It was a nice night for a post-Christmas ham. Who better than Bobby Valentine to pop up as the guest of honor in Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck's front-row seat? The new Red Sox manager, in a black jacket and jeans, stood and waved to all corners of the Garden, and even held the ball for one of
Lucky the Leprechaun's trampoline dunks. Except that the Celtics mascot missed.
Someone had to. The Celtics, fresh off an 0-3 start to the season, got their fill of the basket and made their best defensive showing in last night's 96-85 win over a rebuilding Pistons team. Paul Pierce, the pain in his bruised right heel subsided enough for action, made his 2011-12 debut with a well-rounded 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting, five assists and four rebounds.
Jermaine O'Neal, in a sense, made his own debut. After scoring eight points, total, in his first three games, the Celtics center broke out last night with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting and seven rebounds.
Brandon Bass produced another gem off the bench with 17 points, matching Ray Allen's night.
Overall the Celtics shot 52.2 percent and, with solid defense against their winless opponent, held Detroit to 43 percent.
A 51.5 percent first half was only a warmup for how the Celtics came out in the third quarter. Pierce, with a 20-footer and a 3-pointer, continued to develop his groove. Allen, with a pair of treys over the first six minutes of the quarter, O'Neal and Bass also helped push the C's lead out to 72-53 with 4:49 left in the third.
The sides exchanged hoops, and the Celtics kicked into an 8-0 run fueled by three-point plays from Bass and O'Neal — the former off a powerful lefty drive. Detroit cut the deficit to 20 (84-64) before Bass buried an up-top jumper at the third-quarter buzzer for an 86-64 lead.
The Celtics, so starved for a basket two nights earlier in New Orleans, shot 71.4 percent (15-of-21) for the quarter. Bass had nine points in the quarter to go along with seven from O'Neal, and every player who had struggled over the previous three games continued to thrive in a home setting.
Rookie Greg Stiemsma continued his run of blocks, this time with a swat on Jason Maxiell, and Bass muscled in for another layup.
However, Bass' hoop was the only Celtics mark in the midst of a 9-2 Detroit run that cut the lead to 90-76. Though Pierce was done for the night, starters Kevin Garnett, O'Neal, Allen and Rajon Rondo, plus Marquis Daniels, were on the floor when Allen hit two free throws to finally end the Pistons run.
Garnett followed with a baseline jumper and O'Neal a 15-footer to trigger garbage time.
The Celtics led, 50-43, at halftime. Pierce helped in all areas. He scored six points on 2-of-4 shooting, grabbed a team-high four rebounds, and had two assists.
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