‘Stonz up, C’s down
Posted by pistonsnationThe Pistons (4-1) will be taking on the Celtics (5-1) at The Palace of Auburn Hills tonight at 6:00 pm est. The game can be viewed locally on Fox Sports Detroit & nationally on 
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Celtics’ Snapshot
Road record: 2-1
Last game: 11/07 (Fri) W 89-101 Vs. Milwaukee
Injuries: none
Allen Iverson’s Piston debut unfortunately did not result in a win. Now he and the Pistons look to atone with Allen’s Palace debut.
Expect a big performance out of the Palace crowd. There’s still a buzz about the Iverson trade and this will be Pistons Nations first chance to see Allen on the Palace hardwood. This new look group will really be tested against the Celtics. It’ll be advantageous to have the raucous Palace crowd to feed off of.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Pistons try to inundate the Celtics with our assorted offensive options or if it’s a good ‘ol fashioned Eastern Conference slug fest.
As the Piston.com preview points out the Celtics are winning with defense. They’re holding their opponents to 88.5 points a game on 38 % shooting, 31 % from the 3-point arc.
While the Pistons haven’t been as crisp defensively as we’re accustomed to seeing they are scoring the ball, averaging 102.8 points per game.
A.I.’s only had one practice with the team so I expect to see some adversity, especially against a good defensive team like Boston. I’d like to see the Pistons not feature Iverson, rather let Iverson’s game come to him. What I mean by that is have Tay, Rip, and Sheed look to be aggressive early and establish themselves making it easier for Iverson to find his groove in the offense rather than just giving him the ball and getting out of his way.
A key match up to look for in this ECF rematch is Iverson V Rondo. Gone is the luxury of saying our guy (Chauncey) is too big and overpowering for a little guard. Now it’s speed on speed. Who gets the better of this match up will probably be a big factor in which team comes away with the win.
We also need Amir Johnson to be solid without the luxury of Antonio McDyess (back off Boston) coming off the bench. Amir has to play heady with his fouls as he’ll be needed on the glass. Boston is one of the better rebounding teams in the league with Garnett and Perkins down low.
ALSO OF NOTE: The Celtics are on a 3 game win streak … Detroit News: A.I. expects butterflies in home debut … CelticsBlog preview … Celtics 247 preview … a little PN DYK: Allen Iverson, who won league MVP honors in 2001, is only the second league MVP ever to suit up for the Pistons. The other; Bob McAdoo (1979-80) who won MVP honors with the Buffalo Braves in 1975 …
