Hot-shooting Celtics rout Pistons

Basketball Betting Lines

03/15/2010 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Pierce was one of three Boston players to record 15 points and the Celtics surged to a big halftime lead before beating the short-handed Detroit Pistons, 119-93, at TD Garden.

Ray Allen and Michael Finley also scored 15 as the Celtics won for the sixth time in nine games and bounced back from an 11-point loss at Cleveland Sunday afternoon.

Kevin Garnett notched 14 points and eight rebounds, while Glen Davis scored 13 for the Celtics, who shot 62.2 percent from the field. That included an incredible 13-of-15 effort in the fourth quarter.

Boston, which also received 11 points from Kendrick Perkins and Marquis Daniels, is a half-game behind idle Atlanta for the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.

Detroit center Ben Wallace missed his seventh straight game due to a sore right knee. The team, which is also playing without Rodney Stuckey, lost forward Tayshaun Prince to a back injury in the first quarter.

Will Bynum had 16 points and seven assists for Detroit, which lost for the ninth time in 11 games. Jason Maxiell chipped in 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Pistons, who have dropped seven in a row on the road.

With 4:53 remaining in the opening quarter, Prince went to the hoop and collided with Perkins. As he was falling down, Prince's back hit the knee of Maxiell. Prince remained on his stomach in obvious pain for a few minutes before finally being helped to his feet and to the locker room. He did not return to the game.

The Celtics sparkled with a 16-1 burst in the first quarter, a period dominated by Pierce's 12 points -- all of which came during the run for an 18-7 lead. The flurry helped Boston to a 31-15 lead after 12 minutes.

Allen's three-pointer ended an 11-2 flurry for a 55-29 cushion with 3:35 left in the half, and it was 64-35 at intermission.

Even though the Pistons shot 12-of-17 in the third quarter, they still looked up at the scoreboard through 36 minutes, trailing 89-70. The Celtics then put the game away by scoring nine straight early in the fourth for a commanding 102-72 margin following a Finley jumper inside eight minutes remaining.

Game Notes

Boston has a better road record (22-12) than home mark (20-12) this season...Detroit fell to 7-26 on the road...The Celtics won the season series, 2-1...Bynum was in the starting lineup again for Stuckey, who missed his fifth straight game after collapsing on the bench during a loss in Cleveland on March 5...Richard Hamilton had 14 points for Detroit...Boston converted 18 Detroit turnovers into 27 points.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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