Game 1: Boston 88, Detroit 79
Another tough night for Ray Allen (9 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds), but with a combined 48 points from the remainder of The Big Three, Ray's lack of scoring didn't cost the Celts too much tonight. To go along with Kevin Garnett's 26 and Paul Pierce's 22, Rajon Rondo recorded 11 points, 7 assists and 5 steals in 40 minutes. Backing up Rondo was Eddie House, who put up 5 points in 8 minutes. Sam Cassell's struggles in recent games have been well documented, but House has significant trouble bringing the ball up court when his man is putting constant pressure on him in press D. The better ball handler of the two, Cassell will need to regain his shooting touch to get some of that time back. Kendrick Perkins didn't have a huge offensive game with just 5 points, but he recorded 10 of the Celts' 37 rebounds. They didn't get many second scoring chances with just 5 offensive rebounds, but that's easy to overlook due to the fact that they shot 52.2% from the field. The Celts did a great job keeping Rip Hamilton (15 points, 6 rebounds) and Rasheed Wallace (11 points, 5 rebounds) in check, but they'll need to do a better job against Antonio McDyess. Channeling the McDyess of old, this 33-year-old version put up 14 points and 11 rebounds. This could cause big problems later in the series, so let's hope they figure him out fast.

Game 2: Boston 97, Detroit 103
The first home loss of the playoffs is bound to sting a little but this loss is even more disturbing due to the fact that The Big Three combined for 75 points (Pierce 26, Allen 25, KG 24). Making it even more painful is the fact that Rondo strung together a very impressive all-around performance with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. So where'd it all go wrong? Well, first of all, Perk played like "Regular Season, I'm cool with 20 minutes of PT" Perk as opposed to "Postseason, Showing Flashes of Dominance" Perk. In 26 minutes, Perk put up 4 points and 6 rebounds, causing Doc to sub in P.J. Brown and Glen "Big Baby" Davis for a combined 26 minutes. Secondly, the Celts put the Pistons on the line 32 times. Always a great free-throw shooting team, Detroit made good on 28 of their attempts. Third, the Pistons had 6 players in double digits, led by Rip Hamilton's 25 points. Fourth and most troubling, Boston's bench, which has consistently been a key factor to Team Green's success, put up just 8 total points in 57 combined minutes. Simply put, that ain't gonna cut it.

Game 3: Boston 94, Detroit 80
I guess we should call this "The Series of Firsts." As in this is the first playoff series where the Celtics lost a home game. As in this is the first playoff series where the Celtics won a road game. As in this is the first playoff series where Kendrick Perkins may more often assert his dominance in games as opposed to partaking in his famous disappearing act. One of 6 Celtics in double figures, the Celt's big man finished with 12 points and 10 boards. KG had 22 and 13, while Rondo record 12 points. Rondo's points totals have been pretty consistent throughout the playoffs, but I'm beginning to notice a disturbing trend when it comes to our second year point guard: he passes up open looks a lot. I don't want Rondo taking 16 shots per game, but if he's got an open look within 15 or so feet, he's got to take that shot more often. Rounding out the scoring for the good guys, James Posey contributed 12 points and Cassell, who made his first appearance in days, added 5. Rip finished with 26 points while Chauncey Billups struggled mightily, going 1-for-6 from the field for 6 points. On the positive side for the Pistons, backup guard Rodney Stuckey absolutely went off to the tune of 17 points and 4 steals in 28 minutes. You typically don't expect rookies to do too much in high-pressure playoff situations, but Stuckey's come up big and is showing no signs of letting up. The Pistons have too many scoring options for the Celts to have to worry about Stuckey, so he needs to be contained, simple as that.

Game 4: Boston 75, Detroit 94
The final score looks very ugly, but you kind of had to see this one coming. Still, a near-20-point blowout is hardly the way you want to follow up your first road victory of the 2008 NBA Playoffs. Quite simply, it was the Antonio McDyess show tonight. Detroit's big man put up 21 points and 16 rebounds (7 of the offensive variety) in what was easily his most impressive offensive performance of the series. Rip added 20, Rasheed Wallace and Jason Maxiell had 14 apiece, and Chauncey chipped in 10. The most disturbing part of this game is the fact that the Celts shot just 31.8% from the field; Pierce (16 points) was 3-for-14, KG (16 points, 10 rebounds) was 6-for-16 and Allen (11 points) and Rondo (4 points, 4 assists) were both 2-for-8. Perk had another solid game with 10 points and 6 rebounds, but we all know who the superior center was tonight. With 2 of the remaining 3 games coming at the TD Banknorth Garden, let's hope the Celts can revert back to their early-playoff ways and grab the 2 home games (or, basketball gods willing, one home and one away).

Game 5: Boston 106, Detroit 102
In spite of 51 combined points from Detroit backcourt-mates Billups and Hamilton, the Celts were able to come away with the win. There was a lot to love about this one aside from the simple fact that they won; in fact, If I were to compose a post based on this game alone, I'd have to call it something like "The Re-emergence of Ray Allen; The Continued Dominance of Kevin Garnett; The Silencing of Antonio McDyess... PERK'S A BEAST!" Allen found his shooting touch from beyond the arc (5-for-6 on three point attempts) and ended up with 29 points. Kevin Garnett missed a double-double by 3 rebounds, but his 33 points are a 2008 NBA Playoff high for him. Perkins had his most explosive outing in recent memory with 18 points, 16 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals; at one point in the first half it looked like Perk was setting himself up for a 20-20 game! Pierce finished with 16 points and 5 rebounds, while Rondo had 7 points, 13 dimes and 4 steals. The bench scored just 3 points thanks to a Posey trey, but the starters played the majority of the minutes tonight (the low in minutes for the starters was 39 from both Perk and Allen), so that's nothing to be alarmed about. Rivaling Perk's 18-16 game as the most impressive performance of the night, the Celtics' D was able to keep McDyess to just 4 points.

Game 6: Boston 89, Detroit 81
The Celts' second road win of the playoffs couldn't have come at a better time. NBA fans get the Finals they want with two of the game's most storied and historic franchises facing off (oh, and by the way, apparently there's a bit of history between the two teams, as well), while Celts fans can breath a collective sigh of relief due the fact that our significantly re-tooled team has made it past the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1987. Pierce has taken a back seat to KG or Allen (or both) in basically every game of this series, but it was his time to shine tonight. The Celtics' captain finished with 27 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in 43 minutes on the floor. KG and Allen combined for 33 points while the bench chipped in 11 total points. Perk was consistent with 7 points and 7 boards and Rondo had 11 points and 4 offensive rebounds. Billups (29 points, 6 assists) and Hamilton (21 points) tried hard to keep their team in it, but a balanced Celtics attack kept the rest of the Pistons at bay.

So we come to it - the Boston Celtics will square off against the Los Angeles Lakers in what promises to be an NBA Finals for the ages. Many fans and analysts have viewed the Celts' appearance in the Finals as a foregone conclusion all season long, but this is a perfect time for all of us to be reminded that anything can happen in playoff basketball. The Celts will have their hands full with the Lakers, especially that Kobe guy, who apparently just won some regular season award. Either way, we've got an outstanding series to look forward to, Celts fans.

We'll be back on Tuesday with your preview of the upcoming Celtics-Lakers series as the C's continue their drive for Banner 17.