Pistons Still the Class of the East

The Eastern Conference has received more love from the media over the first eight weeks of the NBA season since the days of MJ. The Celtics have garnered the most attention with their 20-2 start headed into Wednesday's action. You also hear an awful lot about the emergence of the Orlando Magic behind Dwight Howard and the fall of Shaquille O'Neal and the Miami Heat. The team that gets the least amount of publicity is the Detroit Pistons. They headed to Boston Wednesday night for a showdown with the Celtics carrying a three game win-streak and an 18-7 record. Shockingly, you get more stories about Lebron James and his 11-15 Cavs then you do about the boring old Pistons. While all the major media outlets outside of the Motor City continue to look elsewhere for compelling stories, here's a news flash for all of you NBA lovers out there: the Eastern Conference championship runs through Detroit, not Boston.

You could tell the Pistons were playing with a chip on their shoulder Wednesday night in Boston. I know that is the most overused phrase in sports, but for once it is being accurately applied. Sportscenter talked at nausea about the Celtics dominance this past week and even went as far as to compare these Celtics to the 1996 72-10 Chicago Bulls. Detroit players such as Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, and Tayshaun Prince- players who have, you know, actually won a championship- noticed this and kept it stored in the back of their minds. Then they went into the Boston Garden and defeated those unbeatable Celtics 87-85, while overcoming a seven-point halftime deficit. Understand that this game will have little bearing on the result of a possible playoff series between the two, but don't misunderstand what it means now. The Pistons went to Boston and won a tight game in spite awful performances from Wallace and Prince and despite the average outing from Boston's Big Three. This shows that the Celtics are not better then the Pistons now, and they have much to improve upon if they intend on being a notch higher in May.

If you go back into the archives of this blog to my NBA Preview, you will see that I have never been big on the Celtics. In fact, I had them finishing second in their own division to the Toronto Raptors. You don't have to go any further then the box score from Wednesday's duel with Detroit to see why. Of the 85 points the Celtics put on the board, the bench managed to score two of them. Two. Doc Rivers used five guys off his bench for a combined 52 minutes and got five points, seven rebounds, three assists, three turnovers and nine personal fouls. There is a problem when the best statistic your bench gives you is personal fouls. Let's just go all the way and say that Celtics not named Allen, Pierce or Garnett combined to score 24 points on 11-25 shooting. If you are a Boston fan and those numbers don't scare you then this will: the Celtics out shot the Pistons (49%-40%), were +3 on the boards, and were just -1 in turnover differential. Boston outplayed Detroit in just about every facet of the game, but couldn't find a way to finish them off.

There are three things you can point to for reasons why the Pistons are better now, and likely will be come playoff time. Number one is point guard. The Pistons have Chauncey Billups, a former NBA Finals MVP, running their team, while the Celtics have Rajon Rondo, a second year guard without a jump shot running theirs. Number two is depth. Detroit brings a nice balance of dependable experience- Lindsey Hunter and Ronald Murray- and fresh young legs- Jarvis Hayes and Jason Maxiell- off the bench, while Doc Rivers is sending in Scott Pollard, James Posey, and Eddie House. Just tell me the last time Scott Pollard had any role for a real contender. You got it! It was in fact the Kansas Jayhawks in the late 90's! Lastly, the Pistons have been there. Since this nucleus came together in 2004, they have won the NBA Championship, lost in the NBA Finals and lost in the conference finals twice. They know how to win close games in December or June, and they know their bread and butter down the stretch. The Celtics have three great options to go to for a final shot, but it's better to know who is going to have the ball in the final seconds more often then not. They have not played together long enough to know that answer at this point, and that hurt them down the stretch Wednesday night.

Boston lacks the depth and playing experience with one another, and while they have three bona fide superstars in their lineup, they have someone who should be playing their senior season at Kentucky running their team. Until these issues are addressed Boston will merely be the Boys of Winter, while Detroit absorbs the Eastern spotlight in late-May and early-June.

DTM