the first suspension for a playoff game in NBA history), the Pistons won game 6 to send the series back to Boston for a 7th game. The Celtics ended the bitter series with a 117-114 home win over the Pistons in Game 7.

Thomas would get his revenge against Bird in the 1988 Eastern Conference Finals. The Pistons finally unseated the Celtics, winning the series 4-2 and advancing to the NBA Finals to face the Los Angeles Lakers. What was notable in the Eastern series was the fact that the Pistons, who entered the series with 21 straight losses at the Boston Garden, defeated the Celtics by winning two of three games at the Garden (Game 1 and Game 5). In Game 5, the Celtics even led by as many as 16 points before the Pistons rallied to win 102-96. In addition, their rough style of play and intense defense shut down Bird's scoring dramatically, holding him to just 10.0 points per game on 35.1% shooting, thus forcing the Celtics to rely on McHale.

In the 1989 playoffs, the two teams meet again only this time the Pistons were the top seed while the Bird-less Celtics were the 8th-seeded team in the Eastern Conference. As expected, the Pistons swept the Celtics, 3 games to 0.

The Celtics and the Pistons would meet each other one last time in 1991. Similar to the 1988 series, the Celtics had the home court advantage but lost to the Pistons in six games. By this time however, Bird's health had deteriorated, Thomas was injured and both teams had a new set of players.

Despite the bitter losses, Bird would have the last laugh. During the 1991-92 regular season (Bird's final season), the Celtics beat the Pistons in all four of their meetings. In August 2003, Bird fired Isiah Thomas as head coach of the Indiana Pacers, shortly after taking over as President of Basketball Operations. Thomas was replaced by Rick Carlisle, a former teammate of Bird's on the Boston Celtics. Immediately the Pacers improved under Carlisle's leadership.

In 2002, the Celtics and Pistons meet again in the Eastern Semifinals, now featuring new stars in Paul Pierce and Ben Wallace, respectively. As in the past confrontations between the two teams, they take the personality of each other, the Pistons being physical, defensive-minded ballclub, the Celtics being an old-school fastbreak team that has been their tradition. Though the Celtics go on to win in five, the Pistons obviously began to make its presence felt as they eventually return to championship form and go on to win the NBA title in 2004. After the acquisition of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, the Celtics may have renewed this rivalry. December 19 saw the clash of the new look Celtics and Pistons, which resulted in a 87-85 Detroit win after Chauncey Billups hit two key free throws. Both teams are favored to face each other in the Eastern Conference Finals.

1985 Eastern Conference Semifinals
Game 1: BOS 133 DET 99
Game 2: BOS 121 DET 114
Game 3: DET 125 BOS 117
Game 4: DET 102 BOS 99
Game 5: BOS 130 DET 123
Game 6: BOS 123 DET 113

1987 Eastern Conference Finals
Game 1: BOS 104 DET 91
Game 2: BOS 110 DET 101
Game 3: DET 122 BOS 104
Game 4: DET 145 BOS 119
Game 5: BOS 108 DET 107
Game 6: DET 113 BOS 105
Game 7: BOS 117 DET 114

1988 Eastern Conference Finals
Game 1: DET 104 BOS 96
Game 2: BOS 119 DET 115
Game 3: DET 98 BOS 94
Game 4: BOS 79 DET 78
Game 5: DET 102 BOS 96
Game 6: DET 95 BOS 90

1989 Eastern Conference First Round
Game 1: DET 101 BOS 91
Game 2: DET 102 BOS 95
Game 3: DET 100 BOS 85

1991 Eastern Conference Semifinals
Game 1: DET 86 BOS 75
Game 2: BOS 109 DET 103
Game 3: BOS 115 DET 83
Game 4: DET 104 BOS 97
Game 5: DET 116 BOS 111
Game 6: DET 117 BOS 113

so this is a repeat of the old rivalry then? well new faces and new coaches with same fans. around the association this is one of the most talked about rivalry on NBA history 2nd is the Celtics Lakers.

well its going to be a great series detroit and boston, both are massive in offense and defense. balanced team.

its gonna be a real good series.