BOSTON - Jermaine O'Neal scored 10 points and grabbed three rebounds while Ray Allen scored nine points on 3-of-5 shooting as the Boston Celtics took a 50-43 lead over the Detroit Pistons into halftime in their home opener at TD Garden.
Paul Pierce, who saw action for the first time this season, scored six points and had four rebounds in 13 minutes for Boston, which made 17-of-33 shots to shoot 51.5 percent in the half. Brandon Bass had six points off the bench and Sasha Pavlovic added five points for Boston.
Greg Monroe has a game-high 14 points and had four rebounds and three steals in the first half for Detroit, which shot 44.2 percent in the half. Tayshaun Prince scored eight points and Ben Gordon added six points for the Pistons.
Boston opened the quarter on a 12-4 run and built a 36-26 lead with 7:50 left before halftime. Detroit closed out the half on a 17-14 run to keep themselves in the game.
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