Celtics Can’t Fly Without Bird, Losing to Pistons, 86-75 : NBA playoffs: Ailing back prevents his playing. Parish and Thomas have to leave the game in the fourth quarter with ankle injuries.

A second-round NBA playoff game was supposed to be played at Boston Garden Tuesday night. The Celtics were supposed to be there. The tension was supposed to be high. The level of play was supposed to be awe-inspiring.

Turned out to be a professional wrestling match.

And that suits the Detroit Pistons, who came away with an ugly 86-75 victory over the Celtics.

Several players were thrown out of the ring. Larry Bird, whose legend grew even larger in the previous series, didn’t even set foot on the court. He was at home with severe back spasms and is listed as day to day.

Celtic center Robert Parish went out in the fourth quarter with a twisted left ankle. “There’s no swelling,” Celtic trainer Ed Lacerte said. “No big deal.”

Before Parish went down, the Pistons’ major drawing card, Isiah Thomas, twisted his right ankle and had to leave. Thomas was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital. His X-rays were negative--call it a sprain. Thomas, who had wrist surgery in January and a hamstring pull last month, is also day to day.

There’s more. Piston center James Edwards, who led his team with 18 points, threw out his back.

Mix together the fallen player, the falling players and the shooting percentages--the Celtics (39.4%) managed not to outstink the Pistons (38.4%)--and there were almost too many distractions covering what actually happened.

And that is this: The Pistons are up, 1-0, in this best-of-seven series, and the Celtics’ home-court advantage has been erased. Game 2 is Thursday at Boston. Games 3 and 4 are at Auburn Hills, Mich., Saturday and Monday.

The Celtics are going to have to raise their game by about 50% to draw even by then.

“Larry probably was (twitching out), watching this one on TV,” Kevin Gamble said. “We weren’t getting to the loose balls, which is something he does. We weren’t taking care of the defensive boards, which is what he does. We didn’t have anything of what he does out there tonight.”

The Celtics were outrebounded, 55-40. More important, the Pistons grabbed 17 offensive rebounds, to seven for the Celtics. The Celtics also had 16 turnovers.

“That combination is lethal,” Celtic Coach Chris Ford said.

Especially if the Pistons get their kind of game--their kind of wrasslin’ match. Which they did.

“I don’t want to save that game for a time capsule,” Kevin McHale said. “I’ll tell you--it was ugly. We just had a bad game, terrible.”

After a first half that could only be deemed eye pollution, the Pistons had a 40-37 lead. Then they stretched it. Edwards hit three turnaround shots in an 10-3 run that put the Pistons ahead, 48-40. The run consumed more than four minutes in which the Celtics managed three points.

Four minutes. Three points. No, they weren’t running the way they wanted to. The Celtics would manage one more surge--cutting the Pistons’ lead to 54-49 with just under four minutes left in the third.

But they couldn’t get much closer. The quarter ended with the Pistons ahead, 64-55.

The Pistons maintained their cushion as Boston degenerated. Eight minutes into the fourth quarter, displeased patrons were leaving. Those left were cheering mockingly for the Pistons.

“Whenever we really feel like we’re facing a good team in a five- or seven-game series, we really study them and focus on what they like to do,” Piston guard Vinnie Johnson said. “We studied the patterns of McHale (five for 14, 13 points), for example, and we do a lot of double-teams off the traps, and work our rotations to deny him the ball and keep him from getting good shots.”