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Detroit Pistons (2-2, 10-5) at Boston Celtics (2-2, 10-8)
Eastern Conference Finals Game 5
Wednesday, May 28
8:30 PM ET
TV:ESPN
TD Banknorth Garden Probable Starting Matchups PG Rondo vs Billups
Rajon Rondo PPG 11.1 RPG 4.20 APG 6.6 EFF + 15.76
Chauncey Billups PPG 14.7 RPG 2.80 APG 5.3 EFF + 15.08
SG Allen vs Hamilton
Ray Allen PPG 13.3 RPG 3.40 APG 2.9 EFF + 12.06
Rip Hamilton PPG 21.6 RPG 4.60 APG 3.6 EFF + 18.50
SF Pierce vs Prince
Paul Pierce PPG 18.9 RPG 4.80 APG 4.2 EFF + 16.82
Tayshaun Prince PPG 16.0 RPG 6.20 APG 3.4 EFF + 19.00
PF Garnett vs McDyess
Kevin Garnett PPG 20.9 RPG 10.20 APG 3.5 EFF + 26.76
Antonio McDyess PPG 8.6 RPG 7.10 APG 0.9 EFF + 13.14
C Perkins vs Wallace
Kendrick Perkins PPG 6.4 RPG 6.20 APG 0.6 EFF + 11.24
Rasheed Wallace PPG 13.5 RPG 6.40 APG 1.8 EFF + 15.07
Off the Bench: Eddie House, James Posey, Leon Powe, Big Baby Davis, Tony Allen, PJ Brown, Sam Cassell
Injuries Scott Pollard, ankle, out
InactiveBrian Scalabrine, Gabe Pruitt
Off the Bench Jason Maxiel, Arron Afflalo, Linsdey Hunter, Jarvis Hayes, Rodney Stuckey, Theo Ratiliff, Juan Dixon, Amir Johnson,
InjuriesNone
InactiveJuan Dixon, Cheikh Samb, Walter Hermann
Key Matchups vs
Rajon Rondo vs Chauncey Billups
This remains the key matchup in this series. It seems that as Rondo and Billups go, so goes the team. In games1 and 3 Rondo out played Billups and the Celtics won. In games 2 and 4 Billups out played Rondo and the Pistons won. Rondo must be aggressive in bringing the ball up and in running the offense. He must also be aggressive on defense to keep Billups from getting his game going.
vs
Kevin Garnett vs Antonio McDyess
McDyess has been giving the Pistons energy and has been hurting the Celtics on both ends of the court. KG must do beeter to defend him and also must look for his shot as well. The Celtics need more than 16 points and 10 rebounds from KG for them to win this, especially with McDyess putting up numbers like 21 and 16.
Honorable MentionRay Allen vs Rip Hamilton
So far in this series, Rip Hamilton is having his way with the Celtics while Ray Allen has been struggling. Ray had a good all around game in game 3 doing all the little things to help the team win and the Celtics will need more of that from him along with playing better defense on Rip.
Keys to the GameEnergy, Intensity, Focus, Aggressiveness The Celtics must come out with all of the above. They have to get a fast start and maintain their intensity throughout the game. The team that plays with more intensity and energy wins the game. The Celtics also must keep their focus and not let the Pistons defense take them out of their game.
DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE! This series is going to come down to who plays the best defense. All the games the Celtics have lost have 1 thing in common. They did not play defense in any of them. In game 4, the Pistons shot 51% and the Celtics won't win many games allowing their opponents to shoot over 50%. They must clamp down on defense and play the team defense that got them here. They know how to do it but they seem to lose their focus. The team that plays the most consistent defense will win this series.
Ball Movement The Celtics had only 12 assists in game 4. They must get back to moving the ball and finding the open man. When they move the ball, they can beat the Pistons' press, but too often in the losses, they had too many players trying to do it on their own. Too much dribbling and too much standing around. They have to move the ball and find the open man.
Keep Their Composure The Celtics got rattled by the Pistons' defense and turned the ball over 14 times. They must keep their composure and not allow the Pistons defense and pressure to take them out of their game.
X-Factor Bench Play The Celtics need their bench to step up. The Big 3 can't do it by themselves. They must have one or two players on the bench to step up and have a good game. Sam Cassell must play better. They need more than 0 points and 0 assists from the back up point guard in 17 minutes. The Pistons' bench has stepped up their play with Maxiell and Stuckey both having big games. The Celtics need someone to step up as well.