Auburn Hills, MI -- (Sports Network) - Tony Allen had 23 points off the bench, and Ray Allen added 17 points and eight rebounds, as the Boston Celtics defeated the Detroit Pistons, 88-76, in the teams' first meeting since last season's Eastern Conference finals.

Rajon Rondo chipped in with 13 points and Kevin Garnett had eight points and 12 boards for the Celtics, who have won four straight games and six of their first seven to start the season.

"Best defense of the year by far and it was all game," said Boston coach Doc Rivers. "We had active hands, were physical, got up in their bodies and it was neat to see and very nice."

Tayshaun Prince had 23 points and eight rebounds, while Will Bynum had 11 points for Detroit, which has lost two straight games. Allen Iverson, playing in his first home game since being acquired from Denver for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb, had 10 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Rasheed Wallace had 10 points and 11 boards for Detroit, which was beaten in six games by the Celtics in the East finals.

It was a particularly tough night for Richard Hamilton, who finished 0-for-8 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line.

"Us not making shots didn't help," said Iverson. "We got a lot of good looks at the basket, we just didn't knock the shots down. I don't think offense is going to be a problem too much, that's a positive we take out of this game. We just could never get it going offensively. As we get our chemistry together and some time to play together we'll start hitting shots."

With the Celtics holding a 47-29 lead after one half of play, things continued to get worse for the hosts as Boston came out of the locker room and extended their advantage to 20 following a jumper by Paul Pierce.

Boston continued to maintain a double-digit lead through the entire third quarter and a jumper by Glen Davis in the closing seconds, put the visitors up by a 69-49 margin after three.

In the fourth, the storyline didn't change as the Celtics built a 76-53 advantage and coasted to the finish.

After the Pistons held a 19-17 advantage after one quarter, Boston exploded, going on a 20-6 run in the second, taking a 37-25 lead with 3:31 left in the half. Tony Allen had 10 of those points.

Boston finished out the stanza on a strong note, getting a jumper by Garnett and layup by Tony Allen as part of an 8-0 spurt to finish the half.

The Pistons shot just 3-of-16 in the second quarter while the Celtics went 11-of-17.

Game Notes:

The Pistons will next play at Sacramento on Tuesday night, while Boston hosts Toronto on Monday night...Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey left early in the second quarter with dizziness and did not return...The Celtics went 2-1 against Detroit last season, but despite the loss the Pistons have won 14 of the last 18 matchups in this series...Prior to the contest, Boston had lost seven of eight and 10 of its last 12 games in the Motor City.