The Celtics top the Pistons in Game 5 to take a 3-2 lead back to Detroit. With Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton all putting in quality performances, SN’s Nathaniel Friedman writes if one needed proof that the two Eastern Conference finalists were both championship material, and so evenly matched, last night provided it.
In this morning’s Wake-Up Call, SN’s Dan Shanoff hopes Allen’s 29 points and a series-/season-saving 20-foot dagger in the game’s final minute will stave off the Celtics fans who have complained about Allen’s up-’til-now disappointing playoffs.
Off the court NBA news: The league admits the refs missed the call at the end of the Lakers-Spurs’ Game 4. … Sam Smith writes the Miami Heat, who most assume will take Michael Beasley in next month’s draft, are beginning to test the waters on the value of the No. 2 pick. … SN’s Stan McNeal is at the predraft camp in Orlando and reports none of the 60 players there — including UNC’s Ty Lawson and Danny Green and UCLA’s Luc Richard Mbah a Moute — jumped into the lottery after the first day of games. … And Kobe Bryant, Byron Scott and Danny Ainge are all feted in SN’s 2008 NBA Awards.
At the Stanley Cup finals in Pittsburgh, the Penguins tighten things up against the Red Wings, taking Game 3, 3-2. Vincent Lara-Cinisomo writes that after Detroit took nine of the first 10 shots on goal, the tenor of the game changed when 6-7 Pens defenseman Hal Gill tussled with and knocked down 6-foot Tomas Holmstrom near the Pittsburgh net. Exactly three minutes later, Sidney Crosby scored on the give-and-go with Martin Hossa, ending Chris Osgood’s shutout streak.
Sporting News has begun its Camp Countdown, a look at all 32 NFL teams in the run-up to training camp, and Jean-Jacques Taylor writes there’s no reason the Cowboys playoff-win drought shouldn’t end this year because they are among the league’s most talented teams. SN’s Vinnie Iyer agrees and adds the Cowboys are one of the closest sure things to a projected playoff team in ‘08.

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