Jonathan Lee    AccuScore Analyst
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Despite dropping a close game Monday night on the road the Celtics still holds the advantage in the East.  The series, now tied 2-2, essentially boils down to a best-of-three with two of the games being held at the Fleet Center in Boston.  Because of this homecourt advantage, the Celtics are still 63 percent favorites to reach the NBA finals according to AccuScore simulations. 

Imagine where the Celtics would be if Ray Allen realized this was the playoffs and it was time to wake up?
Allen’s struggles in the playoffs have been well-documented, and they have continued in this series.  He is shooting just 38 percent from the floor (19-for-50) and 21.4 percent from behind the arc.  That’s down from 44.5 percent and 39.8 percent during the regular season.  Allen has topped his regular season scoring average of 17.4 points per contest just twice this postseason, and yet the Celtics lost both of those games.  That might seem to indicate that he is not as important to Boston’s success as most would lead you to believe.  

In the two wins for Boston Allen scored a total of 23 points and hit just 1 three pointer.  Clearly, he does not need to be an All-Star for Boston to succeed.  What the Celtics do need is for him to be more of a threat through more consistent shooting in order to space the floor and create more opportunities for his teammates.  It may seem odd to think of Allen as a role player after all these years, but that is what he is at this point in his career.  He is projected for 13 points on 42 percent shooting in Game 5.

Motown is thankful for Antonio McDyess and Rodney Stuckey.
McDyess is the leading rebounder in the playoffs for the Pistons and has scored 14 or more points in 4 of the last 5 games culminating in a 21 point 16 rebound outburst Monday night.  He has consistent hit the open shots given to him and has provided Detroit with great energy getting easy baskets around the rim as well.  Rodney Stuckey has reward the Pistons for their faith in him all season by providing solid minutes of relief in the backcourt, and forcing Flip Saunders to employ more three-guard lineups in order to get him more minutes on the floor.  

Both players have mitigated the relative ineffectiveness of Chauncey Billups in this series.  Billups does not look like the same player that is capable of taking over a game from the point guard position.  His hamstring injury clearly is hampering his game as he is not shooting very well, and is much more passive than one would imagine going up against an inexperienced player like Rajon Rondo.  Billups needs to heal up and find his game as Detroit still needs to win another game in Boston in order to win the series, and that will be a tall task if he is not at full effectiveness.

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TPiranha said:

I'm revising my prediction to Celts in 7 I've watched almost every Celtics game this season and I can't remember any stretch where they've played this bad. I put part of the blame on Doc Rivers. Rondo is afraid to shoot which makes little sense because he's proved over and over that he's capable of hitting open shots. And Doc putting Pierce on the bench with 4 fouls for a big part of the 4th quarter last game made absolutely no sense. Garnett continues to play awesome and seems to be the only one besides Pierce that is rising to the challenge.

May 28, 2008

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