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Celtics eye first postseason road win

May 24, 2008 - 12:16 PM Boston at Detroit 8:30 pm EDT Eastern Conference finals Series tied, 1-1

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (Ticker) - After stumbling at home in Game Two, the Boston Celtics now need to accomplish something they have been unable to do in the playoffs - win a game on the road.

The Celtics look to overcome their struggles away from home and forge a two-games-to-one lead in the Eastern Conference finals when they visit the Detroit Pistons for Game Three on Saturday.

Boston was a perfect 9-0 at home during the playoffs before suffering their first loss at the TD Banknorth Garden on Thursday, dropping a 103-97 decision to the Pistons.

"Disappointing loss," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "Now, we have to go out on the road and win a game, so that's what we'll do."

The Celtics are 0-6 in the playoffs this season, advancing to the conference finals strictly by winning at home.

"Well, this is a test for us," Celtics All-Star guard Ray Allen said. "We talked about all the things that happened in the first two rounds and now we're in a situation where we can't move on without winning on the road."

Allen finally ended his offensive woes during Game Three, pouring in 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting while hitting his first 3-pointer since Game Five of the Conference semifinals in the fourth quarter. The 32-year-old had averaged just 9.0 points in his last nine playoff games dating to the first round.

"I thought Ray had an excellent night," said Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, who finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds in Game Two.

"I think confidence-wise this is what he probably needed. I know (Celtics guard) Paul (Pierce) and myself kept encouraging him, so it was good to see him have a nice game (Thursday). I thought he was aggressive."

Pistons guard Chauncey Billups scored 19 points on Thursday without committing a turnover after he had just nine points and two assists in 31 minutes in Game One - when he showed some sluggishness in his return from a two-game layoff to recover from a lingering hamstring injury.

"It was a big win, a huge win," said Billups, who told reporters he felt completely fine after the game. "They're a great home team. We wanted to win Game One but, when we didn't we said, 'Let's try to get one, let's try to steal home court advantage from this team.'"

Detroit did just that - overcoming Boston's home-court prowess - and now has a chance to take the series lead at home, where they are 5-1 this postseason.

"We'll see what happens, but this point in the season when you get a big win, it is one game at a time," Billups said. "So we put all our effort and energy into Saturday night, and we'll talk after that."