Boston Celtics @ Detroit Pistons Preview
Wednesday, January 2oth, 2010
Palace of Auburn Hills – Auburn Hills, MI
7:30 PM ET Tip
The Pistons have been playing much better basketball as of late. Since coming off their stretch where they didn’t win a game in a month, they have won 3 of their last 4. The Celtics are on the other side of the coin and have lost 3 of their last 4. The Celtics go into Detroit with a record of 27-12 which is good for 2nd in the east, while the Pistons are 14-26 and holding down the 11th spot in the east. The C’s have lost their last 3 home games, and have a worse overall record at home than on the road, so hopefully playing away from home will get them back on track.
Celtics Probable Starters:
PG: SG: SF: PF: C:
Still no Kevin Garnett for tonight. At the very least, his return and being healthy is looking more promising. So the team is going to put out their lineup that they did the other night against the Mavs. We’ll have to see if this starting 5 can play at their top level for more than 2 quarters, and instead put in a complete game. I think it is good that Rasheed will get the start in the place he called home for the previous 5 seasons. To vote on how you think he will do tonight go here.
Pistons Probable Starters:
PG: SG: SF: PF: C:
The Celtics won’t have to worry about the Pistons beating them as a team. The Pistons are dead last in the league in assists. It starts with the fact that the Pistons don’t have a true point guard. Stuckey is a scorer, and only averages 4.3 assists per game. The said thing is that 4.3 leads the team. Paul Pierce almost has that many assits per game from the small forward position.
Detroit will go as Stuckey and Hamilton go. Rip did not play in their game on Monday, as he had the stomach flu, but I would not think twice about him missing out on the rivalry he has with Ray Allen. The biggest problem I see for the C’s with Stuckey, is that I dont see Rondo as a great one on one defender, and he will have to do that tonight because Stuckey will attempt to take him one on one often.
Key Matchup: Ray Allen vs. Richard Hamilton
UConn vs. UConn. Always a great matchup that both players take very seriously. Rip likes to play very up tight defense, a defense that I can only imagine is annoying to play against, but that is why he gets paid. The thing is Ray won’t play 46 minutes like Rip has to. Therefore, the numbers at the end of the night won’t tell us who won this battle, but instead visually you will have to watch and see who is getting the best of whom. This will be a test for Ray who has gotten beaten up by some good shooters the past few weeks.
The Celtics have to stop the bleeding at some point. How about tonight they can beat up on a team that for once is down and out, while the Celtics have some control in the East. Hopefully they can get a win before KG comes back, then put together a good streak as their schedule gets very tough to finish out the month. They will need all the momentum they can get going into the January 31st showdown against the Lakers.