Although Detroit played a good game last night, they were not as hungry as Boston was to win Game 6 as the Celtics won, 89-81, and became the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals Champions. The Celtics overcame a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter to beat the Pistons and now await the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.I thought since Detroit was playing at home in Game 6 that they would at least force a Game 7, but the Boston PGA (Pierce, Garnett, Allen) Tour was not going to let that happen. Pierce lead Boston with 27 points, Allen scored 17 points and Garnett added 16 as they scored 60 of the Celtics' total 89 points.
Before the Eastern Conference Finals began, Boston had not won a single game on the road and Detroit had lost only one game at home during the playoffs. The Celtics showed they didn't care about what happened in their previous two rounds when Boston won 2 games on the road in the series (Game 3 & 6) and sent Detroit home without a trip to the NBA Finals for the third-straight year. I don't know if the Pistons are getting old or if their head coach Flip Saunders is not getting the job done, but if Detroit doesn't find a way to get past the Eastern Conference Finals soon, that All-Star starting line-up will just be a waste of talent.
When Garnett got his fourth foul halfway through the third quarter, I thought by the time he would come back in the game Detroit would put up such a big lead that Boston could not make a comeback to win the game. Instead Detroit only put up a 10-point lead and when Garnett came back in the fourth quarter, Boston went on a 19-4 run that eventually ended the Pistons season. It was so unlike Detroit because there is no way a team goes to the Eastern Conference Finals for six-straight years without a killer instinct to finish teams off, but they didn't have that in Game 6 and that was a key part of why they lost the series.
It's interesting because last season Boston was one of the worst teams in the NBA and even though they had a good chance of getting the 1st-pick of the 2007 NBA Draft, they got robbed by getting the 5th pick. Instead it was a blessing in disguise because Boston traded their pick and a few players to get Allen. Then when there were rumors that Garnett wanted to be traded, Garnett approved going to Boston because he figured with Pierce and Allen on his team, he had an excellent chance win a championship. Because of the off-season moves by GM Danny Ainge, Boston had the best record in the 2008 regular season (66-16) and are now in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1987. Congratulations to the Boston Celtics by getting to the NBA Finals but they better be prepared because when June 5th comes, the Los Angeles Lakers will face the Celtics determined to beat their biggest rival and win a championship. This is going to be a great series, I can't wait to see what happens.
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