In terms of most professional sports, coaches & players tend to defer to the "it's just another game" mantra, and there's already been some of that for tonight's tilt between the 44-16 Pistons and the 46-12 Celtics. But it's actually been refreshing to hear a few quotes where players actually delve into this being a big game, like Kevin Garnett ("People are expecting that to be the Eastern Conference finals matchup ... It should be a fun game.") and Chauncy Billups ("With the East being where it is right now, those games are kind of fun in between. You get real good basketball, teams that are elite status that go at it, and it could go either way. I love it. I love it. You always get excited."). Granted, neither comment is bulletin board material for either team, but it shows that the teams are going to fired up and that they understand the importance of the game. There's still 20-some-odd games left for each team, so it isn't going to make or break either's chances at securing home court advantage, but whoever wins will have quite the advantage.
If the Celtics win tonight, they'll go to 47-12 and drop the Pistons to 44-17. That's a 4 game lead with 5 less losses, and with a 2-1 season series advantage, the Celtics would own the tie-breaker. With 23 games to go, the Celtics magic number would be 18 for home-court advantage in the playoffs. This game is HUGE for them.
If the Pistons win tonight, they'll improve to 45-16 & drop the Celtics to 46-13. They'd still be trailing by 2 games, but they'd now own the tie-breaker with the Celtics and would have a huge pyschological edge by beating them twice in the Garden. Also they'd maintain their momentum (winners of 15 of their last 18) and could probably make a run at the top seed in the East. This game is HUGE for them too.
No predictions on the final score, just one prediction - you're going to see a very intense, closely played, low-scoring game tonight. This is appointment TV if you're a hoops fan. Get to your TV by 7:29.
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It will be a huge game, but let's not forget the C's lost in the garden due to ridiculous 3 point shooting by Deeeetroit the first time around. I fully expect a hard fought matchup and the ball can bounce either way, but I say the C's win by 5.
Rondo! I love having the guy that every other point guard hates to play.
That was a huge win for the Celtics. As I described before, it puts them in the pole position to secure home-court advantage, and they are 27-4 at home this year. Boston is a tough place for a visiting team to win. And for the record –
KG – 31 pts, 6 boards
Pierce – 15 pts, 5 assists
Rondo – 16 pts, 5 assists
Perk – 10 pts, 20 boards
I didn’t realize Perk dominated the boards like that last night until I saw the box score. Looks like the PJ Brown signing was the fire that needed to be lit under his ass (although it turns out Pollard is out for the year and that’s why they signed him). I also love that the Pistons can’t stop Garnett to save their lives. Because of these facts, only two things scare me, and one is the LeBron show – it looks like the only force that could (I emphasize, could) stop the Celts from going to the Finals (What's the other thing that scares me, you ask? That would be carnies ... circus folk ... nomads, you know ... smell like cabbage ... small hands). Also, the magic number for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs is 18. The road for the NBA title could be going through Boston. In the words of Brian Fantana, “I’m very aroused.”
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