Celtics back to finals after 21 years
June 1, 2008
Going into the fourth quarter at home with a 68-60 lead the Pistons may have thought that was enough to close out the game. They did not see what was coming from the Bostons, a team hungry to make the NBA finals for the first time since 1987.
The Pistons opened the fourth quarter with a bucket from Rip Hamilton to take the lead out to 10. Here is where it went wrong for the Pistons. They missed their next four shots and turned the ball over three times in a four minute period. During that time the Celtics scored 10 unanswered points to tie up the scores at 70.
The team from Boston now had a sniff for victory and there was no letting up. A 29-13 final quarter blew the game apart and with it they were heading to the NBA finals.
The Celtics had the lead after the first quarter after a 24-21 opening. They still lead a halftime by the same margin. They faded in the third quarter to make the Pistons think the game was theirs.
Then they hit them with a 23-6 run in the fourth quarter. It was too much for the home team to handle and they were out of the NBA finals for 2008.
It was Paul Pierce that sparked the Celtics in the fourth quarter. He hit two key baskets and some free throws that got things going. He ended the match with 27 to lead the Boston scorers.
For the Pistons it was the guards who did the bulk of the scoring when the big men were needed to step up and help overcome the rush of points the Celtics got in the closing quarter. Billups lead the scoring with 29 and Hamilton contributed 21. Prince, McDyess and Wallace could only score 20 between them.
Now just like in the days I first remember following the NBA from here in Australia it is the old classic matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics. Who can forget the old rivalry of Bird vs Magic.
The 2008 series between the Lakers and Celtics has a lot to live up to. Play in game one begins on June 5 in Boston.
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