Boston Celtics vs. Detroit Pistons: Game 5 Preview

Last Saturday I was hoping the Celtics would come back to Boston with the series tied 2-2. That's exactly what happened. And yet now I am disappointed. I've narrowed my disappointment down to three reasons:

1. In my last post I ran a poll about whether or not the Celtics would win game 5. There have been spurts of participation and throughout it has been close to 50-50. While I'm assuming that some of those who responded don't like the Celtics the end result feels a lot like how I view this team right now. I have no idea what to expect from this group on any given night.

2. Every time the Celtics have an opportunity to establish themselves as a group of guys people should fear they seem to take a step backward. It has been a maddening sub plot to the the 2008 playoffs. Monday night was no exception.

3. The Celtics still don't have a rotation. That strikes me as troublesome.

Random Thoughts on the Series/Tonight's Game

- If Boston's point guards continue to struggle the ball has to go through either Paul Pierce or Kevin Garnett on every single offensive possession that one of them is out there. If they are both out I'd like to see them run the pick and roll as well.

- Antonio McDyess has been awesome. He hits that mid range jumper with consistency, contends on defense, rebounds and won't back down from anyone. Detroit fans must look at him sometimes, then look at Rasheed Wallace and then enter a confused state.

- Count Rip Hamilton on the list of guys - Joe Johnson and David West are a few others - that I drastically underestimated. He's deadly from all over the court and is a lot tougher, nastier, and more physical than I realized.

- Paul Pierce has labeled this a must-win game and I'm not sure I entirely agree with him. There are 2 Celtics teams. One of them I can envision winning games 6 and 7 to advance to the Finals. The other one I have very little faith in. Which one is going to show up tonight?