| NBA Playoff Prediction: Boston Celtics vs Detroit Pistons |
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| Written by Scott Burgess | |||||||
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Thursday, 22 May 2008
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 The Detroit Pistons are looking to rebound against the Boston Celtics after they lost Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final 88-79, in Boston. The Celtics are still a perfect 9-0 at home. Oddsmakers at SBGglobal.com have the Celtics as 4-point favs over the Pistons with the over/under set at 172 ½. Get your NBA Playoff Prediction in now at SBGglobal.comThe Celtics won Game 1 despite a bad shooting night from Ray Allen, he had just nine points on the night none of which were from beyond the arch. During the regular season he had six games where he had single digit points. The top producer for the Celtics was Kevin Garnett with 26pts, 4 assists and 9 rebounds while Paul Pierce was close behind with 22pts, 6 assists and 6 rebounds. Boston killed them in the paint with 22 more points than Detroit. Home court has definitely been advantageous for the Celtics but they aren’t depending on it. The Pistons learned from their mistakes and they’re going to come out stronger tonight. The Celtics have averaged 85 PPG in their last five games and on home court they average 99 PPG. Their defense has been wicked, they’ve allowed their opponents an average of 84 PPG in their last five. They are 31-18 ATS at home and 34-24 ATS on one day rest. The Pistons had Chauncey Billups back but he was a little rusty after he missed two games and most of a third in the conference semifinals against Orlando with a strained right hamstring. But the Detroit point guard scored nine points with just two assists and two turnovers. "I needed to play that game," he said. "I don't feel good about the outcome of it, but I feel good having been out there, having seen what it was going to be like in my first game, and I look to make improvements in the second game." Chauncey has averaged 15 PPG throughout the playoffs. The Pistons had a bad night shooting from the field where they made 28 of 66 shots (42%). Rasheed Wallace was 0 for 3 from the 3-point line and Richard Hamilton made 5 of 13 from the field. They must get their field goal percentage up if they want to take one away from the Celtics at home. They have the talent and lineup to do it. The Pistons are 3-3 on the road where they average 94 PPG. Recent Trends to Consider
GAME: Detroit Pistons (67-27) at Boston Celtics (75-22) DATE/TIME: Thursday, May 22 - 8:30 PM EST LINE: SBGglobal.com TOTAL: 172 ½ PICK: Detroit +4 The Bottom Line: You can hold a good team down, but not forever. Teams that reach the third round of the playoffs have established themselves as being better than most. When good teams come up with below average scoring efforts they tend to bounce back in follow-up games. Get your NBA Playoff Prediction in now at SBGglobal.com                        |
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