Pistons-Celtics Match-Up Is Shaping Up to be as Good as Advertised

The Boston Celtics win over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday January 5, 2008, was nothing more than another regular season win, in one out of a long 82 game schedule. Or was it?

Last December, the Pistons went to Boston to beat the Celtics on their home court. It came down to a sequence of plays in the last minute of the 4^th quarter that virtually concluded with Paul Pierce taking an ill-advised and early shot, giving the Pistons enough time to get one last shot at the basket and the win, and the Pistons’ Chauncey Billups drew a foul and won the game from the free-throw line.

On January 5^th, it was a little different. The outcome was not quite as close, and the game was in Auburn Hills, Michigan where the Pistons play.

Detroit came into the game hot, riding an 11-game win streak. The Pistons had a 21-2 run in the first half, and it seemed like this game may get out of hand. However, the Celtics were resilient and fought back throughout the rest of game. Through a second half that was probably some of the best basketball execution I have ever seen one team have this season, the Celtics managed to mount a 92-85 victory in Auburn Hills.

Normally, I would tell you that this was nothing more than one victory out of 82 games. I know you Los Angeles Lakers fans can recall how I called that nationally televised win over the Suns on Christmas day nothing more than an exhibition game. However, the difference here is that the Celtics and Pistons are contenders for the Eastern Conference title, while the Lakers are not. You can try to argue that all you want, but the truth is that nobody outside of California has predicted the Lakers to be in the NBA finals, while the Pistons and Celtics are no doubt the favorites to represent the Eastern Conference.

This game was important because Detroit was the only team legitimate team that the Celtics had not come back to beat. They needed this win in order to inspire any kind of hope of beating the Pistons come playoff time. While a loss would not have cemented their fate, losing to the Pistons twice would not exactly be something they want in their heads should they face Detroit in May.

This match-up between the Celtics and Pistons is shaping up to be the Eastern Conference Finals series. Coming into the game, these teams had a combined 19-game win streak and are #1 and #2 in the conference standings. While Detroit certainly has seen more capable of letting their level of play go up and down throughout the course of season, they should be able to navigate their way to a match up with the Celtics which is shaping up to be a home court advantage for the Celtics.

So say what you will about this being 1 out of 82 games, but you can already see that these two teams value it much more than that. There was no hugging or obvious sign of camaraderie when these two teams met on the January 5^th, because both of these two teams know that they are headed for a bloodbath of a basketball series at the end of the season. And these regular season match-ups just may be the psychological advantage that could determine what many predict to be a very close series.

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