Pistons @ Celtics PREVIEW Detroit Pistons (21-13) @ Boston Celtics (17-18) Previous Game Celtics 88 @ Bulls 77 Warriors 93 @ Pistons 99 Streaks Celtics: Won 1 Pistons: Won 5 Season Series November 5th, Celtics 88 @ Pistons 96 Head Coaches Larry Brown/ Jim O'Brien Probable Starters Chauncey Billups/Mike James Rip Hamilton/Paul Pierce tayshaun prince/Jiri Welsch Ben Wallace/walter mccarty Mehmet Okur/Mark Blount 6th Men Chucky Atkins/Ricky Davis Players To Watch Rip Hamilton/Paul Pierce Hamilton: 18.3 Points, 3.5 Assists, 3.6 Rebounds, 1.16 Steals Pierce: 23.6 points, 7.20 rebounds, 5.7 assists Injury Lists Detroit Pistons Hubert Davis Tremaine Fowlkes Lindsey Hunter Boston Celtics Brandon Hunter Chris Mills Keys to the Game Detroit Pistons: <ul> [*]Attack the basket and get the guards involved early.Take it to Pierce every chance you get.He is the glue behind their team.As he goes so the go the Celtics [*]Crash the boards and get as many chances as possible on offense.Give Billups the ball and let him set up the offense.Limit the Celtics to any 2nd chance points they may well get. [*]Try and contain Paul Pierce as best you can.He is one of the best players in the NBA.If you let him to score at will early chances are he will be feeling it all night.He is mr 4th quarter so get ready for his famous "take over the game" period [*]Guarding the shooters will be huge in this game.Boston have always been known to live by the jump shot.If you leave players like Pierce,James,mccarty,welsch open from three they will normally make you pay [/list] Boston Celtics: <ul> [*]Keeping Pistons off the boards will be a key area for the Celtics.Pistons have killed teams on the boards lately.Ben Wallace is clearly the guy who is a monster on the glass but Memo Okur,Elden Campbell and tayshaun prince can crash the boards) [*]Attack the basket and try and get the Pistons big men in foul trouble.Doing that will mean a better chance to take control of the game.Ben Wallace is the shot blocker inside so any early fouls on him could put Boston in a good situation) [*]Give the ball to Pierce and let him attack the basket and do what he does best..draw the fouls and get to the line.He needs to get going early for Celtics to have a good chance against a red hot Pistons team) [*]Don't let the Pistons backcourt take it to you early.Guard them on the arc.more so Chauncey Billups.Celtics know very well about this guy and letting him go off would completely hurt their chances of getting a much needed home win over one of the top east teams) [/list] Allnet's Prediction Pistons are riding high with a 5 game winning streak.Celtics have continued to play inconsistant basketball even since the Ricky Davis trade.I feel Pistons overall balence will be too much for Boston Pistons by 6
I'll take Celts by 2 in this one, Detroit misses a game winning 3 point atempt that would win the game. Wallace grabs 20 boards. This takes place, you can all call me Master :mrgreen:
I tip the Celtic win here, something tells me Paul Pierce is just going to take over. Mind you, something tells me that every week Celts by 6.
Great preview, I love the super offensive matchup between Rip and the Truth, it'll be a real shootout. I don't think there's much contest for boards and blocks though, I think Detroit will clean up on the defensive portion of the game. Offensive as well. As for the sixth men, they're both great on bench points. I think Detroit will outdo them in general, I say Pistons by 7.
I hope that Detroit doesn't dissapoint. I don't think they will, they are a better team than the Celtics and have been playing pretty well recently. Pistons by 6.
This is always a strange matchup for me because the Pistons and Celtics are both my favorites and I want them both to do well. I spend the entire game cheering for every good play and hoping that the Pistons win, but not by a lot so that the Celts don't look bad. The Pistons are my home state team, and they have my loyalty. So, back to the game. Paul Pierce is the key to this, I think. Although guys like James and Welsch have really heated up lately, if the Pistons can contain Pierce they can win the game. Since they don't have to worry about the Celtics bench, the Pistons reserves should get a lot of playing time. We may even see Darko. Pistons by 10.
Pistons win their 6th straight game in a defense battle 78-68 Monster overall game from Ben Wallace-13 points 15 rebounds 5 assists 2 blocks.Big game from Elden Campbell ..13 points 5 rebounds in under 16 minutes.Billups and Rip's shots were off but still helped the team in other areas. Holding Pierce to 10-25 shooting was a factor...He was forced to take the outside shot...and made 4-12. Box Score Recap to come shortly...
Never go against the Pistons TimFlem. That is what you have learned. Unless we are on the west coast or an elite team comes to the Palace, then it is up for grabs. Of course, I would still always say Pistons would win. I didn't see the game, except for small flashes. Didn't see anything special and I was doing some stuff for school. (Damn finals!)
If you didn't see anything special, you must have missed Darvin's dunk. It was awesome, he jumped up, ducked under the basket, and hooked the ball in over his head. They showed the replay about 40 times, and it was awesome every time. This is the type of dunk you would see in the dunk contest, not something you see during games. It was so cool. My prediction was right, except Darko didn't play. What's Brown's problem? Just put the kid in, he deserves to play!
Ham's reserve dunk was dunk of the day on NBA fastbreak.Was truely sick I think the anouncers said something like "TALK ABOUT A HAM SANDWICH...."NOT CHEESE NEEDED ON THAT ONE" Greg Anthony loved it.
No, I missed the dunk in the game. I saw it on SportsCenter though, and I was like damn, I missed it during the game.
