"We didn't come out and play. That's it, point blank," Pistons rookie reserve Rodney Stuckey said. "We didn't give no effort at all at the start of the game, and you can't do that against a team like that."

Boston's Big Three scored as much as its supporting cast.

Garnett, Ray Allen (14) and Paul Pierce (11) combined for 47 points to match the rest of the team.

"Their role players really hurt us," Saunders said.

Richard Hamilton scored 26 points to lead the Pistons.

Boston, which scored the first 11 points, led 50-32 after holding Detroit to a playoff-low in the first half and getting at least two points from each of the nine Celtics who played.

The Pistons pulled within 13 early in the second half only to have their comeback hopes dashed by the Celtics' 12-0 run.

The Pistons' loss put a damper on an unprecedented night in sports.

The Motor City became the first metropolitan area to host a National Hockey League Stanley Cup finals game and an NBA conference finals game on the same day, according to STATS LLC, and Detroit also hosted Minnesota in baseball at the same time as the other two games. The crowd cheered when the videoboards showed - Red Wings 4, Penguins 0 - then got even louder when they displayed another score: Tigers 19, Twins 3.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily May 26, 2008)