So the Boston Celtics have lost their first six road playoff games. The Pistons hear that stat, shrug and ask: What’s your point?
“You don’t all of the sudden go from the best road team in the regular season to, ‘Well, they’re never going to win on the road,'” Pistons coach Flip Saunders said.
The Celtics will bring their 0-6 road mark to Michigan for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals Saturday night, but the Pistons prepared Friday with a much different perspective in mind. They see not a winless-on-the-road team but one that has performed well for two straight games, even if it has won only one.
What’s more, they see a team coming in with more on the line than at any other point in the playoffs. For the first time, winning on the road isn’t an option, it’s a must.
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The Celtics were the best team in the regular season, losing only 10 times on the road all year. They also won their only game at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
As a team, the Celtics are shooting 50 percent for the series. Kevin Garnett has averaged 25 points on better than 60 percent shooting. Paul Pierce didn’t run as many pick-and-rolls in Game 2 and is still averaging 24 points on 53 percent shooting. And Ray Allen turned back into himself Thursday night and now has a 17-point average.
Those stats mean more than a road record against previous opponents.
Celtics coach Doc Rivers said winning on the road is just a matter of getting back to what they did all season.
“We executed well on the road,” Rivers said. “We didn’t turn the ball over, we rebounded well and we were a great defensive team. We haven’t done all those. We’ve done some of those things, we just haven’t done them all for 48 minutes. In the playoffs, you have to.”