AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Antonio McDyess refused to let the Detroit Pistons get pushed to the brink of elimination.
McDyess had his best game of the playoffs, scoring 21 points and grabbing 16 rebounds to lift Detroit to a 94-75 series-evening victory over the Boston Celtics on Monday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. Game 5 is Wednesday night in Boston, then the Pistons will host Game 6 on Saturday night.
Boston’s Big Three shot poorly as did most of the Celtics, but the NBA’s top-seeded team stayed competitive for much of the game thanks to a stark disparity in free throws.
The Celtics converted 32-of-39 free-throw attempts, while the Pistons made 20-of-26.
Richard Hamilton scored 20 points and had seven assists, and Chauncey Billups added 10 points and seven assists for the Pistons.
Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett scored 16 points to lead the Celtics, who shot 21-of-66 (.318) and trailed 43-39 at halftime.
