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Hot-shooting Celtics rout Pistons

Mon 15th, March 2010

Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Paul Pierce was one of three Boston players to record 15 points and the Celtics surged to a big halftime lead before beating the short-handed Detroit Pistons, 119-93, at TD Garden.

Ray Allen and Michael Finley also scored 15 as the Celtics won for the sixth time in nine games and bounced back from an 11-point loss at Cleveland Sunday afternoon.

Kevin Garnett notched 14 points and eight rebounds, while Glen Davis scored 13 for the Celtics, who shot 62.2 percent from the field. That included an incredible 13-of-15 effort in the fourth quarter.

"We were a totally different team today, came in with a lot more energy, a lot more aggressive," Garnett said. "We had five guys who were aggressive. I thought that our bench was aggressive also. We had to talk amongst each other, and we just game out and played."

Boston, which also received 11 points from Kendrick Perkins and Marquis Daniels, is a half-game behind idle Atlanta for the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.

Detroit center Ben Wallace missed his seventh straight game due to a sore right knee. The team, which is also playing without Rodney Stuckey, lost forward Tayshaun Prince to a back injury in the first quarter.

Will Bynum had 16 points and seven assists for Detroit, which lost for the ninth time in 11 games. Jason Maxiell chipped in 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Pistons, who have dropped seven in a row on the road.

"They did a great job of exploiting and we didn't react tonight," Pistons coach John Kuester said. "It was one of the few games that our energy wasn't the way it should be and I'm disappointed with the way we played."

With 4:53 remaining in the opening quarter, Prince went to the hoop and collided with Perkins. As he was falling down, Prince's back hit the knee of Maxiell. Prince remained on his stomach in obvious pain for a few minutes before finally being helped to his feet and to the locker room. He did not return to the game.

The Celtics sparkled with a 16-1 burst in the first quarter, a period dominated by Pierce's 12 points -- all of which came during the run for an 18-7 lead. The flurry helped Boston to a 31-15 lead after 12 minutes.

"We obviously are really working to try to re-establish him," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "And like I said before the game, it's coming around. It's still not there, but, I mean, that was great to see. He looked explosive."

Allen's three-pointer ended an 11-2 flurry for a 55-29 cushion with 3:35 left in the half, and it was 64-35 at intermission.

Even though the Pistons shot 12-of-17 in the third quarter, they still looked up at the scoreboard through 36 minutes, trailing 89-70. The Celtics then put the game away by scoring nine straight early in the fourth for a commanding 102-72 margin following a Finley jumper inside eight minutes remaining.

Game Notes

Boston has a better road record (22-12) than home mark (20-12) this season...Detroit fell to 7-26 on the road...The Celtics won the season series, 2-1...Bynum was in the starting lineup again for Stuckey, who missed his fifth straight game after collapsing on the bench during a loss in Cleveland on March 5...Richard Hamilton had 14 points for Detroit...Boston converted 18 Detroit turnovers into 27 points.