Pistons best Celtics

Tayshaun Prince netted 16 points while Rasheed Wallace had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Pistons, who have won six straight against Boston.

"It wasn’t easy, I’ll tell you that," Hamilton said. "We missed so many free throws, we missed so many opportunities when we had them down by 10 and we let them back in the game. A win solves everything and hopefully we’ll be back to where we were playing earlier in the season."

Gerald Green had a career-high 24 points for the Celtics, who have dropped four in a row. Ryan Gomes added 17 and Al Jefferson donated 12 with a career- high 22 boards in defeat.

"We were satisfied with the way we played but the outcome is we want to win," Gomes said. "They’re a veteran team and they executed well and the end when we kind of rushed things. We had some good shots, but probably could have had better ones. That’s the difference between the two teams."

Both clubs shot poorly from the floor, with Detroit hitting on 34 percent of its shots while Boston finished 36 percent shooting.

Kendrick Perkins’ jumper put Boston up 27-26 after one quarter of play, but Detroit scored seven of the final nine points in the second for a 49-43 halftime lead.

After Jason Maxiell’s dunk put the Pistons up 60-54 with 3 1/2 minutes left in the third, Green scored six straight points to tie the game entering the final frame.

The Pistons came out in the fourth with a 12-4 burst — capped by a pair of free throws by Prince — for a 72-62 advantage. Detroit led the rest of the way as Murray’s two treys late in the quarter sealed the victory.

Game Notes

The Pistons shot 38 percent from three-point range while the Celtics were 25 percent from beyond the arc...Boston’s Sebastian Telfair ended with nine points and five assists...Detroit committed nine turnovers to Boston’s 15.