Pistons Just Point to the Defense

The Detroit Pistons tried their best to deflect attention from the obvious reasons they took a 1-0 lead in their series against the Boston Celtics.

Sure, they were pleased to make a team playoff-record 12 three-point shots and were glad to remain undefeated when Cliff Robinson and Jerry Stackhouse each score at least 20 points.

But they insisted it was all about their defense.

Robinson scored 30 points, and Stackhouse had 26 points and set career playoff highs with 11 rebounds and eight assists Sunday as Detroit beat the Celtics, 96-84, to win Game 1 in the Eastern Conference best-of-seven semifinal series.

The Pistons held Boston to 37.5% shooting--Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce combined to make only 14 of 39 shots.

Walker scored 20 points and Pierce was limited to 17, one game after he scored 46 in Game 5 of the Celtics’ first-round series against Philadelphia.

“It’s always about our defense when we win,” said Robinson, who was the lead defender against Walker and was two points shy of his best postseason performance.

“We may not be able to continue shooting and scoring like this, but we have to stick with this defensive effort because defense is our staple.”

Michael Curry scored a career playoff-high 15 points. He made only seven three-point shots during the regular season, but made all three of his attempts against the Celtics.

“Despite what we did offensively, I don’t want anybody to overlook what we did defensively,” said Curry, who played a season-high 40 minutes, often matched against Pierce. “That’s going to be the key for us if we’re going to win this series.”

Pierce said his scoring was down not because of what the Pistons did, but because his aggressive teammates took some shots away.

He was seven for 17, and teammates Kenny Anderson, who scored 17, and Rodney Rogers, who scored eight, took a combined 27 shots, making 33.3%.

“I just didn’t have the number of opportunities that I’ve had,” said Pierce, who averaged four more shots against the 76ers.

The Pistons were 11-0 during the regular season when Robinson and Stackhouse each scored at least 20 points.

The two did it for the first time in the playoffs Sunday to extend the streak.