And just like that, the epic story of the Celtics' postseason road failures is over. The C's built a big lead, survived a Detroit run, built another big lead, survived another Detroit run, and walked out of the Palace of Auburn Hills up 2-1 with a 94-80 win. Home-court advantage is back, the haters and doubters are quiet, and all is more or less right with the world. Until we get to the Sox, that is.

The C's came out blazing, building up a quick double-digit lead before referee Dick Bavetta decided to force Doc into a couple of personnel moves, calling Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett for quick second fouls. (How exactly being grabbed on the arm is a foul, we'll never know, but then again we haven't been refereeing in the NBA for 164 years like Bavetta has). The Pistons went on a run and took the lead. Then the C's bench took over, with Posey and Cassell sparking another Boston run that led to an 8-point lead after one and an 18-point lead at the half.

The Pistons did make another serious run through much of the fourth quarter, but the hole was too big for them to climb out of. With Chauncey Billups still looking injured, the offense was taken out of its rhythm, the crowd was taken out of the game, and the C's even took some of the enthusiasm out of the excitable kid with a severe head injury that the Pistons kindly allow to work the PA at their games. (Wait, apparently, that's actually a grown man in full possession of his faculties. Wow, egg on our face.)

Some of the stars: Garnett, of course, who led with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Kendrick Perkins, playing as physical and as solid a game as we've ever seen. Ray Allen, whose shooting percentage is still sad, but has finally rediscovered the location of the basket, hitting a couple big shots down the stretch. And Posey, who's been awesome all postseason. Now, if we can just keep Richard Hamilton off the free-throw line and keep 'Sheed and Prince firing bricks for a couple more games, we may be all set.

The Red Sox, who of course enjoyed the Jon Lester no-hitter last week, almost turned it around and damn near had it done unto them in Oakland last night. The A's' Justin Duchsherer (who Namathed the game during warmups) was perfect through five before hitting Jason Varitek with a pitch. David Ortiz broke up the no-hitter in the seventh, and there you've just heard the entire highlight reel for the Red Sox. Josh Beckett was fine, giving up a solo home run and couple piddly little runs, but you can't win if your offense doesn't support you. 3-0 Athletics. Jon Lester tries this afternoon to join Johnny Vander Meer at the top of Mount Olympus.

The Revolution and the Columbus Crew didn't want anyone to leave early last night. It took until the 89th minute before Kheli Dube tipped in a penalty-kick rebound to give the Revs a 1-0 win. Apparently, Columbus fans are a lot bigger jerks than we would have thought. Elsewhere in sport, the Red Wings won Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals (Hockey? Still? Really?), and Johns Hopkins will play Syracuse in the NCAA Lacrosse Championship in Foxboro, so there will be no controversial Duke celebration party.

Photo by Paul Keleher, from photos tagged "bostonist" on Flickr.