Celtics, 90-78 (final)
Big man. Big win.
Kendrick Perkins had 10 points and 20 rebounds as the Celtics secured a playoff tie-breaker with the Pistons and won the season-series 2-1 with a hard-fought, 90-78, victory tonight at the TD Banknorth Garden.
In a game that featured big bodies in the post, Perkins came up the biggest, helping to limit the Pistons and their vaunted frontcourt to 36 percent shooting. The Celtics out-rebounded Detroit, 50-38.
The Celtics were up by two entering the fourth quarter, but the Pistons tied it at 69 with 10:50 left.
Rasheed Wallace picked up his fifth foul at the 9:03 mark when Kevin Garnett up-faked him and drew contact. Not wanting to foul out, Wallace was forced to the bench.
With Wallace out, the Celtics scored the next five points and led 74-69 as Amir Johnson proved no match for Garnett on the block. That forced Wallace back into the game at the 6:37 mark. He was greeted by chants of “Wallace” from Celtics fans (think “Darryl”).
The Celtics maintained an 85-77 lead with 2:53 left, and Rajon Rondo extended the lead to 11 with a three-point play with 1:59 left. The deficit proved too much for Detroit to overcome.
Garnett had 31 points and 6 rebounds for the Celtics. Rajon Rondo had 16 points and 5 assists for Boston.
Detroit was led by Rasheed Wallace (23 points) and Chauncey Billups. Billups went 14-of-15 from the free-throw line, with his only miss of the game coming on his first attempt.
The Garden was boisterous for a Wednesday-night matchup between the NBA’s two best teams, easily earning the distinction as the loudest home crowd of the year.
We’ll have reaction from the locker rooms in a bit.
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