"It was very odd. It kind of felt like the end of the world," Celtics center Kendrick Perkins said. "It's a little different when we beat ourselves, you know what I'm saying? That's how I feel.
"It was a little dead [in the locker room]. It was the first game where I saw that guys were a little disappointed at each other. There was a lot of pointing fingers tonight for some reason . . . But it was nothing serious. We each got to look ourselves in the mirror and see what we do right [and wrong]. The rest will take care of itself."
Kevin Garnett scored 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Celtics, while guard Ray Allen scored 24 points after missing the previous two games with a sore right ankle. Paul Pierce was held to 11 points 5-of-16 shooting, about 10 points fewer than his average. Detroit's backcourt of Billups and Rip Hamilton combined for 49 points and the Pistons hit nine 3-pointers. The Celtics also missed 8 of 21 free throws.
"It was somber," Allen said. "Everybody had their heads down even though nobody really needs to hold their heads down. We have to look each other, ourselves, the small little things that we did that added to us losing the game."
The Celtics entered the fourth quarter up, 65-61. But a Lindsey Hunter 3-pointer gave Detroit a 68-67 lead with 9:42 left, the Pistons' first lead since 11-9. A lay-in by Billups gave Detroit a 78-71 lead with 5:58 remaining.
"We turned the ball over," Allen said. "We gave them the momentum. That's when they took the lead."
Allen showed that his ankle was just fine when his reverse jam with 5:44 left sliced Boston's deficit to 78-73. Allen's 3-pointer brought the Celtics within 81-78 with 4:29 remaining. A Billups 3-pointer pushed the Pistons ahead, 85-79, with 1:42 remaining.
An Eddie House 3-pointer brought Boston within 3, 85-82, with 1:01 remaining. And an Allen 3-pointer with 18.9 seconds left tied the game at 85.
