Auburn Hills, MI (Sports Network) - Antonio McDyess finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Detroit Pistons to a wire-to-wire 94-75 win over Boston in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Richard Hamilton scored 20 points and added seven assists for Detroit, which evened the series at two games apiece. The best-of-seven series heads back to Boston for Game 5, scheduled for Wednesday.
Rasheed Wallace and Jason Maxiell had 14 points for the Pistons, who closed the game on a 16-2 run and shot 51.4 percent for the game -- despite going 2- for-9 on three-point attempts.
"I'm almost to the end of the road," McDyess said. "You only have so many opportunities and they're limited, especially for me. I just feel like leaving everything on the floor. Last year, I was disappointed with the way we lost."
Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce each scored 16 points, while Garnett brought down 10 boards, but Boston managed just 31.8 percent shooting overall and a paltry 1-for-9 from beyond the arc.
"We missed so many open guys today with the pass. It was not one of our better nights," Boston head coach Doc Rivers said. "They bumped us up the floor...every cut we made, there was a body. Even though we got to the (free throw) line, they were the more physical team by a long shot."
Boston was still in the game heading down to the stretch, and the team closed within 78-73 with 4:51 left on a Pierce layup. But the Celtics missed their next two shots, opening a window for Detroit to pull away.
Wallace made a pair of free throws and Chauncey Billups drained a three to push his team's lead back to double digits. Garnett made a hook shot, but the two points were Boston's last of the game.
Hamilton scored the next six points for an 89-75 lead with 1:17 remaining, and Jarvis Hayes netted a three with 18 ticks left to put an exclamation point on the runaway.
The game-ending stretch was the breaking point for the Celtics, who had gotten within two points when Garnett opened the second quarter with a pair of free throws. Moments later, he connected on a jumper to bring Boston within 45-43.
But the Pistons, like they did all night, kept the Celtics at bay and went on an eight-point run. Four different players had a basket, and Tayshaun Prince capped the surge with a hook shot to put Detroit back up by double digits less than four minutes into the stanza.
The Pistons couldn't pull away, but Boston didn't get closer than seven the rest of the quarter. James Posey's jumper brought the Celtics within 65-58 heading into the fourth.
However, it was more of the same in the final period as Boston stayed close, but didn't quite close the gap. In one pivotal stretch, Maxiell scored six consecutive Pistons points, countering a Posey three and a Ray Allen bank shot to keep his team in front. The final bucket in that stretch, a layup that came after Allen's bucket brought Boston back within five, boosted Detroit to a 74-67 advantage with 8:17 on the clock.
The teams then endured a scoreless stretch of almost two minutes, and Hamilton's drive to the hoop broke it with 6:21 left for a nine-point Pistons edge that lead to their stretch drive.
Detroit opened up the game with a 10-0 run, fueled by McDyess, who had three jumpers and a putback layup. Kendrick Perkins got Boston on the scoreboard with a layup, a little less than four minutes in, but Detroit maintained a sizable lead and were ahead 16-4 with 5:32 left after a Hamilton layup.
"I am so proud of him, just how he's been, his leadership," Pistons head coach Flip Saunders said of McDyess. "I'm happy for him. I've never seen the emotion...he's taking shots, he's (fist-pumping), it's like he has a new personality. He has just been huge for us and basically carrying us."
The Celtics, though, ended the stanza with a 7-2 run to trim their deficit to 22-17. Pierce carried the Celtics in the first quarter with nine points, while McDyess had 11 for the Pistons.
But Boston couldn't make further headway in the second stanza, as Detroit opened that quarter with an 11-2 stretch. Wallace had a pair of buckets, while Maxiell powered the run with his first six points of the contest, including a dunk to push Detroit's lead to 33-19.
The Celtics, though, again countered with the next eight points, and only trailed 43-39 at the half.
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