Detroit 105, Boston 95

We need Kevin Garnett back.

[recap] [box score] [highlights]

Rather than be refreshed after the All-Star Break, too often since Garnett went down we've looked sluggish on both ends of the court. It's ab obvious thing to say, but there's an important element of intensity missing when he's out of the lineup.

Some good things came out of this game with the Pistons, however. Glen Davis is getting good enough at that 17-foot jumper that I'm almost comfortable with him taking it as long as he's wide open. Kendrick Perkins showed a lot more post-up game than I had seen in a while. And Paul Pierce, who had recently looked like he was nursing some sort of injury beyond the dislocated thumb he suffered against the Clippers last Wednesday, had a familiar spring in his step (a spring that slowed considerably as the afternoon wore on; Pierce didn't come out of the game until the final seconds).

***

It looks like we bit too early on Mikki Moore. Sunday night, power forwards Joe Smith and Drew Gooden were bought out by the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Sacramento Kings, respectively. Smith was a rumored buyout candidate all year and was definitely on Boston's wish list, but it appears that Boston brass decided they couldn't take the chance that they wouldn't become available. Smith and Gooden would be more useful, but we'll have to make do with Moore. The front office's collective hands may have been tied by the injuries to Garnett and Brian Scalabrine, too; we needed someone, fast.

The Celtics lose twice in this situation, however. Not only do they no longer have room on their roster to sign one of these veteran big men, but as both Smith and Gooden have ties to Cleveland, one of them -- most likely Smith -- is going to end up on the roster of the strongest competition in the East. Come to think of it, that may have been a consideration in locking up Moore; there was no guarantee we'd get Smith even if he was bought out.

Having seen Moore for a couple games now, I'm a little concerned. The issue is that Moore is smaller than I thought. I'm not the most devout follower of the NBA outside the Celtics, and I always assumed he was a banger, probably because he always has kind of a mean look on his face. But he isn't. He's seven-feet tall and weighs 225 pounds, and his arms are, well, skinny for an NBA player his size. I like Moore's jumper, but I wish he was a little bit bigger and more physical.

Next game is Wednesday at New Jersey (no national TV). Friday is the big showdown with the Cavs in Boston, at 8 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.