AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Rajon Rondo had nine points and 17 assists to lead the Boston Celtics to a 109-86 rout of the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night.
Kevin Garnett scored 22 points and Paul Pierce added 21 for Boston, which won easily despite Shaquille O’Neal’s absence because of a bruised knee. The Celtics hardly missed him against the undersized Pistons, who are off to their first 0-4 start since November 1999.
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Charlie Villanueva scored 17 points for Detroit, which played without Richard Hamilton, who was out with a sore right foot.
Rondo had a triple-double with 24 assists Friday night against New York.
His big night Tuesday gave him 67 assists through Boston’s first four games.
O’Neal, who didn’t make the trip, missed two straight practices since bruising his right knee against the Knicks. Jermaine O’Neal started and scored 12 points, and rookie Semih Erden, a 7-footer from Turkey, made his debut. Erden entered in the first quarter and quickly blocked two shots. He scored his first NBA points on a breakaway dunk in the second that led to a Detroit timeout and put Boston ahead, 39-28.
The Pistons were competitive in their first three games but fell behind 16-5 early in this one. Rondo made a 3-pointer to end the first half, giving Boston a 57-44 lead, and the Celtics poured it on in the third quarter. At one point, Pierce was so open in the left corner he paused, as if daring DaJuan Summers to come out and guard him. Pierce then made a 3-pointer to put the Celtics up 86-66 and went back down the court shaking his head.
Pierce needs 23 points to reach 20,000 for his career and will have a chance at that milestone when the Celtics host Milwaukee tonight.
Detroit lost forward Jonas Jerebko in the preseason to a torn Achilles tendon, and 6-foot-11, 205-pound Austin Daye has been playing power forward. Daye scored 16 points, one of five Pistons in double figures, but Detroit’s defense couldn’t contain Rondo.
The Boston point guard helped his team shoot 52 percent from the field, and the game was never really in doubt in the fourth quarter.
NOTES: Boston Coach Doc Rivers had a brief dispute with referee Bob Delaney in the first quarter after Glen Davis was called for a technical foul. Rivers felt Delaney was misapplying the league’s new guidelines against complaining.
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