First – The Pistons got two Chauncey Billups free throws on their first possession, then missed five shots and turned it over twice before scoring again, trailing 7-2. Antonio McDyess, as he did in Game 1, kept the Pistons close by knocking down two early jump shots. A Rip Hamilton floater tied the game at 14 with a little more two minutes left. The Pistons were sharper defensively from the start but Boston got a few breaks – Paul Pierce made a tough jumper with the shot clock sounding, then Ray Allen picked up Pierce’s 3-point try deflected by Hamilton and scored an easy layup. A missed 3-pointer by Rasheed Wallace on the last possession allowed Boston to escape with the lead. Billups, Hamilton and McDyess did all of Detroit’s scoring with six apiece. Both teams had five turnovers. Score: Boston 20, PISTONS 18.
Second – Rodney Stuckey got nailed with a cheap foul on the first possession. Wallace picked up his second on the next possession, sending Theo Ratliff into the game. A hard drive by Stuckey for a three-point play gave the Pistons a 23-20 lead with 9:01 left. Lindsey Hunter came in, stole the ball from Allen immediately and forced Allen’s third foul. The Celtics got in the penalty with 7:37 left. Hunter hit two jump shots as he and Stuckey again formed an effective duo. A James Posey triple – Boston’s first basket of the quarter, five minutes in – tied the score at 27. Five points by McDyess gave the Pistons a 32-27 lead. Stuckey picked up his third foul two possessions later. Wallace got his first points on free throws with 3:07 left, putting the Pistons up five. A Billups triple with the shot clock sounding put the Pistons up 44-37. The Pistons wound up shooting 11 of 17 for the quarter with only one turnover. Score: PISTONS 50, Celtics 43.
Third – Boston chopped five points off the lead in the first minute, including a Pierce triple. An Allen steal and jump shot, then a Garnett tip of an Allen miss tied the score at 54 with 8:34 left. Hamilton missed three high-percentage shots in that stretch, but his triple stopped Boston momentum and got the Pistons within a point at 58-57, then Wallace – who had missed 15 straight triples – hit another on the next possession to put the Pistons ahead by two. Billups hit another on the next possession. Three Billups free throws – Rondo picked up a technical – put the Pistons back up six. Allen picked up his fifth foul with 3:09 left on a Hamilton shot fake. A Stuckey jumper, two free throws and a Wallace triple to close the quarter put the Pistons up nine heading into the fourth. Score: PISTONS 78, Boston 69.
Fourth – Stuckey hit two jump shots and an impressive layup in traffic as the Pistons twice took 11-point leads. Boston crept back within seven when P.J. Brown scored after a Boston offensive rebound and then Allen drove baseline and dunked with 6:55 left. After a Hamilton miss, another Brown jumper cut it to five, followed by a Pistons turnover. Boston’s run went to 8-0 before a McDyess jumper gave the Pistons a five-point lead, but Allen immediately answered with a triple. Prince followed a big offensive rebound by hitting a long jumper, then after Hamilton blocked an Allen triple, Wallace sank a baseline jumper for a six-point lead with 2:19 left. A huge shot by Hamilton restored the lead to six with 48 seconds left, then a Billups layup off an out-of-bounds play kept it at six. Allen followed with a triple with 10.7 seconds left to cut it to three. A free throw by Wallace, a missed triple by Garnett and two free throws from Prince sealed the win. Score: PISTONS 103, Celtics 97.
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