Celtics Are Too Tough

The Detroit Pistons couldn’t stop Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce--not at the same time, anyway.

Walker had 22 of his 30 points in the first half and Pierce had 23 of his 25 in the second half Sunday as the Boston Celtics beat the Pistons, 90-79, to move within one victory of the Eastern Conference finals.

“We feel like we could close this series out,” said Pierce, who had a career-high 17 rebounds, and had six assists and three blocked shots. “We don’t want to give them any breathing room. If we keep going like we have, I don’t think there’s a team in the NBA that can beat us.”

Pierce picked up his second foul with eight minutes left in the second quarter and sat out the rest of the half, leaving the offense to Walker and Tony Delk. Relegated to the bench for a shooting slump that limited him to eight points in the first eight playoff games, Delk had 15 points in the first half and 16 total.

“Antoine looked so strong in the first half, we just kept on going to him because he had the hot hand,” Celtic Coach Jim O’Brien said. “And Tony Delk. It doesn’t surprise me that he had a very good game. His work to try to find his way out of this has paid off.”

With luminaries such as Bill Russell, Red Auerbach and Bob Cousy watching, Boston took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Winners of an NBA-record 16 titles, the Celtics have never blown a 3-1 lead in the playoffs.

The Celtics haven’t been to the conference finals since 1988, when they lost to the Pistons. They could wrap it up in Detroit in Game 5 on Tuesday night.

“As long as we have life, we’re going to keep fighting,” said Piston Coach Rick Carlisle, who as a player went to the NBA Finals in each of his three seasons with the Celtics. “We’re going back home to a building we like to be in, with great fans, and we’re going to keep battling.”

Cliff Robinson scored 24 points, Jerry Stackhouse had 16 and Ben Wallace had 21 rebounds for Detroit, which lost its 10th consecutive road playoff game. It was the 10th consecutive home victory for Boston.