Celtics knock out Pistons, head to Finals

By Kevin Krolicki

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (Reuters) - The Boston Celtics clinched their first NBA championship appearance since 1987 with a 89-81 win over the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals on Friday.

After trailing by as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter, the Celtics rallied behind the play of Paul Pierce, who scored 27 points to power Boston to its second consecutive win in the best-of-seven series.

Boston will now face Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, reviving one of the league's storied rivalries in a series due to start on Thursday.

The loss knocked the Pistons out of the Eastern Conference finals for the third consecutive year after defeats by Miami in 2006 and Cleveland last year.

For Boston, meanwhile, the conference championship caps one of the NBA's most dramatic turnarounds in recent years.

The Celtics won just 24 games a year ago before key trades brought Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to Boston to join Pierce in a high-powered line-up that became known as the Big Three.

"I just remember being at the bottom of the ocean and wondering how I was going to get back to the top," said Pierce, who scored 12 of his points in the fourth quarter. "What a difference a year makes."

Allen added 17 points while Garnett scored 16 points for the Celtics, who outscored Detroit 29-13 in the final quarter. The Celtics also got a boost from key plays down the stretch from Rajon Rondo and James Posey.  Continued...