The Boston Celtics continued their home court mastery in the playoffs with an 88-79 win over the Detroit Pistons in the opening game of the Eastern Conference finals yesterday.
Boston is a perfect 9-0 in the post-season at home and advanced to the East finals despite being winless on the road in six playoff games in the opening two rounds.
The Celtics once again took advantage of home comforts, getting 26 points and nine rebounds from Kevin Garnett and another 22 from Paul Pierce.
They took control of the game with a strong third quarter after leading by just a point at the half.
"I thought we had a lot of energy," Garnett told reporters. "We have a goal here, you have to suck it up and be ready to play.
"We've been able to take advantage of teams playing at home, but we had the best record in the regular season and when you get that, you get home games in the playoffs."
Tayshaun Prince led the Pistons with 16 points.
Detroit needed just 11 games to advance to the third round while the Celtics were forced to two Game Sevens along the way.
"They haven't lost a home game, they should be confident," Detroit's Chauncey Billups said.
"They have been a very good team here at home."
Detroit coach Flip Saunders said fatigue could play a part as the series goes on and that too much rest may have hurt his team in Game One.
"We just didn't seem to be in a good flow, it might have had something to do with (the layoff). We were just a step slow," Saunders said.
Game Two is on Thursday in Boston.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily May 21, 2008)