Celtics, Pistons Destined To See Each Other Again

With the Western Conference stealing every single relevant headline in the NBA these days, it was refreshing to see Boston and Detroit, the two heavyweights in the East, take the court to face each other in their third and final meeting of the season. The Eastern Conference has been searching for something meaningful, and the budding rivalry of these two teams is exactly what it needs. After splitting the first two games where the road team won each game, the Celtics managed to turn the tides, winning at home to clinch their first playoff berth in three years. The Pistons only showed up for the second and third quarters, scoring 13 points in the first and 11 in the fourth during the 90-78 loss. This game only served as the primer for the playoff meeting that is sure to happen between these heavyweights.

Boston clinched the berth in a staggering 59 games, an incredibly low number even with the inferiority of the East. The Celtics have been geared for the postseason ever since they traded for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in the offseason, but Danny Ainge has continued his aggressive management of the team, signing Sam Cassell off the waiver wire. The development of Rajon Rondo has been increasingly encouraging as he’s continued to blossom, but having Cassell aboard will be invaluable once the regular season ends. Doc Rivers and the Celtics will do their best at juggling an act that ensures Boston holds onto the top seed in the East, while giving KG, Allen, and Paul Pierce an adequate load so they don’t tire during the postseason. Boston has been great at doing that to this point, winning 30 games by double digits and allowing their Big 3 to stay fresh.

The Pistons, even with last night’s disappointing result, are a lock to join Boston as the league’s second playoff team pretty soon. Detroit has been to five straight Conference Finals, but have worn down dramatically in each of the last two years. This year, Flip Saunders and the Pistons have worked on adding quality players to their bench, a unit that was disappointing in the last two years. Detroit has done a great job of building that bench, and it has helped rejuvenate the well-rounded starting lineup. Without the excruciating pressure of having to carry the team throughout the regular season, the starting lineup should be clicking at its very best during the postseason.

With the exception of Orlando, Cleveland, and possibly Toronto, there is not a single team that can knock either one of these two teams out in a best of seven. The Eastern Conference becomes increasingly pathetic once you get past the fifth place Raptors, a team that would struggle to make the playoffs in the West. Even these three aforementioned teams would struggle to remain in the same league as either Boston or Detroit. The Raptors and Magic have yet to win a round in the playoffs under the current regime, with Howard and Bosh both going out in the first round of their first playoff appearance last year. They are painstakingly devoid of experience, something that can be a little overrated. LeBron James had to lose to Detroit his first time around, blowing a 3-1 lead in the 2006 Conference Semis, before leading his team past the Pistons last year. Howard and Bosh haven’t gone through that learning experience yet and its unlikely they will be able to knock either Detroit or Boston off.

That makes Cleveland as the only team in the East that truly can prevent a Pistons/Celtics Eastern Conference Final. They’ve knocked off the big dog before, but it will be tough to do it again. Cleveland has been on everyone’s radar since their impressive run to the Finals this year, and is guaranteed to play either Detroit or Boston in the second round, depending on how the seeds turn out. The way in which James was able to disrupt the Pistons season has been firmly entrenched in their memory for the last month. There’s nothing more that these Pistons want more than to get a second shot at the Cavs in the playoffs. LeBron and the Cavs have only played Detroit once this season, and lost by 35, but three more meetings remain. As it stands now, Cleveland is projected to play Boston in the second round. The Cavs have had success against the Celtics, splitting the four meetings with every game played before their blockbuster trade. Whether or not these encouraging signals for the Cavs will lead to an upset of Boston in May remains to be seen. That may be the only thing that stops the inevitable matchup of Celtics against Pistons from happening.