Ripped apart at end

The second-guessing began almost as soon as Rip Hamilton drained a game-winning 17-footer from the right wing. The Celtics' coaching staff lingered on the parquet as the referees reviewed the shot. Replays showed the ball leave Hamilton's fingertips just before time expired. As the Pistons celebrated an 82-81 victory at the TD Banknorth Garden, it was easy to wonder what could, or should, have happened on that last Detroit possession.

Rewind the tape and there was an obvious defensive lapse. No one switched to cover Hamilton after he curled around a couple of screens. He was wide open. Ricky Davis flying into his peripheral vision did nothing to distract Hamilton, who has hit bigger shots in bigger games.

''My job was just to take the shot, regardless of how I shot the ball," said Hamilton (26 points). ''I just had to take my time. It's exciting [to hit a game-winner], especially in somebody else's building. When everybody is yelling and screaming, thinking that they've got the win, then it's quiet. I get a bigger thrill out of that than anything."

When Tayshaun Prince inbounded the ball, there were eight-10ths of a second remaining. Celtics coach Doc Rivers thought he had all the angles covered, and he took the blame for the defensive failure in his postgame press conference. The Celtics called a 20-second timeout after looking at the Pistons' initial formation. Rivers figured Detroit coach Flip Saunders would call a lob to the basket, probably for Rasheed Wallace. So, he told Kendrick Perkins not to guard the inbounds pass.

''You know, if Perk's on the ball, would Rip catch it?" said Rivers. ''I don't know if he would have, to be honest. That was my call, completely my call. It didn't work, so I blew that."

As noble as it was for Rivers to shoulder the blame, the players did not accept that version of events. If nothing else, they win and lose as a team. The Celtics celebrated in raucous fashion when Mark Blount hit a go-ahead 15-footer with 0.8 left on the clock. It appeared that Blount double dribbled when he mishandled a pass from Delonte West, and nearly had no chance at a shot. But that didn't give Paul Pierce any pause as he leaped onto the 7-foot center after the shot fell and created a joyous scrum in front of the basket by the Boston bench, believing a victory was in hand. Pierce was not alone as a crowd of 16,642 stood and cheered, then moments later left the Garden bitterly disappointed at being denied a continuation of the celebration.

''No, no, no, we ain't blaming nobody," said West (10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks). ''We ain't blaming no coaches. We ain't blaming no particular player. If they had missed that shot, we would have celebrated as a team. We lost as a team, from the coaching staff to the 15th player.

''We know we can compete with anybody in this league. We played one of the tougher teams in the Eastern Conference and we went right down to the wire with those guys. It would have a been a whole lot better for our young guys, confidence-wise to get the victory."

West and the rest of the Celtics stopped short of claiming any sort of moral victory. The game was too close and the last shot too painful for that kind of thinking. Also, it does no one on a young team any good to be satisfied with a 1-point, last-second loss to the reigning Eastern Conference champions, especially with a rematch looming Nov. 15. The winner by Hamilton stings, as it should. While the Celtics must move on, they also cannot forget how well they played and how they came up short on the last play.

The teams stayed incredibly close throughout, the Celtics seemingly adopting the Pistons' blue-collar attitude at both ends of the floor. They were almost even in every important statistical category, from shooting percentage (40 percent) to rebounding (Boston, 44-42) to assists (Boston, 20-17) to steals (Detroit, 9-8). The Pistons led by no more than 6 points, taking a 24-18 advantage early in the second quarter. The Celtics led by no more than 7 points, going ahead, 41-34, on a driving layup by Ricky Davis with 56.9 seconds left in the first half.

The Celtics actually carried a 6-point lead (75-69) into the closing minutes after Pierce made one of two free throws. But the Pistons relied on their experience and quickly regained the lead on a Rasheed Wallace 3-pointer. Boston went back ahead on a driving layup by West, but Pierce stumbled at the line. The captain made 3 of 7 foul shots in the closing minutes, including two misses over the final 1:16 that could have given the Celtics a cushion. Pierce tried to put a positive spin on the loss.

''We're starting to see what kind of team we have here," said Pierce (28 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists). ''We played straight up with the defending Eastern Conference champs. Even though there are no moral victories, this team showed a lot of toughness."