C's Get Leg Up on Pistons with Game 1 Win

This is fun. Celtics - Pistons, this is what the NBA is about. I wouldn't go as far as to say that this is Bird-era type Eastern Conference Finals, but it certainly is entertaining. The battle has begun and it will prove to be a very interesting one.

The big three became the big 2.5 tonight, but at least that's better then the big one that showed up on Sunday. KG and Paul Pierce shone as bright as they have all season in this game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Garnett had 26 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists to lead the Celtics and all scorers and Pierce dropped 22 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

And then, there's Ray Allen. I am telling you his break out game is going to come. He showed shades of agressive play tonight. He took it to the hole a couple of times, but still nothing from the perimeter. My only hope is that the Boston media will stay off his case over the next couple of days. Let the guy breathe, relax and not think so much about shooting. Sometimes pure shooters just need to get in their own head and dig out the shooting from within.

The Detroit Pistons really impressed me tonight though. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the talent on this team, but for some reason when you finish playing Lebron James you feel like it can't get any worse and when the team you are about to play doesn't really have any superstars on it, it seems like it might be a little easier to skate by them. That is the danger of a team like the Pistons though, they are so well rounded that you can't just shut down one guy, like the C's did to Lebron. When you play the Pistons you have to have five guys digging deep to make stops and that's what the Celts had tonight.

The Garden tonight sounded like the "old Garden." Sometimes the announcers will say that, but I don't think any of them actually remember the "old Garden." It got pretty loud in the Bird Garden, but tonight it is nice and loud. The only thing that sucks about the Garden these days is it's not sustained noise anymore. In the Bird-era the place would erupt going to commercial and it would still be insane when they came back from break. I guess that's the nature of the league these days.

Either way, the Celtics defense is going to be highlighted in this series and it was on display tonight. If the intensity remains, we might just be looking at a series that doesn't go 7 games, but I won't get ahead of myself. It's nice to get game #1 at home, because if we lose any games at home we might just be in trouble.

Final Score: Celtics 88 Pistons 79

Now I am off to walk through the Detroit airport with my Celtics hat proudly on top of my head. GO CELTS!!

Click here for the box score.

- Adam