First off, I want to say I will not be breaking down this series into the big matchups like KG v. Sheed and then adding those up for a tally to figure out who will win.  I think it is more useful to look at what we have seen from these teams in the playoffs already and determine from there who will be the winner.

Home Court: Has obviously been huge for the Celtics, who going into this matchup have still not won a road game.  With the best record in the NBA this season, they will have 4 of the 7 games at home in this series which could be the deciding factor if they continue their winning ways at home.

However, the other side of the coin is that the Celtics have not won away, and if the veteran Pistons can steal one from them, will Boston be able to change their winless 0-6 playoff road record and take the series?

Fatigue: Is it just me, or are Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen out of juice? Neither has recently had a great game the way they are expected to with Ray Allen especially quiet.

I am finding a big parallel to the Pistons in the 2005-2006 season where they set a record for franchise wins. That group was talented enough to win the title yet played so hard for those wins that they lost their energy by playoff time where they almost lost to a Cavaliers team they were better than and then to the Miami Heat, who should have been beatable.

With all the time the Big Three in Boston have spent on the floor, maybe they have lost that energy needed to compete at their highest possible level in the playoffs?  The Hawks were simply not talented enough to beat them and the Cavaliers had to rely too heavily on Lebron to win games for them.

After going two straight seven game series, I would expect that Boston's players might be tired after only getting a day's rest before playing Game 1 of the Eastern Finals. Who knows, maybe Ray Allen was shooting less to save up his energy for these next two series.

Depth: The whole point of the Pistons work in the offseason was to acquire depth to not lose much in terms of playing quality when the starters take a rest. Rodney Stuckey has been huge for a rookie backup taking care of the ball well, setting up the offense, and providing some scoring when he can. Jason Maxiell has become a much better basketball player that is more of a scoring threat and can play anyone strong on defense.

The greatest thing about depth that I do not think gets mentioned often enough is what it allows you to do fouling wise. The Pistons have a lot of fouls to use under the basket especially because they have a number of subs that can defend almost equal to the starters, although losing some of the offense when Rasheed Wallace is off the floor.

Boston has some depth as well with James Posey being an important sub, and last game's late hero P.J. Brown.  Eddie House also can rovided some spark like he did in Game 7 with a strong hustle play. However, I just don't see the bench being as deep as Detroit's.

The problem with this comes if Detroit tries to bully a player like Rajon Rondo into committing fouls, who hasn't shown he can match up with Chauncey Billups.

Consistency: I am not expecting either of these teams to make a sudden turn around in the way they have been playing. I'm not expecting Ray Allen to instantly be lights out shooting again or Detroit to start rebounding much better.

Rasheed Wallace will continue to be a solid defensive presence that is playing much smarter in the way he uses his fouls and gets blocks. He will also be an on and off shooter who will probably come up huge in some games and be quiet in others.  His defense on Garnett will be important.

Paul Pierce should have a more difficult time with Tayshaun Prince guarding him while continuing to score consistently. I wouldn't expect him to put up another 40 point showing against the Pistons, however.

Overall: The Pistons are consistently playing good but not great basketball while the Celtics keep going from hometown heroes to road chumps. Boston should win this series if all of the Big Three can get going in each game. Detroit is probably a better team as a whole however, so expect the Pistons to win if the Boston All Stars can't maintain consistent scoring.

Prediction: I wouldn't be surprised if Boston loses Game 1 due to fatigue, and Detroit stealing home court advantage wraps up the series in six games.

Look forward to a great match up between the two best teams in the Eastern Conference this year.