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Celtics (38-9) at Pistons (25-19) 1/30
« on: January 29, 2009, 07:53:24 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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Boston Celtics (38-9) at Detroit Pistons (25-19)
Friday, January 30
7:00 PM ET
Game #48, Road Game #23
TV: ESPN, FS Detroit HD, CSN HD
Palace at Auburn Hills



Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
Rajon Rondo vs Rodney Stuckey

Shooting Guard
Ray Allen vs Allen Iverson

Small Forward
Paul Pierce vs Tayshaun Prince

Power Forward
Kevin Garnett vs Amir Johnson

Center
Kendrick Perkins vs Rasheed Wallace




Reserves
Tony Allen
Glen Davis
JR Giddens
Eddie House
Leon Powe
Gabe Pruitt
Brian Scalabrine
Patrick O'Bryant
Bill Walker
Sam Cassell

Injuries:
Brian Scalabrine (concussion) out


Reserves
Rip Hamilton
Kwame Brown
Will Bynum
Walter Herrmann
Jason Maxiell
Arron Afflalo
Alex Acker
Walter Sharpe

Injuries
Rip Hamilton (groin) game time decision

Key Matchups
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Rodney Stuckey
The Pistons have had a lot of problems and questions but one thing is for sure, they see Rodney Stuckey as their point guard of the future.  They traded Chauncey Billups and now they have moved  Allen Iverson to shooting guard so that Stuckey is their starting PG.  Rondo needs to be aggressive and control the tempo of this game from start to finish. 

  vs 
Ray Allen vs Allen Iverson
Allen Iverson isn't known for his defense and with the way Ray Allen has been shooting the ball, RA could have a very good night against AI.

Honorable Mention
Paul Pierce vs Tayshaun Prince 
Prince has given Pierce problems in the past because of his length.  Pierce has been content to let his co-stars take center stage in recent games but he has always taken the matchup with Prince personally and so we may see a big night from Pierce in this one. 

Game Notes:

The Pistons have been in turmoil recently and are just 3-7 in their last 10 games.  They have shaken up their lineup, moving Rip Hamilton to the bench.   Rodney Stuckey had moved into the starting lineup which shifted Allen Iverson to the shooting guard position.

The Pistons are 13-9 at home while the Celtics are 15-7 on the road.  The Celtics hold a 2-0 lead in the series so far this season beating the Pistons both in Detroit and in the Garden already.  The Celtics have beaten the Pistons with defense as they held them to an average of 78 points per game in their first two meetings. 

In spite of their struggles, the Pistons have defeated 5 of the 6 division leaders already this season.  The Celtics are the only division leader that they haven't gotten past and they would very much love to beat the Celtics in this one. 

X-Factor   
Road vs Home
The Celtics are one of the toughest home teams in the league, but they have shown to be vulnerable on the road, leaving their defense and team play at home.   They have shown that they can dominate on the road but they have also shown that they can be beaten on the road.  Let's hope that the team that beat the Magic on the road shows up instead of the one that lost to the Lakers on the road. 
« Last Edit: January 30, 2009, 08:09:36 AM by FLCeltsFan »

Re: Celtics (38-9) at Pistons (25-19) 1/30
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2009, 01:56:25 AM »

Offline Fafnir

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I'm excited for this game. I want to pounce on the Pistons since they've been on the downward spiral lately. I can handle our newest streak being broken by Minny or another team, but not these Pistons.

Re: Celtics (38-9) at Pistons (25-19) 1/30
« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2009, 07:19:49 AM »

Offline greenwise

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TP for FL  ;)

I can't wait to see the reaction by Rajon and Ray to the news about their absence in the All Star game. How about a 15 ast (Rondo)+ 30 pts (Allen) combo tonight??

Tough game though, Detroit is always hard to beat

Re: Celtics (38-9) at Pistons (25-19) 1/30
« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2009, 08:47:35 AM »

Offline TatteredOnMySleeve

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TP for FL  ;)

I can't wait to see the reaction by Rajon and Ray to the news about their absence in the All Star game. How about a 15 ast (Rondo)+ 30 pts (Allen) combo tonight??

Tough game though, Detroit is always hard to beat


They havent been that hard to beat this year, we've blown them out twice..but i do expect something better this time around
Also, they already have 3 more losses than we had all of last year, hehe :)
« Last Edit: January 30, 2009, 10:26:15 AM by TatteredOnMySleeve »
When you got it going, you got it going. I just keep my focus down the stretch. That's when I want the ball. I'm just not afraid to fail."-PaulPierce

Re: Celtics (38-9) at Pistons (25-19) 1/30
« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2009, 04:37:26 PM »

Offline Redz

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Re: Celtics (38-9) at Pistons (25-19) 1/30
« Reply #5 on: January 30, 2009, 04:42:51 PM »

Offline xmuscularghandix

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I'm expecting a double double out of Rondo tonight, Detroit beat us last time, and he is facing the starting PG for the East.

Re: Celtics (38-9) at Pistons (25-19) 1/30
« Reply #6 on: January 30, 2009, 04:59:22 PM »

Offline RebusRankin

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I'm expecting a double double out of Rondo tonight, Detroit beat us last time, and he is facing the starting PG for the East.

I expect big games out of Rondo and Ray.

Re: Celtics (38-9) at Pistons (25-19) 1/30
« Reply #7 on: January 30, 2009, 05:24:27 PM »

Offline celticmaestro

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TP FL.

Tonight I'll be watching this at my gf's place, it will be her induction into the NBA and her début as a Celtic.

Let's hope it's a good one.

Re: Celtics (38-9) at Pistons (25-19) 1/30
« Reply #8 on: January 30, 2009, 05:54:01 PM »

Offline im right

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i love when we play the pistons mainly because of when they do their intros the little fat guy (trainer) in the pistons sweater does the ridiculous hand gestures with the starters.
"I shoot close range like Danny Ainge"-Biggie Smalls

Re: Celtics (38-9) at Pistons (25-19) 1/30
« Reply #9 on: January 30, 2009, 06:11:46 PM »

Offline fairweatherfan

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TP FL.

Tonight I'll be watching this at my gf's place, it will be her induction into the NBA and her début as a Celtic.

Let's hope it's a good one.

Make sure to tell her it's a Boston sports tradition to "steal second base" for good luck.  If she gets suspicious just show her the Dave Roberts clip afterward.

Re: Celtics (38-9) at Pistons (25-19) 1/30
« Reply #10 on: January 30, 2009, 06:19:38 PM »

Offline bdm860

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TP FL.

Tonight I'll be watching this at my gf's place, it will be her induction into the NBA and her début as a Celtic.

Let's hope it's a good one.

If we lose you better dump her, cuz then obviously she'd be bad luck.



Last year the Pistons were the biggest games of the season, now it feels like eh.  What a difference a year makes, for us and for them.

After 18 months with their Bigs, the Littles were: 46% less likely to use illegal drugs, 27% less likely to use alcohol, 52% less likely to skip school, 37% less likely to skip a class

Re: Celtics (38-9) at Pistons (25-19) 1/30
« Reply #11 on: January 30, 2009, 06:38:01 PM »

Offline TatteredOnMySleeve

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I'm expecting a double double out of Rondo tonight, Detroit beat us last time, and he is facing the starting PG for the East.

We're 2-0 against Detroit this season..
The pistons are gonna need to bring their A+ game to get a W tonight, and considering we knocked them out of the playoffs last year and embarrassed them 2 times already this season, that's very possible.
When you got it going, you got it going. I just keep my focus down the stretch. That's when I want the ball. I'm just not afraid to fail."-PaulPierce

Re: Celtics (38-9) at Pistons (25-19) 1/30
« Reply #12 on: January 30, 2009, 06:45:12 PM »

Offline TatteredOnMySleeve

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Antonio McDyess just said on the pre-game that he came very close to coming to Boston...[dang]it Antonio!!!!!! bleep bleep bleep....
When you got it going, you got it going. I just keep my focus down the stretch. That's when I want the ball. I'm just not afraid to fail."-PaulPierce

Re: Celtics (38-9) at Pistons (25-19) 1/30
« Reply #13 on: January 30, 2009, 06:52:47 PM »

Offline RebusRankin

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So many interesting story lines to follow tonight:

How will Ray play against AI, the main largely responsible for his all-star snub?

Will House continue to be on fire?

Can BBD have another big game versus the Pistons?

How will the KG/Wallace match-up turn out?

Finally, how will things go for CM, who's watching with his girlfriend for the first time? Specifically how will he handle having to dump her if the unthinkable happens and we lose?  ;D

Re: Celtics (38-9) at Pistons (25-19) 1/30
« Reply #14 on: January 30, 2009, 06:56:00 PM »

Offline TatteredOnMySleeve

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I dont see AI being the main reason for ray being snubbed for the ASG, I consider 3 magic players, 2 of whom arent even stars making it the reason for the snub
When you got it going, you got it going. I just keep my focus down the stretch. That's when I want the ball. I'm just not afraid to fail."-PaulPierce