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BOSTON: The Detroit Pistons dealt the Boston Celtics their first
home defeat in the playoffs of the National Basketball Association
with a 103-97 triumph Thursday.
Richard Hamilton scored 25 points for the
Pistons, who evened their best-of-7 Eastern Conference finals series
at one game apiece. The winner of the series advances to the NBA
finals.
Chauncey Billups chipped in 19 points for the
Pistons, who host Game 3 on Saturday. He showed no sign of any
lingering effects of a hamstring injury, playing 32 minutes without
a turnover.
The Celtics, who trailed for the first time
heading into the fourth quarter at home this postseason, cut their
deficit to two points on Ray Allen’s jumper with 4:36 left, but
they could get no closer.
Allen broke out of a slump, scoring 25 points on
9-of-16 shooting for the Celtics.
Now the pressure is on the Celtics to do what
they haven’t yet done this postseason—win on the road.
They are now 9-1 at home, but have lost all six
of their road games spanning two series against Atlanta and
Cleveland.
“We’ve got to find a way to win one on the
road, that’s what it is,” Boston’s Kevin Garnett said.
“It’s a big win, but we don’t settle for
less. We don’t look at it as they’re undefeated at home. We look
at it as we have an opportunity to win,” said Hamilton, whose
running shot in the final minute helped seal the victory for the
Pistons.
Billups had just nine points and two assists in
31 minutes in the series opener, when he returned after missing two
games.
But he was in dominant form on Thursday, helping
Detroit take charge in the second quarter and respond to a
third-quarter surge by the Celtics.
Billups scored 11 points in the first half as
Detroit took a 50-43 advantage at the interval.
“One thing I told Chauncey was you don’t
have to be overaggressive out there,” Hamilton said. “You can
take your time and be the captain of our ship. He just stayed
poised, directed us, put guys in position to succeed.”
Antonio McDyess added 15 points and Tayshaun
Prince scored 14 for the Pistons, who shot 28-of-32 from the
free-throw line.
Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett combined
for 75 points for Boston.
-- AFP
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