Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – The Celtics ball movement led to 34 assists, which tied a season high, and 62.2 percent shooting from the field. Though they finished with 12 turnovers, the C’s had only one at the break, when they led 64-35. ‘I thought the ball just moved today,’ Rivers said. ‘Overall I just thought our energy was good. It was sustained for most of the game and that’s a good sign.’ The problem is the Celtics lacked such energy the day before against the best team in the Eastern Conference. ‘It is frustrating. Because you know what you are and you know what you’re capable of,’ Garnett said. ‘It doesn’t matter if it’s Cleveland or Detroit. That level of defense – I feel like tonight it was like an edge. It was grimy, it was (gritty). We got to play like that every night. We’ve got to do that every night. . . . It was a great game for us to sit back and look at and say, ‘Hey, this is who we are.’ ‘”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “Pierce scored eight straight points early in the game to erase the only deficit Boston saw, then his only 3-pointer of the night helped the Celtics open a double-digit advantage little more than seven minutes in. Pierce didn’t address the media after the game, but Celtics coach Doc Rivers suggested he was fine physically (though, given Boston’s injury history this season, one can’t be sure). ‘We’re obviously really working to try to re-establish [Pierce],’ said Rivers. ‘And, like I said before the game, it’s coming around. It’s still not there, but that was great to see. He looked explosive. So those are the signs I keep seeing that I think he’s getting closer and our team’s getting closer.’”

Jeff Clark, CelticsBlog – “One month left in the regular season. Sixteen games. Welcome to the stretch run. Part of me really just wants to fast forward to the playoffs. I don’t know if I can learn anything else about this team that is going to change my mind much about them. I think they are good enough to beat anyone if healthy but I haven’t seen that level in months. I think they are inconsistent enough to lose to anyone and if they don’t keep the effort up, they will fall to the first team that does.”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “‘They were hungry for a victory,’ said Pistons coach John Kuester. ‘They came out and took it to us.’ The ball hopped from player to player, to the point that there was only one turnover in the first half compared with 15 assists. ‘It reminded you of the time when we were playing at our best,’ Perkins said. ‘That’s what we were doing.’”

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “‘He has to play better, point blank,’ Rivers said. ‘He has to play harder and he has to play better.’ Daniels then went out and did just that, scoring 11 points, grabbing five rebounds and dishing out four assists. It was a stark turnaround from his previous six games when he put up a total of just 17 points, two rebounds and two assists. Rivers said before the game that Daniels’ struggles could be attributed directly to a lack of energy. The coach noticed the drop-off after Daniels returned from a 28-game absence with a thumb injury.”

Ron Borges, Boston Herald – “The good news from last night’s 119-93 pounding of the Pistons is that the Celtics did to such a lowly team what they should do. They got rid of them early, pounding them into pumice the same way the foreign car industry did Detroit’s economy. They played with energy and defensive dominance. They played like the kind of team we hoped they’d be this season before injuries and old age began to tie them into unrecognizable knots. The problem is it was just a rerun of a drama that has been played out over and over this season.”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “The Boston Celtics are trying to get as high a playoff seeding as possible. The Detroit Pistons are in pursuit of more ping-pong balls for June’s NBA draft lottery. Both teams moved a step closer following Boston’s 119-93 pummeling of the Pistons Monday night. ‘They were good, we were bad,’ said Pistons coach John Kuester, a former Celtic assistant. ‘They played an outstanding basketball game and we added to it. There’s no question.’”

Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe – “‘If we can get this right, it could be an unbelievable feeling at the end,’ said Rivers. Count me in. Put me on the Big Green bus. I believe.

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