By LARRY LAGE, AP
May 31, 2008
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - The Celtics got past an old nemesis to set up a matchup with another rival.
Paul Pierce scored 27 points, Ray Allen had 17 and Kevin Garnett added 16 to lift the Celtics to an 89-81, series-clinching victory over the Pistons last night in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Boston, which locked up with Detroit many times in the 1980s, will now rekindle another classic series in the NBA finals against the Lakers.
"It's kind of surreal," Garnett said.
The Celtics are in the NBA finals for the first since losing to the Lakers in 1987, the third meeting in a four-year span.
The Pistons were eliminated on their home court for the first time during a six-year run that included a trip to the conference finals each year and the 2004 title.
Boston entered the series without a road win in the postseason, then beat Detroit on its home court twice to win the grueling series.
After playing two Game 7s, the Celtics will get a needed break before hosting Kobe Bryant and the Lakers on Thursday night.
"We're emotionally drained," Garnett said.
For the Pistons, Chauncey Billups scored a playoff-high 29 points and Richard Hamilton had 21, but the rest of their teammates had lackluster efforts - especially Rasheed Wallace.
At one point Billups had 21 points, matching the total for the rest of the team.
Wallace scored just four points on 2-of-12 shooting and had three turnovers in what might've been his last game as a Piston and could've been Flip Saunders' last as Detroit's coach. President of basketball operations Joe Dumars will likely make some sort of changes on the bench, the court or both.
"I'm sure that's something Joe and I will sit down and evaluate," Saunders said.
After it was 58-all, Detroit closed the third quarter with a 10-2 run and took its first lead since midway through the opening quarter.
Just when it seemed the Pistons might be in control with a 70-60 lead early in the fourth, the Celtics scored nine points in less than two minutes and went on a 19-4 run that put them ahead 79-74.
