DETROIT -- If there isn't bad blood between the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics, there are certainly bad elbows and words.
Blood flowed Tuesday when Boston forward Larry Bird's chin got in the way of Detroit center Bill Laimbeer's forearm while the Celtics were running up a 2-0 playoff series lead on the Pistons.
Elbows and words came out Thursday night when Terry Tyler scored 16 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and helped hold Bird to 2 points in the final period, leading Detroit to a 125-117 victory over Boston.
Game 4 is set for Sunday afternoon at Detroit with the fifth game returning to Boston May 8 and a sixth, if necessary, due back in Detroit May 10.
Laimbeer's 27 points and 13 rebounds were high for the Pistons, while guard Isiah Thomas had 26 points and 16 assists. Guard John Long added 20 points.
Laimbeer was involved in an elbowing incident with Celtics center Robert Parish in the third period, and Bird bad-mouthed him at least twice while the players were on the floor.
'Laimbeer threw an elbow,' Boston coach K.C. Jones said. 'A lot of times the officials don't see it. Laimbeer does whatever he can get away with. And he does it all the time.'
'Bill Laimbeer is going to flop around like a fish out of water every time he gets a chance,' Bird said. 'It's just the way he plays.
'He flops around out there,' Bird said later. 'The rest of the guys play basketball. The referees watched him play 82 times this year. They still let him get all the calls.'
The Laimbeer elbow, seen by few, caused Parish to retaliate with his own elbow at 7:32 of the third period. That one was seen by the officials, and felt by Laimbeer.
'If I had taken a swing at him,' said Laimbeer, easily restrained by official Jess Kersey after making a mild run at Parish, 'I would have been gone from the game. That wouldn't have done us any good.'
'I feel he took some cheap shots at me,' Parish said. 'I guarantee something will break out if they let it go Sunday.'
'He's nothing,' Bird said. 'We've just got to go out and play the next game. We didn't play aggressive. We've got to take it to the hole with authority.'
Tyler hit 3 straight baskets while Boston went scoreless, to give the Pistons a 120-111 lead with 3:22 remaining. Detroit led the entire second half, although Boston did shave the gap to 98-96 entering the final quarter.
Dennis Johnson scored 27 points, 15 in the third quarter, while Bird had 14 of his 25 in the third to help the Celtics rally from an 11-point deficit after the Pistons ran out from a 62-62 halftime tie.
Bird had 13 rebounds and 8 assists while Parish had 11 rebounds. Boston held a 50-46 rebounding edge, but Detroit had a 27-19 advantage in the second half.
The Pistons took 107 shots in the game to 86 for the Celtics, who made 23 turnovers.
Bird flapped a few bad words at Laimbeer at one point in the fourth quarter when the Detroit center brushed or pushed a Boston player after the ball had gone out of bounds on the sideline.
'You keep doing that and we'll get you,' a lip-reader paraphrased Bird's message, delivered in earthy terms. Bird had several sharp sentences for Laimbeer after the game ended and the Detroit players were walking off the court.
'I have nothing to say about what he told me,' Laimbeer said. 'Whatever is said on the court stays on the court as far as I'm concerned.'
