Boston wins battle of the bench

Last season, it was the vaunted Lakers bench that was supposed to steamroll the Celtics. Detroit, too, is supposed to flex its superior backup brawn against a bunch of Boston no-names.

It hasn't happened yet.

Boston's bench outscored Detroit's reserves 42-29 tonight at TD Banknorth Garden, picking up where the starters left in a standout victory over a the Pistons. Tony Allen paced Boston's bench with 13 points.

"Just the entire bench [played well]," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "But Tony was huge."

The Celtics have come to rely on their bench, with four players playing at least 14 minutes. Pistons coach Michael Curry warned before the game that Boston's bench players were capable of getting it going on any given night, and his premonition proved true.

“That’s the great thing about Doc," said Celtics guard Eddie House, who played almost 15 minutes tonight. "He recognizes if a guy has it going, and he stays out there, TA has it going, you know, Ray might now get back out there at his regular rotation time, just like I might not get on the court if Rondo has a going. It’s just great recognition by coach and once again we tried to go out there and do our job."