Detroit Pistons record big win over Boston Celtics 96 – 81 – NBA Recap
The Detroit Pistons might not have had the best of times so far in the NBA season 2011-2012 but on Sunday they took down the mighty Boston Celtics in impressive fashion. The Pistons dominated their matchup with the Eastern Conference powerhouse at the Palace
of Auburn Hills and claimed an emphatic 96 – 81 win.
It was Detroit’s second win over the Celtics in five nights, and the Pistons used all their resources to bring it about.
Tayshaun Prince scored 13 points and had 6 rebounds, Rodney Stuckey netted 16, Brandon Knight had 12 and Jonas Jerebko got 13 off the bench.
The pick of the bunch though was talented young centre Greg Monroe, who scored a team high 17 points and also hauled down 10 boards for his double-double. Monroe was pleased with the performance of the team and commented after the game that the Pistons seem
like they have turned a corner, judging from their recent displays.
"Our effort and intensity and focus over a full 48 minutes has changed. Everybody has come into their roles. Everybody is holding each other accountable and we're all playing together."
The Celtics on the other hand continue to blow hot and cold. They have not been able to string a significant run together so far in the season and their frailties have started to annoy team captain Paul Pierce.
"Too many times we're looking at the officials to bail us out. We can't expect anything from the referees. We're on the road and you're not always going to like the call you get. You've just got to continue to play through it. We can't be a fragile team."
Pierce said.
Paul led the Celtics with 18 points as well as 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Chris Wilcox scored 14 and Ray Allen had 13. Star point guard Rajon Rondo, who recently had some huge performances, only contributed 5 points on a miserable 1-of-6 from the field. He
did make amends with 10 assists.
Boston and the Pistons looked a perfect match early on in the game and the scores remained pretty close in the first quarter. Stuckey made it 14 – 14 with 6:41 left to play in the first before the Celtics made a 6 – 0 dash, taking the score to 20 – 14. They
were however unable to hold onto the advantage and the period finished with the teams level at 26 – 26.
The second fragment though was a one-sided affair. Detroit made a 7 – 1 sprint at the start to get ahead at 33 – 27. They also had bursts of 8 – 0 and 6 – 0 which helped them ending the first half in command at 55 – 42.
After the interval Detroit were comfortable just keeping Boston at bay. The Pistons didn’t build on their advantage too much in the third period but restricted the Celtics to 19 points, meaning that they were completely in control when before the final quarter
began at 75 – 61.
Boston failed to make any significant progress in the penultimate 12 minutes either and the Pistons, never threatened, were able to close out the game at 95 – 81.
Tags: