Celtics @ Pistons Game Notes

I know it's early. I know it's a long season. I know that we have to play the full 82 games before we count our chickens, whether we are assuming good or bad. But with the Celtics' 88-76 win over the Pistons tonight, many things were done in this game that is perhaps foreshadowing what will happen in both teams' futures. Boston clearly spoiled Allen Iverson's first home game in a Pistons uniform, and it was interesting how it went down.

First of all, the Pistons just looked dead. They were blanketed by a great Boston defense, with Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett leading the charge on that side of the court. Tayshaun Prince had an above average game, getting many open looks on the corner, scoring 23 points and going 2-2 from long range. Prince also added 2 assists and 8 rebounds. The next best Piston on the offensive side came Rasheed Wallace, scoring 10 points on 2-11 from behind the arc. He also had 2 steals and 11 rebounds, doing most of the defending for an almost non-existent Pistons team.

Usual big scorer Rip Hamilton was silenced by a quietly dominant Ray Allen, with Rip scoring just 3 points, all on free throws, and going 0-8 from the floor. Iverson was very quiet in his home debut, scoring just 10 points, and recording 4 dimes, but to match that he also had 4 turnovers as well.

To add to Boston's dominant defense, they also brought a pretty good offense, even though it was below average. Bench man Tony Allen was the star on this side of the ball for the Celtics, scoring 23 points, grabbing 5 boards and picking up 1 assist. Allen is one of the players that are being used to replace James Posey, the championship machine that has won two chips, in Miami and Boston, and is trying to get his third in N'Awlins this year. Allen also had a steal deep in the fourth quarter that was pivotal in the Celtics' win over the Pistons. The other Allen, a little more popular by the name of Ray, also played well for the Celtics on the offensive side of the ball, scoring 17 points while clearing the glass well with 8 boards.

The Pistons just looked plain out of it tonight. And Rip's performance should worry Detroit fans. As he had said earlier in the week, he did not like losing his buddy Chauncey Billups to a trade, and his lack of presence might have been the reason behind his gawd-awful game. Their spacing was also all messed up, they were clustering around the ball, they looked cramped. The Pistons lost their leader for a scoring machine who never had an extraordinary supporting cast, and they might come to regret this move. AI did not play like he can tonight, and it left a damper on the team.

Again, Boston's D took apart the Piston's offense, keeping Detroit shooting 35% for the game, compared to the Celtics' 45%. The game was low-scoring for both teams, but Boston didn't have the Big Three in for many minutes, taking their main scoring threats off the court. Pierce only played 28 minutes, and Garnett played just 33. But if other bench guys can get the job done and play that kind of defense, then they can afford to keep the big guns on the bench.

The Celtics did a great job of showcasing what they replacement of James Posey will be (and it is right now as well, I guess): they need Tony Allen to keep defending as well (if not better) than Posey did, they need House to keep shooting the three ball like he did tonight (2-3), and Leon Powe and Big Baby Davis need to keep taking offensive fouls as well as James. They did all of those things today, and if they can make it a habit, the Celtics are ready to take on most every team in the league. Today's game was a decisive win for Boston, and they are still the Beasts of the East!

--Moose