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Celtics Win 106-102 vs Pistons In Game 5

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Written by <a href="/celtics/104-authors-staff/1338-jeff-barrows.html"><span>Jeff Barrows</span></a>

Wednesday, 28 May 2008 17:03

Update: Kudos and props to Doc Rivers for sticking to his guns and staying with his guys. He also promptly benched Sam Cassell after he immediately turned the ball over on his first and last appearance in game five. Impressive, that was a great coaching job.

SWOOSH!! That sweet sound was heard all night as the Boston Celtics pulled out a tough win against this scrappy bunch of Detroit Pistons. 106-102 was the final score but the game was not this close until the last five minutes as the Celtics seemed to hang on for what seemed like an eternity of fouls and timeouts from both squads. Boston now leads the series 3-2.

Hello Ray Allen and welcome to the party. Allen erupted with 29 points and hit clutch/crucial shots with his most important 2 pointer in the final minute to pad the Celtics lead after Detroit pulled within one point. His post game comments were very telling as he said, "Were growing as a team" and as far as his slump he didn't consider it one. "As a shooter you just keep on shooting and they will fall" They fell enough tonight and Boston desperately needed them.

Boston led the game by as much as 17 points until Detroit went on a terrific 21-8 run and chipped away at that lead which for a moment looked as if the Celtics were going to collapse. It didn't happen. The Celtics went toe to toe with the Pistons and kept control and the lead.

As for the Detroit defense call the police and bring in the S.W.A.T. team for back up. They were practically mugging the Celtics all night. They get away with a great many calls and do great acting jobs to draw fouls for themselves. It was ticking me off but that is Detroit. It always has been.

Did I mention Kevin Garnett played great. Aside from the nitpicking of him giving away a few open looks he was fantastic and dominant with a monster jam and some great moves to the basket. He finished with 33 points and 7 rebounds. He also got the help of his teammates with an honorable mention to Kendrick Perkins who established the tempo early snaring down 16 rebounds and scoring 18 points of his own. Rajon Rondo was pretty errant with his passes but set up his team well with 13 assists. Some of his passes were downright scary and I'm sure the film session will draw some attention to it. Paul Pierce was if not spectacular, his reliable self with 16 points and 5 rebounds.

This was an entertaining contest and it certainly was not over until the final seconds, literally. Don't count the Pistons out yet because of this win. However the Celtics showed they can handle some pressure filled intensity especially when calls are going against them. Antonio McDyess fouled out with about five minutes left and "50 cent" I mean Richard Stuckey showed great poise and guts for being a rookie. He nearly stole this game for his team with a daring three pointer at the 1 minute mark in the 4th to pull his team to within one point. Richard Hamilton seemed to take a beating at the end of this contest but was good for 25 points while former Celtic Chauncey Billups was consistently a nuisance ending with 26 points.

The Celtics showed a great deal of heart tonight by not getting down on themselves after blowing a big lead and did what they had to do to put this team away when it counted.

Now its back to Detroit on Friday for some more scrapping and clawing. I guarantee this one will resemble a bar brawl with the Pistons backs against the wall.

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Celtics Win 106-102 vs Pistons In Game 5
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Update: Kudos and props to Doc Rivers for sticking to his guns and staying with his guys. He also promptly benched Sam Cassell after he immediately...