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DETROIT, Michigan: Antonio McDyess scored 21 points with 16 rebounds
Monday as the Detroit Pistons beat the Boston Celtics 94-75 to even
their National Basketball Association semifinal series at two games
each.
Detroit’s Richard Hamilton scored 10 of his 20
points in the fourth quarter as the Pistons bounced back from Game 3
defeat on their home floor.
The Celtics host Game 5 on Wednesday.
“Now it’s a three-game series,” said
Boston’s Ray Allen. “We have to protect our home court.”
The Pistons were on fire from the tip-off,
scoring 10 of the first 12 points and never surrendering control to
the tenacious Celtics.
Boston cut their deficit to 78-73 in the fourth
quarter, but the Pistons finished the game with a 16-2 scoring run
to seal the victory.
Kevin Garnett scored 16 points with 10 rebounds
and Paul Pierce added another 16 points for the Celtics, who shot a
woeful 32 percent (21-of-66) from the field.
McDyess, the only Pistons starter without an NBA
championship ring, sparked Detroit’s opening surge with eight of
Detroit’s first 10 points.
“I just tried to get open shots, knock down
shots, get the energy going, let people feed of that,” McDyess
said. “I think I did that.”
McDyess, who was vocal in rallying the team in
the wake of their Game 3 loss, said he was determined to do
everything he could to keep the Pistons’ championship hopes on
track.
“I’m almost at the end of the road,” said
McDyess, who joined Detroit as a free agent after the Pistons won
the 2004 NBA crown.
“You only have so many opportunities. I just
feel like leaving everything out on the floor. I can accept going
out on court, leaving everything we have out there and losing. But
not leaving everything and losing is not acceptable.”
McDyess also spent much of the game guarding
Kevin Garnett, who had averaged 24 points in the first three games.
“I’m so proud of him, just how he’s been
with his leadership,” Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. “After
the film session [Sunday], ‘Dyess said, ‘We’ve been talking
that everything is all right. We’ve got to make it happen. We
can’t talk about it.’”
In the first three games it was the Celtics who
took control early, jumping out to leads of 8-0, 10-4 and 11-0.
“I think they just really wanted to get out to
a good start,” Allen said. “When they jumped on us, it set us
back on our heels offensively and defensively. We slowed the tide in
the second quarter, but by that time we gave them momentum.
“Going into the second quarter, we had one
assist,” Allen added. “Anytime that happens, we aren’t going
to do ourselves any favors in trying to score.”
But the Celtics managed to keep it close.
They were within five points early in the fourth
quarter, but Jason Maxiell scored six points in less than two
minutes early in the period.
He also played some tough defense against
Garnett, and nabbed a rebound that led to a fast-break layup by
Hamilton with 6:21 left that put the Pistons up 76-67.
Chauncey Billups, who had another sub-par game
while still recovering from a hamstring injury, made only 3-of-12
shots from the field.
But he hit a 3-pointer with 2:55 to play to
build the Pistons’ cushion to 83-73.
Pierce scored 5points in a 7-2 first-quarter
surge by the Celtics as they cut the Pistons lead to 22-17.
Free throws kept the Celtics going. They
outscored Detroit 17-5 from the foul line in the first half, which
ended with Boston trailing just 43-39.
-- AFP
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