BEIJING, May 22 -- The Boston Celtics continued their home court mastery in the playoffs with a 88-79 win over the Detroit Pistons in the opening game of the Eastern Conference finals. Boston is a perfect 9-0 in the post-season at home and advanced to the East finals despite being winless on the road in six playoff games in the opening two rounds.
The Celtics once again took advantage of home comforts on Tuesday, getting 26 points and nine rebounds from Kevin Garnett and another 22 from Paul Pierce.
They took control of the game with a strong third quarter after leading by just a point at the half.
Detroit Pistons' Richard Hamilton (32) has his headband pulled down while driving to the hoop on Boston Celtics' P.J. Brown (R) and James Posey (41) during the second quarter of Game 1 of their NBA Eastern Conference final basketball playoff series in Boston, Massachusetts May 20, 2008
"I thought we had a lot of energy," Garnett told reporters. "We have a goal here, you have to suck it up and be ready to play.
"We've been able to take advantage of teams playing at home, but we had the best record in the regular season and when you get that, you get home games in the playoffs."
Tayshaun Prince led the Pistons with 16 points. Detroit needed just 11 games to advance to the third round while the Celtics were forced to two Game 7 along the way.
"They haven't lost a home game, they should be confident," Detroit's Chauncey Billups said. "They have been a very good team here at home."
Detroit coach Flip Saunders said fatigue could play a part as the series goes on and that too much rest may have hurt his team in Game 1.
"We just didn't seem to be in a good flow, it might have had something to do with (the layoff). We were just a step slow," Saunders said.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls won the NBA's draft lottery on Tuesday night, giving them the right to choose between top college prospects Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose.
Coming off a miserable season and still without a coach, the Bulls vaulted from the No. 9 spot, where they had just a 1.7 percent chance of landing the top choice.
They will almost certainly choose between Beasley, the Kansas State University forward who averaged 26.5 points and an US college-best 12.5 rebounds, or Rose, the point guard who carried the University of Memphis within minutes of the US college title.
The Miami Heat, who had a 25 percent chance of landing the top pick thanks to their worst 15-67 record, fell to second. The Minnesota Timberwolves will go third.
The NBA draft will be held June 26 in New York.