NBA Eastern Conference Finals

Series tied 0-0

Projected Starters:

Chauncey Billupsvs.Rajon Rondo



Richard Hamiltonvs.Ray Allen



Tayshaun Princevs.Paul Pierce



Rasheed Wallacevs.Kevin Garnett



Antonio McDyessvs.Kendrick Perkins

May Tue 20 @ Boston 8:30pm ESPN
May Thu 22 @ Boston 8:30pm ESPN
May Sat 24 Detroit 8:30pm ABC
May Mon 26 Detroit 8:30pm ESPN
May Wed 28* @ Boston 8:30pm ESPN
May Fri 30* Detroit 8:30pm ESPN
June Sun 01* @ Boston 8:30pm ESPN

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Overall this should be a hell of a series.

My Prediction: Detroit in 6, it would be tough to win at Boston in a Game 7.

Also Billups has stated he is at 100% so hopefully he is healthy and ready to go for Detroit.

I see Ray Allen having a monster series *crosses fingers* Hopefully my C's will match up better against the Pistons then they did against the Cavs. One thing is for certain, this is going to be a great series and fought even harder then the Cavs series and the Pistons will have more of a challenge then their last series.D3s7rUc71oN

I don't see Allen getting out of his slump, he's gonna be dog tired chasing Rip around the whole game. The fact that Boston goes from a game 7 and now has to play every other day doesn't help either, advantage Pistons IMO

Chauncey Billups is gonna be the star of this series Pistons in 7, although im an Orlando fan i think Pistons had an easy 2 rounds while celtics fought through both roundsSLYMAGIC123123

The only series Boston had it tough was the Cleveland series. They could have beat Atlanta in 5 or less but they made it hard by going to seven. Detroit struggled a bit through round one as well but they caught focus and made it in six. So I don't believe Boston had to fight through both rounds because they had the tougher match-ups, they would have done better in both if Allen had stepped up along with Cassell.

celtics wont have a shot in hell to win if ray allen doesnt step it up, hes got game so i expect him to play better, much better...offensively, i dont expect him to play any D against rip seein as how ray could barely keep up with wally z

with that said celtics in 7!

I look at the lineups and think that Detroit should win this, but their schizophrenic levels of concentration over the past couple of years give cause for concern. Billups should have a field day against Rondo, Ray Allen is a mannequin and defensive sieve and Hamilton should have the advantage, and Rasheed matches up well with Garnett. The key for the Pistons is for Billups, Stuckey and Hunter to neutralize Rondo, keeping him away from the rim so other role players (Perkins, Glen Davis, Posey) don't get easy second-chance points. Garnett and Pierce will get theirs; stop the others from doin the same, and this series goes to Detroit.ajkalan

I like how you analyse the teams but I have Prince as the key factor for the pistons. If he shuts Pierce down then he shuts the celtics down. KG is going to have a field day going out and guarding Sheed. I think Celtics should put KG at Center and bring Posey in to start. I still think Piston will win unless Stern wants his Celtic Laker Final.

[QUOTE="SLYMAGIC123123"]Chauncey Billups is gonna be the star of this series Pistons in 7, although im an Orlando fan i think Pistons had an easy 2 rounds while celtics fought through both roundstharg617

The only series Boston had it tough was the Cleveland series. They could have beat Atlanta in 5 or less but they made it hard by going to seven. Detroit struggled a bit through round one as well but they caught focus and made it in six. So I don't believe Boston had to fight through both rounds because they had the tougher match-ups, they would have done better in both if Allen had stepped up along with Cassell.

[QUOTE="ajkalan"]I look at the lineups and think that Detroit should win this, but their schizophrenic levels of concentration over the past couple of years give cause for concern. Billups should have a field day against Rondo, Ray Allen is a mannequin and defensive sieve and Hamilton should have the advantage, and Rasheed matches up well with Garnett. The key for the Pistons is for Billups, Stuckey and Hunter to neutralize Rondo, keeping him away from the rim so other role players (Perkins, Glen Davis, Posey) don't get easy second-chance points. Garnett and Pierce will get theirs; stop the others from doin the same, and this series goes to Detroit.balindos

I like how you analyse the teams but I have Prince as the key factor for the pistons. If he shuts Pierce down then he shuts the celtics down. KG is going to have a field day going out and guarding Sheed. I think Celtics should put KG at Center and bring Posey in to start. I still think Piston will win unless Stern wants his Celtic Laker Final.

I'd certainly like Prince to do that, but his history against Pierce isn't so great. I don't know why PP is such a tough cover for him; he's neither as quick as Kobe nor as overpowering as LeBron. I hope Tayshaun has improved enough to overcome whatever it is holding him back against Pierce, because when he has a large role on offense (as evidenced by Games 4 & 5 of the Orlando series) he can't be stopped. One thing I wouldn't be surprised to see is rookie Arron Afflalo on Pierce for short stretches; he's not timid against anyone and already is a good NBA defender.

Changing the starting lineup would be a bold move, the kind that a coach like Doc Rivers wouldn't make. This might be one of the few series where Flip Saunders is the better coach.

[QUOTE="balindos"]

[QUOTE="ajkalan"]I look at the lineups and think that Detroit should win this, but their schizophrenic levels of concentration over the past couple of years give cause for concern. Billups should have a field day against Rondo, Ray Allen is a mannequin and defensive sieve and Hamilton should have the advantage, and Rasheed matches up well with Garnett. The key for the Pistons is for Billups, Stuckey and Hunter to neutralize Rondo, keeping him away from the rim so other role players (Perkins, Glen Davis, Posey) don't get easy second-chance points. Garnett and Pierce will get theirs; stop the others from doin the same, and this series goes to Detroit.ajkalan

I like how you analyse the teams but I have Prince as the key factor for the pistons. If he shuts Pierce down then he shuts the celtics down. KG is going to have a field day going out and guarding Sheed. I think Celtics should put KG at Center and bring Posey in to start. I still think Piston will win unless Stern wants his Celtic Laker Final.

I'd certainly like Prince to do that, but his history against Pierce isn't so great. I don't know why PP is such a tough cover for him; he's neither as quick as Kobe nor as overpowering as LeBron. I hope Tayshaun has improved enough to overcome whatever it is holding him back against Pierce, because when he has a large role on offense (as evidenced by Games 4 & 5 of the Orlando series) he can't be stopped. One thing I wouldn't be surprised to see is rookie Arron Afflalo on Pierce for short stretches; he's not timid against anyone and already is a good NBA defender.

Changing the starting lineup would be a bold move, the kind that a coach like Doc Rivers wouldn't make. This might be one of the few series where Flip Saunders is the better coach.

Pierce is one of those players that has simple moves that dont use that much energy but gets him open shots all the time. Prince needs to deny him the ball, unlike Lebron did. Make him work just to get the ball.

[QUOTE="balindos"]

[QUOTE="ajkalan"]I look at the lineups and think that Detroit should win this, but their schizophrenic levels of concentration over the past couple of years give cause for concern. Billups should have a field day against Rondo, Ray Allen is a mannequin and defensive sieve and Hamilton should have the advantage, and Rasheed matches up well with Garnett. The key for the Pistons is for Billups, Stuckey and Hunter to neutralize Rondo, keeping him away from the rim so other role players (Perkins, Glen Davis, Posey) don't get easy second-chance points. Garnett and Pierce will get theirs; stop the others from doin the same, and this series goes to Detroit.ajkalan

I like how you analyse the teams but I have Prince as the key factor for the pistons. If he shuts Pierce down then he shuts the celtics down. KG is going to have a field day going out and guarding Sheed. I think Celtics should put KG at Center and bring Posey in to start. I still think Piston will win unless Stern wants his Celtic Laker Final.

I'd certainly like Prince to do that, but his history against Pierce isn't so great. I don't know why PP is such a tough cover for him; he's neither as quick as Kobe nor as overpowering as LeBron. I hope Tayshaun has improved enough to overcome whatever it is holding him back against Pierce, because when he has a large role on offense (as evidenced by Games 4 & 5 of the Orlando series) he can't be stopped. One thing I wouldn't be surprised to see is rookie Arron Afflalo on Pierce for short stretches; he's not timid against anyone and already is a good NBA defender.

Changing the starting lineup would be a bold move, the kind that a coach like Doc Rivers wouldn't make. This might be one of the few series where Flip Saunders is the better coach.

I give a lot of credit to Flip Saunders so far during these playoffs, he has made good rotations, come out of timeouts with a gameplan, and it seems he has the respect from his players unlike last year. Hopefully this year he can prove himself as a good coach during the postseason, he did a lot better than Van Gundy did during the last round (IMO) so I hope he can keep it up.

[QUOTE="ajkalan"][QUOTE="balindos"]

[QUOTE="ajkalan"]I look at the lineups and think that Detroit should win this, but their schizophrenic levels of concentration over the past couple of years give cause for concern. Billups should have a field day against Rondo, Ray Allen is a mannequin and defensive sieve and Hamilton should have the advantage, and Rasheed matches up well with Garnett. The key for the Pistons is for Billups, Stuckey and Hunter to neutralize Rondo, keeping him away from the rim so other role players (Perkins, Glen Davis, Posey) don't get easy second-chance points. Garnett and Pierce will get theirs; stop the others from doin the same, and this series goes to Detroit.tharg617

I like how you analyse the teams but I have Prince as the key factor for the pistons. If he shuts Pierce down then he shuts the celtics down. KG is going to have a field day going out and guarding Sheed. I think Celtics should put KG at Center and bring Posey in to start. I still think Piston will win unless Stern wants his Celtic Laker Final.

I'd certainly like Prince to do that, but his history against Pierce isn't so great. I don't know why PP is such a tough cover for him; he's neither as quick as Kobe nor as overpowering as LeBron. I hope Tayshaun has improved enough to overcome whatever it is holding him back against Pierce, because when he has a large role on offense (as evidenced by Games 4 & 5 of the Orlando series) he can't be stopped. One thing I wouldn't be surprised to see is rookie Arron Afflalo on Pierce for short stretches; he's not timid against anyone and already is a good NBA defender.

Changing the starting lineup would be a bold move, the kind that a coach like Doc Rivers wouldn't make. This might be one of the few series where Flip Saunders is the better coach.

I give a lot of credit to Flip Saunders so far during these playoffs, he has made good rotations, come out of timeouts with a gameplan, and it seems he has the respect from his players unlike last year. Hopefully this year he can prove himself as a good coach during the postseason, he did a lot better than Van Gundy did during the last round (IMO) so I hope he can keep it up.

I think Flip is a good coach, he just got screwed in Minn. by his whining players. Where is Sprewell now, Losing houses that is where.

I have a feeling the Pistons will win this. Celtics all of a sudden don't look very good. It took 7 games to beat Atlanta and 7 games to beat Cavs.Pistonshad a rocky start against 76er's but now they look like are have turned it on. They shutdown Dwight Howard and beat Magic in only 5 games (Without Billips) in last 2 games.

Pistons in 4-sharp-shooter-

Really? Come on now, Boston will win a game and perhaps the series if Detroit doesn't come out of the break strong.

I got Pistons in 6andyboiii

Me too

I like how you made this, if only you added what resolution it was being transmitted at and what kind of sound ;) Oh and Pistons in 4.X360PS3AMD05

Wait what? Pistons in 4! Does Rip have a time machine under that freaky mask? ;-)