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How can we beat Detroit and we are having such a hard time beating Cavs...and we had a helluva hard time beating the Hawks.

Do you see us in the finals.

I believe fans answered that in the "How are we going to beat cleveland, if we are having a hard time with the Hawks" thread.

Because we are fans, we believe in them, and we are just going to root, no matter what.

Last time I checked the Cavs spanked the Pistons in 6 in last years ECF. So I wouldn't get too upset about it....

DieselCeltic, your avatar's pretty funny.

But we've beaten them during the season, so if we stick with what we did during the regular season, we'll be fine. But that "if" is a big one.

its funny how the pistons fans over at their forums believe it will be so easy against us.

The cavs are actually a great playoff team and the pistons lucked out that the magic had a better regular season record than them because they seem to have trouble with the cavs. At the same time, we probably would have had a tougher matchup with the Magic than the Pistons did.

It is too early to worry about the finals....we have to get past the Cavs first.

Detroit is obviously looking like a finals team with the way they are efficiently dispatching their opponents while the Celtics are playing too many games IMO.

I also worry about Detroit's big PG's.

But in other areas the Celtics match up well.

Billups is hurt and it is unknown how bad. Certainly the rest will help him but teams with a long rest have been known to go flat.

Championships are won one game at a time but certainly the Celtics have lost some of their shine and are playing way too many games.

I also worry that Doc apparently thinks Eddie House and Tony Allen have died - although he did finally remember that Baby can play basketball.

But those are just factors in a complex equation and as Yogi said..."It ain't over until its over."

A Pistons/Celtics series really is going to come down to the players because the bad coaching between Flip Saunders and Doc Rivers will cancel itself out.

I'm just frightened of a Celtics/Lakers finals where Doc enables the Lakers to celebrate on our homecourt as he surpasses Red Auerbach in rings. Talk about the ultimate insult to this franchise.

Don't be so sure LA can get by New orleans, as much as i would love to see a lakers and celtics reunion in the finals, i think that the hornets match up very well with the lakers.

And if Sa happens to win that series, then they are the defending champs so the lakers definately do not have a cake walk to the finals.

How are we able to beat Cle when we had a hard time with ATL?

spf211 wrote:A Pistons/Celtics series really is going to come down to the players

It always does.

Question: Why is Phil Jackson a great coach.
Answer: He only coaches great players.

Coaching really does not have much to do with who wins. It's always the players.

tombattor wrote:DieselCeltic, your avatar's pretty funny.

But we've beaten them during the season, so if we stick with what we did during the regular season, we'll be fine. But that "if" is a big one.

We are one stupid bone-headed Tony Allen foul away from having swept the Pistons in the season. And Detroit seems to rely too much on their "experience" and overlooks teams/games. I think we beat them in 5 or 6.

DieselCeltic wrote:its funny how the pistons fans over at their forums believe it will be so easy against us.

Piston fan here. I don't think we believe it will be easy against you guys. I'm quite sure it would be a 6 or 7 game series.

One thing I think is obvious is that you team is getting used to playing "playoff" basketball - it is a little different than the regular season.

Regardless, I don't think Cleveland can beat you in Boston, so we'll be playing each other soon. It really should be a great series.

^^Hey man, same here. Of course, I think the C's will win in 5 or 6

For this team being so new together, getting playoff experience for the young guys and reprogramming some of the playoff experience for the old guys, I think the more games they play, at least to a point, the better. 6 or 7 against the Cavs and/or the Pistons I think would be good for them if they make it to the Kobys--er, finals.

The answer would be Detroit is a very different team than either Atlanta or Cleveland. One gave us trouble with their athleticism. One had a dominant superstar who dictated the flow of the game (even if there were games you didnt see it in his numbers). They are also a team that has had up and down games throughout the series.

Each game in the series counts the same no matter what you win or lose by. Each series counts the same whether you win in 4 or 7. And while we havent won a road game we've systemically and often times overwelmingly protected home court advantage. We may not be winning pretty. But we're winning. I'm worried, but I have hope the lepruchuans and the ghost of Red will guide us to the promised land.

MyInsatiableOne wrote:^^Hey man, same here. Of course, I think the C's will win in 5 or 6

dont you have to win on the road to do that?

The biggest difference against the Pistons is that Pierce, our most valuable offensive weapon, will not be guarded by Lebron James and will not have to guard Lebron James. Pierce vs. TayShaun goes hugely infavor of the Celtics and its the Celtics best hope in beating the Pistons because it will allow the Celtics to establish themselves much better than they've been able to in this series.

The answer is that the opponent doesn't matter. It's all about how WE play. When we play together, aggresively, with energy, and focused on defense, nobody in the NBA can beat us. Nobody. It's really not even close. The problem is, in the playoffs, we only seem to play that way at home. And that not even all the time. And when we don't play that way, we get smacked by the Hawks.

It's all about consistency of execution. I don't know when the C's are going to "get it". It could be next game, or it could be next year. That's the problem with a team playing together in the playoffs for the first time. But if they don't get it soon I don't think they will be in the Finals.