Kevin Garnett had 26 points and nine rebounds and Paul Pierce scored 22 points Tuesday to lead Boston to an 88-79 victory over the Detroit Pistons in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics' 15th straight home win. Kendrick Perkins had 10 rebounds and Rajon Rondo added 11 points and seven assists for Boston, which earned home court through the playoffs with a league-best 66-16 regular season record. The Celtics rode that advantage to seven-game series victories over Atlanta and Cleveland and held serve in the opener against Detroit. Game 2 is in Boston on Thursday night. Chauncey Billups, who missed most of the last three games of Detroit's Eastern Conference semifinal against Orlando because of a strained right hamstring, had nine points and two assists and went about 40 minutes between baskets. Billups and the rest of the Pistons were able to rest the past week after they eliminated the Magic in five games to advance to the conference finals for the sixth straight year. They looked rusty early, missing their first five shots while allowing Boston to take an 8-0 lead on Ray Allen's drive with 8:36 left in the first. Billups hit a second-chance 3-pointer to end the drought and make it 8-3. But he did not make another field goal _ he had four points and no assists in the first half _ until there was 4:47 left in the game. The Pistons quickly erased the first-quarter lead, even going ahead 13-12. But they trailed 41-40 at halftime and scored just 17 points in the third quarter, 10 from Richard Hamilton, while the Celtics took a 69-57 lead on Eddie House's 3-pointer with 2 seconds left. Bulls win surprise first pick in draft The Chicago Bulls won the draft lottery held on Tuesday and will get the first pick in next month's NBA Draft. The Bulls, who had only a 1.7 percent chance of winning the right to pick first after posting a 33-49 regular season record, will select ahead of the Miami Heat. The Heat, who at 15-67 owned the NBA's worst record, had a 25 percent chance among the 14 eligible teams to get first pick but were drawn to go second. Minnesota will choose third and Seattle fourth, followed by Memphis, New York, the Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee..
