Eastern Conference Finals 2008 Preview and Prediction
May 18, 2008 by Stephen Kersey
Filed under Fantasy Football Advice, NBA Teams
The Eastern Conference Finals is set and has the Detroit Pistons going against the Boston Celtics. The Pistons reached the Eastern Conference Finals by beating the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round and the Orlando Magic in the second round. The Celtics arrive after beating the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Since the Celtics finished with the better record, they’ll have homecourt advantage in this series. While the Celtics will be favored due to their homecourt advantage, there are reasons to believe that the Pistons can give the Celtics a run for their money.
First of all, the Celtics have been far from dominant in their 2008 playoff run. They’re 0-6 on the road in the playoffs and have had to win two Game 7’s to even reach this point. The Celtics’ offense has struggled and they aren’t getting a lot of production from a few key players — including Ray Allen.
Secondly, the Pistons are playing really well. After struggling at the beginning of the series against the Sixers, Detroit has turned it around. They beat the Magic in five games, despite the Game 3 injury to Chauncey Billups.
On the other hand, the Celtics have a few reasons to be happy with their position. They won two out of three matchups against the Pistons in the regular season. Their defense has been the best in the NBA in both the regular season and the playoffs — especially at home. Additionally, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are arguably better than any player on the Pistons.
That said, I’m going to predict that the Pistons will win this series in six games. The Celtics have played with fire too much in these playoffs and this time they will get burned.
You raise good points. Pistons have clearly been a better team in the playoffs and more then capable of winning on the road. However, I think the Celtics can still win this series as the emergence of PJ Brown makes it harder to double on a Garnett with a big and if you play House and Allen at the same time might free them up for more open jumpers which we know they can knock down. Envision this being a very tough series for Perkins and Rondo so I would prefer for them to use the veterans if they are going to reach the finals.
I agree.
The Pistons look focused and determined this year. Although this year’s Celtic team is a lot better than the Cav’s team of last year, I just don’t seethe Pistons petering out like they did last year