Pistons (78) Cetics (90)
[Box score] I’m trying to decide if it was a tired Pistons team after playing catchup the night before on the heels of a four game road trip or just a bad matchup?
In all three of the games against Boston the Celtics have had someone who’s not their big three step up and hurt the Pistons. On the first game it was Rondo, the second Glen Davis, and last night the Pistons had no answer for Kendrick Perkins (10 pts, 20 rbs, 2 blks). Sure Kevin Garnett hurt us as well (31 pts, 6 rbs) but you can live with that if Allen & Pierce combine for 18 points.
It seems as if the Pistons have a hard time with keeping the Celtics from scoring in the paint. The Celtics slashing-and-kick resulted in too many easy buckets.
It was frustrating to watch us play from behind the whole game. I give credit to the Celtics’ defense once again for disrupting what our guys wanted to do offensively. Their trapping D really seemed to bother the ‘Stonz. The offense had no flow. I was watching this game with a friend and I told him after the game ended that I’d be shocked if we had more than 15 assists, we had 16 but I’m must of lied because I wasn’t all that shocked.
The “Zoo Crew” really didn’t show up. I knew coming in that this was going to be a game for the starters to win, but we need SOMETHING from the 2nd unit. Stuckey scored 2, and Dixon 3. Five bench points? What’s up lately with Jason Maxiell? Maxy had 0 points, 2 boards, 0 blocks on 18 minutes. I would have liked to seen more Amir Johnson. Amir made an immediate impact when he got in the game with a couple of blocks and boards. I also would have liked to see Arron Afflalo for his defense, hustle, and poise.
I’m trying not to overreact too much, but it’s hard when I hate the Celtics so much. I know we’re a playoff team, but we can’t wait until then to solve our struggles with Boston and I figure they’re going to be better with Cassell. As much as I don’t like Sam I’ll admit he’s a gamer.
I still feel we’re a better team, but we haven’t prepared well enough for Boston’s personnel. Seems like we’ve paid very little attention to anyone not named Garnett, Pierce, or Allen and it’s come back to bite us.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:45 am
[…] pistonsnation wrote a fantastic post today on “Game #61: Celtics win rubber match”Here’s ONLY a quick extractIn all three of the games against Boston the Celtics have had someone who’s not their big three step up and hurt the Pistons. On the first game it was Rondo, the second Glen Davis, and last night the Pistons had no answer for Kendrick … […]
March 6th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
[…] SI.com Trade marks Detroit News Celtics wrap up playoff spot and tiebreaker Pistons Nation Celtics win rubber match Jay’s Sports Blog A huge win Boston Daily Rajon Rondo grows up The Comment Leader to the […]
March 6th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Detroit needs some bigger bodies to pull down the boards over Big Baby and Perkins. They outrebounded us 50-38. That hurts. I hope Theo plays soon and helps us own the rebound war! I don’t hate the Celtics, I actually would root for them if they beat us and went on to the Finals. Why? I like KG, he’s a good player who struggled in MN and almost got a ring in ‘04 if the Lakers wouldn’t have beaten them. Not that I feel sorry for him, but he’s a great player. He can rebound, shoot the ball, and play superb defense. I wish he were a Piston. Cassell is a good player too, I remember him in Houston. I like the Celtics which is completely different compared to the Cavs. The thing I don’t like about CLE are they are a 1 man team and LBJ gets every bloody call his way. You have to admit, Boston are quite good. I think Pistons can still beat them but we need to get even more aggressive, especially on the boards. Flip Saunders said last night he thought we held the ball too long last night. Move the ball a lot and get the rebounds. I saw some cheap offensive calls on Chauncey and other Pistons last night that were questionable. I believe the Pistons can beat them but it’s going to be tough. 6 or 7 games. I’d bet on a 7 game series.
March 6th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Jesse,
How concerned are you with the Utah Jazz?
March 6th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Not very. I don’t think they’d beat the Spurs, or Lakers in a 7 game series.
March 7th, 2008 at 9:58 am
What if they did and the Pistons played them in the Finals? Yep, as you can tell I’m concerned about playing them. Why? We can’t seem to ever beat them!