November 2nd, 2010 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
Even without Shaquille O’Neal in their starting lineup, the Boston Celtics would have a size advantage as they took on the Detroit Pistons Tuesday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Besides the size advantage in the frontcourt, the Celtics were perfect from the free-throw line, going 18-for-18; but more importantly, Boston led for all but 42 seconds of the game as they embarrassed Detroit 109-86; with the loss, the Pistons drop to 0-4, a place they haven’t visited since November 1999.
How bad was it for Detroit? Their power forward would be 6’11″, 205 lb Austin Daye, instead of Jonas Jerebko, who is out with a torn Achilles tendon.
The Pistons fell behind 16-5 early on while Rajon Rondo made a 3-pointer to end the first half, giving the Celtics a comfortable 57-44 lead. Boston would pour it on in the third quarter and Pierce would drain a trey, putting the Celtics up by 86-66. They would go into cruise control the rest of the way for the easy victory.
Balanced scoring was the key for the Celtics as they were led by Kevin Garnett with 22 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a pair of blocks while Pierce added 21 (including three 3-pointers) with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and a block. Ray Allen chipped in 16 with 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal while Rajon Rondo, while scoring only 9 points, dished out 17 assists.
The Pistons were led by Charlie Villanueva from off the bench with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks while Daye added 16 with 5 rebounds. Rodney Stuckey contributed 15 with a rebound, 3 assists and a steal.
Boston (3-1) returns home to play the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night while winless Detroit (0-4) looks to get their first Association win as they travel to Atlanta to take on the Hawks – also on Wednesday night.
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