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Game 1 of the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals was everything a Celtics fan could hope for, and then some. This was hands down the best team performance from the Celtics since Game 7 of the Atlanta series in the first round of these playoffs. Tonight’s effort gave flashbacks of the Boston Celtics team we witnessed win 66 games throughout the regular season… the team we’ve only seen a few teams throughout their 15 postseason outings.

First and foremost, the Celtics came out of the gate with a far superior level of intensity than the Detroit Pistons. The men in green threw the first punch, and Detroit never punched back harder. Overall, the pace of the first half of this game was in Detroit’s favor, but it was a completely different story following intermission. Doc Rivers’ club began the second half similarly to the first few minutes of the ballgame, and put together a 28-17 third quarter advantage to shift the tempo more to their liking. Detroit gave the C’s a minor scare throughout the middle segment of the final frame, but Boston rose to the ocassion by knocking down the clutch shots to seal the deal. Rajon Rondo, specifically, knocked down back-to-back jump shots (one of them coming from outside the arc) to put a stamp on his 11-point, seven assist, five-steal effort.

On the defensive end, where Boston’s attack always starts, they scrapped. They denied position, they played the passing lanes, they closed off penetration, and Rajon Rondo was the catalyst of the defensive effort by coming away with multiple pokes and steals. Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett controlled the defensive glass, as well, as the frontcourt duo combined for 16 defensive rebounds. P.J. Brown provided a lift with the second unit as well, as the 38-year-old veteran gave Doc Rivers over 17 minutes of solid defensive play.

Offensively, the Celtics absolutely demoralized Detroit’s defense with their pick n’ roll sets in the high post with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. Pierce used his body to his advantage when rubbing off, and got to the spots he wanted to get to at will. When the defense collapsed on him in the paint, he made the necessary kickout passes to open shooters, who made the most of their opportunities. “The Truth” may have very well played one of his most complete games of the 2007-2008 season in Game 1, and his defensive effort was just as impressive as his 22-6-6 line.

Kevin Garnett was the beneficiary of a bundle of those kickout dishes, but that’s not all the 32-year-old stud did. On post isolations, “The Big Ticket” lived up to his name and played the role of the aggressor with the ball in his hands. Garnett put together a terrific balance between his mid-range game and his interior presence on the offensive end, and connected on 11 of his 17 shot attempts to tally and efficient 26 points.

The near-forgotten member of Boston’s illustrious trio, Ray Allen, was not able to follow up on Pierce and Garnett’s stellar performances. Allen struggled from the field for the ninth straight game, and continued his streak of offensive putridity by shooting just 3-10. Luckily, he was aggressive on the defensive end of the floor, where his one-on-one opponent “Rip” Hamilton hit just five of his 13 attempts from the field.

All of the credit is not warranted towards the Boston Celtics, however. The C’s absolutely put together one of their better postseason efforts, but this also was not a replica of “Deeetroit basketball.” Their offensive attack was as stagnant as ever and lacked a sense of urgency, which could be attributed to their seven-day layover from their Semi-Finals series. Another issue was undoubtedly the health of guard Chauncey Billups (six points on 3-6 shooting), who claimed to be 100% during an ESPN TV interview on Monday, but was blatantly proven otherwise in Game 1 of this Eastern Conference Finals series. Billups’ sore right hamstring disallowed him to penetrate to his comfort zone going left, and that may have tied up their entire offensive gameplan. Detroit was unable to get to the spots they wanted to reach in the painted area, where Boston held a convincing 44-22 advantage. Additionally, when contact was indeed initiated on Detroit’s end of the floor, the Pistons were unable to capitalize at the charity stripe by missing eight free throws as a team.

It’s virtually inevitable that the Pistons will put together better efforts as this series goes on. As convincingly dominant Boston may have been at the TD BankNorth Garden, Detroit may have a chance to end their 9-0 postseason home streak if they can make the proper adjustments necessary to put a better product on the floor.

It was exciting to see the C’s come out and play this way, but don’t get too excited yet, Boston fans. A 1-0 lead is terrific, but bigger goals are on the horizon and this series has yet to truly begin.

Box Score

Player of the Game

Paul Pierce
22 PTS, 6 REBS, 6 ASTS, 5 TO, 9-18 FG, 0-4 3FG, 4-6 FT

Series Standings: Boston leads series 1-0
Game 2: Thursday (5/22/08) at 8:30 pm ET.

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