Sports Redux: Detroit, Rocked City

Amazing when you think about it: everyone who's played the Celtics this season has a losing streak against them right now. The C's' three losses have all been avenged; first Cleveland, then Orlando, and last night in Detroit, in a fantastic game that served as a serious test of how good this 28-3 team really was. Ray Allen continued his struggles, Kevin Garnett got in early foul trouble, so it was Paul Pierce and - especially - Glen Davis, who did the damage and KO'ed the Pistons.

In this matchup between the league's two hottest teams (no two 8+ game winning streaks had collided since 2000), the Celtics jumped to a quick lead, then saw Detroit go on a 17-0 run when KG was forced to sit. The Celts hung in, though, and the fourth quarter became the official Big Baby Has Arrived Party, as the big guy scored 16 of his 20 points (thanks to a couple of sweet passes by Pierce).

After the game, the haughty Pistons sniffed. "They're a little more happy than we were when we won our game at their place," said Chauncey Billups. Billups seems to look at that as the mark of an unprofessional, arriviste team; we look at it as the Celtics loving to win and being happy for each other when it happens. We're totally on board.

Did you see Coach Bill at your local sports bar yesterday? Or perhaps NFL MVP Tom Brady (we'd have led with that, but it wasn't exactly a shocking development)? The Patriots are spectating all weekend, and no doubt were slightly pleased that Jacksonville's win over Pittsburgh was tough, hard-fought and emotionally draining. Since the Jags are likely to be coming to town next week (barring a major Tennessee upset), the Pats had to be impressed with what they saw. They almost blew the game, but QB David Garrard led a gutsy last drive to set up the game-winning field goal, and the Jax defense looked solid through most of the game. Could be a great game next week.

The Bruins won again! Tim Thomas and company held off a late Jersey rally to beat the Devils 4-3. Thomas had 42 saves, and forward Glen Metropolit sacrificed his body to save a goal late in the game when a Devil had apparently beaten Thomas. Good thing, because the B's got outshot 20-1 in the third.