NBA Playoffs Rundown

Boston 94 Detroit 80: The Boston Celtics finally won a road game in the playoffs and they did so in convincing fashion to take back the home court advantage in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics finally get that road monkey off their back and that can do nothing but help them in Game 4. The Celtics had been 0 and 6 on the road before their Game 3 victory.

The Boston Celtics stepped up their energy and defense in this game and proceeded to crush the Detroit Pistons on the boards 44 to 28. Kendrick Perkins played a great all around game in this one and his activity on the defense end and on the boards really is what put the Celtics in control of this one. When Perkins is active on defense and on the boards like he was in this game, that is when the Celtics are truly a tough defensive team and a tough team to beat. Perkins finished with 12 points on 6 of 7 shooting and 10 rebounds.

In total, six Celtics scored in double figures, with Kevin Garnett leading the way with 22 points. He also added 13 rebound and 6 assists and it still appears that the Pistons have no answer for him defensively. The balanced scoring of the Celtics was a change from their Game 2 loss where Garnett, Pierce, and Allen combined to score 75 of the teams 97 points. The role players stepped it up in this game and combined to score 47 points. James Posey was effective off then bench as he led the bench players with 12 points. The Celtics scoring was so balanced that Paul Pierce only took 6 shots in the game, hitting 4 of them and finishing with 11 points.

Detroit was really hurt by the poor play of Tashuan Prince and Chauncey Billups. Prince finished with only 4 points on 2 of 11 shooting. Billups struggled too and shot only 1 of 6 from the floor, finishing with 6 points. If Billups does not play well, then it is going to be hard for the Pistons to beat the Celtics. The Rondo-Billups matchup seems to be a key one in this series and whoever wins that battle seems to be the team who wins the game as well.

Rodney Stuckey continues to emerge as a player in this series and his quickness really hurt the Celtics as he got to the line 10 times and finished with 17 points off the bench. I thought that the Pistons hurt themselves by going away from Antonio McDyess in this game as well. He is one of their better options on the offensive end because the Celtics are giving him open jumpers and he continues to knock them down. However, in this game he only shot the ball 7 times and finished with just 8 points and 8 rebounds. Rip Hamilton did have it going for Detroit though and he finished with a team high 26 points.

Game 4 is a huge game for Detroit and they need to come out focused and ready to go without alot of energy. The Celtics will be extremely confident after winning on the road for the first time and I expect them to be fired up and try to put Detroit in a big hole by putting them down 3-1, while having to head back to Boston for 2 of the next 3. It is basically a do or die game for the Pistons because I can't see them losing 2 games at home and then winning 3 straight, since 2 of those games being in Boston.