First – The Pistons opened with Rip Hamilton guarding point guard Rajon Rondo, perhaps out of concern for Billups’ injured hamstring. Billups was on Ray Allen. The Pistons misfired on their first five possessions as Boston took an 8-0 lead before a Pistons timeout with 8:25 left. Billups, after an offensive rebound, hit a triple on the next possession. A few open jumpers by the struggling Allen missed badly or the Celtics could have had a huge early lead. Antonio McDyess’ one-handed tip and 17-footer got the Pistons within one at 12-11 but misses by Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince kept them from taking the lead as Boston went cold. A Prince jumper with 2:30 left made it an 8-0 run and gave the Pistons their first lead, but Boston answered with a quick 8-0 run of their own ended by a McDyess jumper, McDyess’ finishing the quarter with eight points and seven boards. A buzzer beater by Jason Maxiell cut Boston’s lead to five. Score: Boston 22, PISTONS 17.
Second – The Pistons tied it just over a minute into the quarter with a three-guard lineup featuring Hamilton, Rodney Stuckey and Lindsey Hunter, who forced a quick turnover from Eddie House. Theo Ratliff came on for Maxiell with Boston leading 30-26. The Pistons got into the penalty with 7:23 left and Wallace made both foul shots for his first points, then went around Garnett and dunked on the next possession. Next trip, Wallace drew Garnett’s second foul and tied the score at 32 with two more free throws. Stuckey’s hard drive and two foul shots gave the Pistons a 34-33 lead. A 6-0 Boston run ate up a 39-35 Pistons lead. Score: Boston 41, PISTONS 40.
Third – Hamilton’s first basket of the game gave the Pistons the lead. But they struggled to get into their offense in the early going and Boston opened a six-point edge with Pierce creating points with penetration. Saunders called timeout with 7:25 left and Boston up 52-46. The Celtics got it to nine and had chances to get it into double digits as the Pistons’ offense sputtered badly, suffering turnovers and enduring ragged possessions, with Billups presenting little threat and Garnett shutting off the middle. A tough Pierce turnaround made it 10 points with under four minutes to go. Billups missed an open triple that would have cut it to five and Boston pushed it back to 10 on two Pierce free throws. A House triple with 1.2 seconds left was a dagger, giving Boston its biggest lead. Score: Boston 69, PISTONS 57.
Fourth - A Wallace air ball to start the quarter seemed a bad omen, but a triple by Hunter cut the lead under double digits as Boston rushed Pierce back into the game. Two tough Wallace jumpers over P.J. Brown sandwiched around a Garnett counter made it an eight-point game at the eight-minute mark. Back-to-back steals by Boston prevented any sudden erosion of its lead, but a Prince drive and Stuckey jumper got it to six with 5:49 left. Billups re-entered and scored two quick baskets, each time cutting the deficit to six. After the second, Wallace missed a triple that could have cut it to three, then a Pierce jumper stretched it to eight with just over three minutes to go, a killer shot. A Hamilton miss and a Rondo jumper pushed it back to 10 – that was pretty much it. Score: Boston 88, PISTONS 79.
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