Pistons teach Celtics lesson about East dominance

"He's young, but he's really, really good and really talented," Billups said. "It's a mind game. He fed right into what we wanted to do. We wanted to make him a scorer, make him finish and make him shoot jumpers and he did that, and he was hitting early, but it was great. That's what we wanted; keep the ball out of everybody else's hands."

The Pistons showed the Celtics that while other teams might be in awe of seeing three of the greatest players of this current generation getting results, they're not as easily impressed.

One of the reasons Detroit got back in the game after trailing by as many as nine is because it became increasingly physical with Boston in the second half.

Jason Maxiell smothered Kevin Garnett and showed him very little respect, leaning on him with his burly frame in a manner very few get away with against the future Hall of Famer. Garnett was held to just a single field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter and had to earn his points from the line after 21 through three.

Wallace had no problem going at Garnett, either, constantly battling for position and jawing at the referees to give him every call. Another reason one could tell this was a big game was that with 5:03 to go, he was whistled for a phantom foul -- his fifth -- that would've normally sent him into fits of hysteria. Instead, he managed to hold his tongue, stay in the game and keep from surrendering valuable points that ultimately might have supplied the difference.

"It was a fun game to play and a fun game to watch," Saunders said. "There was definitely playoff intensity. That was as aggressive as most of these guys have been (this season) as individuals. It got chippy. The game had a playoff feel."

You think?

Detroit knows a quality team when it sees one, and although it still has a score to settle with Cleveland and gets up for reunions with Ben Wallace and natural rival Chicago, the Pistons still consider themselves the top gun in the East no matter what happened last season.

Miami, especially after losing Alonzo Mourning for at least three months, seems even less likely to rally and pose a problem. Southeast Division front-runner Orlando has fallen on hard times since a blistering start and has lost to the Pistons nine consecutive times, so it's not viewed as a threat.

These Celtics, with 12 consecutive home wins and a start through 22 games that registered among the 10 finest in league history, do.

"A game like this, you just want to go ahead and win," Hamilton said. "At that point, (late in the game) it's like, let's just go ahead and take it."

That's what the Pistons did. They stole a game that slightly chips away at Boston's mystique, but more than anything else, sends a message that Detroit is still top dog.

Saunders claimed that nobody will remember this game in a few weeks, relying solely on the standings to make their determinations of who's playing well and who isn't, but that couldn't be farther from the truth.

Sure, the biggest game that Rivers may ever remember participating in this early in the season is still a high school showdown against Isiah Thomas' St. Joseph's squad in the 1977 Proviso West Holiday Tournament, a game his Proviso East Pirates lost by 16 that still stings so much he remembers it vividly, but this one will be memorable as well.

It will go down as a failed exam, albeit one they can learn from. "The biggest thing was that this group has been together for a while and I told you it was going to be one of our biggest tests of the year," Garnett said. "This team has obviously been together in big games, they've been there and they do know how to keep their poise. They know each other.

"Chauncey is the general over there. It's a good game for us to learn from. We wanted this as a measuring stick to see where we actually were. We know that if to be of any substance, we've got to go through Detroit and some other teams and like Paul (Pierce) said, I would rather deal with it now than later."

December or not, it's never too early to learn something for later ... possibly in the Eastern Conference finals?