Boston, MA (Best E Casino) - Richard Hamilton scored 25 points, and Chauncey Billups scored 19 points and doled out seven assists as the Detroit Pistons held on for a 103-97 win over Boston in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, evening the series at a game apiece and ending the Celtics' unbeaten streak at home.

The Celtics had won 15 straight games in Boston, the last six of the regular season and all nine home games in the postseason. But now they will have to do something they have yet to do in the playoffs -- win on the road. The Celtics are 0-6 away from home in the postseason, but if they want to advance they will need to win at least once in Auburn Hills, where Game 3 is slated for Saturday night.

"There's going to come a time where we've got to get one, and we've finally come upfront, you know, with that dilemma. We've got to find some way to win one on the road, and that's what it is," said Kevin Garnett.

Ray Allen finally awoke from his postseason slumber, scoring 25 points, and Garnett had 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Celtics. Paul Pierce led all scorers with 26 for Boston.

Antonio McDyess had 15 points and eight rebounds, and Tayshaun Prince scored 14 points and also had eight boards for Detroit, which took control late in the third quarter, and never trailed in the fourth.

Detroit led by nine points entering the final 12 minutes but Boston, behind a strong effort by Allen, looked like it would overcome the deficit and run its postseason home win streak to 10. Allen, who had just nine points in Boston's Game 1 win, surpassed that output in the fourth quarter alone, when he scored 12 to lead the Celtics surge.

The Detroit lead reached 11 after a Ronald Stuckey layup made it 84-73 with 9:52 left, but Allen got Boston started with a putback layup, kicking off a 13-4 push. Allen scored seven points on the surge, including a three-pointer that pulled the Celtics within 88-86 with 5:09 to go.

Though the Celtics would pull within a basket of the Pistons several times down the stretch, they could never draw even. The deficit was still two after a Garnett jumper with 3:30 remaining, but Prince and Wallace drained consecutive jumpers, pushing the Pistons ahead 96-90 with 2:20 to go.

"The game is made of runs," said Stuckey, who added 13 points off the bench. "We knew that the Celtics are going to make their run, but we just had to fight back. They made the run early and we did ours late, and it paid off."

Garnett dropped in a jumper to make it a four-point game, but Hamilton nailed a running floater in the lane with 48.2 seconds left, restoring the six-point lead. A Pierce layup cut the deficit to 98-94, but somehow Billups was left wide open on an inbounds pass underneath the Boston basket, and his layup again put Detroit up six.

"Defensively they overreact on a lot of things," said Pistons coach Flip Saunders of the play. "We thought that we'd run a double curl and we might get Rip (Hamilton) coming off of that, and get him a shot coming. But what happened is Rasheed set a great screen and we bottomed out the weak side with Lindsey (Hunter), and Tay (Prince) had a great look late to Chauncey at the rim. It was a huge play at that point."

Allen drained a rainbow three-pointer over the outstretched hand of Rasheed Wallace to cut the Pistons lead to 100-97 with 10.7 seconds left. Wallace made one-of-two free throws at the other end, but the best shot Boston could work on the ensuing possession was a long three by Garnett. The shot banged off the iron, and Prince came down with the board and sank two free throws to seal the win.

"It's a big win, but we don't settle for less. We don't look at it as undefeated at home, we looked at it as an opportunity to get a win," said Hamilton. "We played with a lot of intensity and got a win."

The Pistons have won nine straight Game 2s, stretching back to the 2005 postseason, when the Spurs beat them in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

The Celtics led 20-18 after the first quarter, but the Pistons outscored the home team by nine in the second, and took a 50-43 lead into the break. Boston briefly led in the third quarter by as much as four points, but Detroit moved in front with a 12-2 run.

Trailing 58-54, the Pistons surged ahead from beyond the arc. Hamilton, Wallace, and Billups all drained threes on the run, which gave Detroit a 66-60 lead.

Boston pulled back to within two, but the Pistons closed the quarter with a 10-3 spurt, and a Wallace three in the waning seconds of the frame gave Detroit a 78-69 lead after three quarters.

"I thought we were a step slower than we were in Game 1," said Pierce. "I think they did a great job at getting the ball from strong side to weak side because we're a strong-side defense. So it was tough once they reversed the ball and made us rotate those guys. We were a step late and those guys knocked down shots."

Wallace finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Pistons.

Game Notes

The last Celtics loss in Boston was to the 76ers on March 24...The Celtics bench scored only eight points, to 17 by Detroit...The Pistons made 5-of-10 three-pointers, to 5-of-19 by the Celtics...Detroit's Game 2 win streak is the second longest in NBA history. The Portland Trail Blazers won 12 straight Game 2s from 1990 to 1993...It was the first time the Celtics let up 100 points at home in this postseason.