Celtics rout Pistons at home

The big story of the game was the Pistons first visit to Boston since acquiring Alan Iverson.  The star of the game, however, was Celtics pointguard Rajon Rondo who led the defending NBA champions to a 98-80 rout of the team they defeated in the Eastern Conference Finals last spring.

Rondo led all scorers with 18 points and contributed a game high 8 assists and 3 steals.  Iverson, meanwhile, could only muster 14 points and 4 assists in the loss.  After the game AI was effusive in his praise for the Celtics point guard:

"I saw him play like this in the championship last season. Rondo played great. He did an excellent job coming off picks and getting to the basket and making plays."

It was an odd mutual admiration society between a couple of teams who fought tooth and nail in the playoffs earlier this season.  Celtics star Paul Pierce gave props to the Pistons and Iverson in his postgame comments:

"They've had some great wins, but you have to figure they're only going to get better as the year goes along with Allen Iverson. Even though Iverson is a great player, we don't have to worry about their point guard posting us up."

Celtics coach Doc Rivers also marveled at AI’s speed and toughness.  Asked about his preference of playing the Pistons with Billups or Iverson, he responded:

"I would prefer not to play either. Allen, in the middle of the first, it was like, 'Slow down.' I'm amazed by that guy every time I see him play. The speed and endurance that he has every night is remarkable."

Kevin Garnett, back after a one game suspension, added 15 points and Kendrick Perkins added 10 boards for the Celtics.  Paul Pierce was held to only 9 points.  With the win, the Celtics have won 9 of their last 10 games and 13 of its last 14 games at home dating back to last season.  They’ve also held Detroit to under 80 points in five consecutive games.

Pistons guard Richard Hamilton admitted that his team was taking some time to mesh with the personnel changes, but sounded none too happy about Detroit’s second consecutive blowout loss to Boston:

"We're still trying to find our identity, and it's still early in the season. Any time you lose to a team two times by over 20 points, that's absolutely bananas because we don't play like that."