NBA PLAYOFFS EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS : Only Time Stops Celtics in 115-83 Beating of Pistons

The lopsided score didn’t impress Boston Coach Chris Ford so much. It was the way the Celtics kept pouring it on.

The Celtics snapped a nine-game losing streak at Detroit, routing the Pistons, 115-83, Saturday to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference playoff series.

“It wasn’t the margin of victory that was important,” Ford said. “That was just a number. I liked the fact that we stayed focused for 48 minutes, and that everybody contributed and had a hand in the victory.”

Reggie Lewis scored 21 points and Brian Shaw added 19 as the Celtics recorded their most lopsided playoff victory on the road. It topped the Celtics’ 135-110 playoff victory over Detroit in 1968.

“The reason why we win, and I’ve said this from day one, is that we definitely have more than the ‘Big Three’ (Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale),” Ford said. “Larry is not the only guy we go to. Other guys contribute. Larry still gets his fair share of shots, but so does everybody else.”

“It’s perfect,” Lewis said. “If you ever want a dream game, this would be it. I am surprised the way Detroit shot.”

The Pistons, who had shot only 39.2% in the first two games, were even worse in Game 3, hitting 33.3%. Detroit also missed 19 of 36 free throws.

“We haven’t shot well in the whole series, but I think Boston’s defense has a lot to do with that,” Detroit Coach Chuck Daly said. “We played with a lot of intensity in Boston, but today it looked like somebody let the air out of the balloon. We went flat and just got tattooed.”

The Celtics shot 53% and had a 58-50 rebounding edge. Boston’s guards--Lewis, Brian Shaw and Dee Brown--outscored the Pistons’ rotation of Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Vinnie Johnson, 53-24. And the Celtic bench outscored Detroit’s reserves, 45-37.

James Edwards was Detroit’s leading scorer with 13 points.

The Celtic losing streak at Detroit included all eight games in The Palace since the Pistons moved there two years ago.

Although injured stars Bird and Thomas both played in Game 3, neither was much of a factor.

Bird, suffering from a sore back, had 10 points and seven rebounds for Boston. Thomas, who has both a tender right ankle and sore right wrist, had seven points and four assists for Detroit.