The Celtics' bench, instrumental in the team's NBA title run a year ago, has been strong against the Pistons, especially in the second quarter of both games.

"Both games, we had really good first quarters," Pistons coach Michael Curry said. "Second quarter, we really struggled and kind of lost grasp of the game."

In Boston's 88-76 win Nov. 9, Boston's bench outscored Detroit's second unit 43-23. Most of the Celtics' points off the bench came in the second quarter, when Boston outscored Detroit 30-10. The Celtics' second unit scored 22 of those points.

It was more of the same when the two met less than two weeks later in Boston on Nov. 20. The Celtics were even more dominant in crushing Detroit 98-80. In that game, the Celtics' second unit outscored their Detroit counterparts 42-29. Like the first matchup, the Celtics' pulled away in the second quarter by outscoring Detroit, 28-19, with 23 of those points scored by backups.

However, the Pistons have reason to believe that their bench struggles in the first two matchups will not be as problematic tonight.

Richard Hamilton, Detroit's leading scorer each of the past six seasons, now is coming off the bench.

Center Antonio McDyess, who did not play in the first two matchups against Boston while negotiating a buyout with the Denver Nuggets, bolsters what should be a better performance by Detroit's second unit.

"In the past, we've done so well early in the game and on their main guys," said Hamilton, whose availability tonight is questionable after he aggravated a groin injury that kept him out of eight games earlier this season.

"We kind of got relaxed when the guys came off the bench, and they punished us for that."