FanHouse

Biggest Reason You Should Watch: This is the match-up we've wanted all season long: the new-look Celtics versus a Pistons team who's back in the Conference Finals for the sixth straight season. If you need a reason to watch the top two seeds in the Conference play a seven game series, I don't know what to tell you. I think there's hockey still going on or something.

Detroit Can Win If: They bring the energy right from the start of the series, and avoid prolonged offensive droughts on the road. When Detroit is focused and on their game, they're the better team. They'll need that focus, especially on the road, to take one from the Celtics in Boston.

Boston Can Win If: They can win on the road. I know that thy have home court advantage, so technically they don't have to win in Detroit. But the Pistons have a winning record on the road in the playoffs, and I fully expect them to get one in Boston.

Video Clip to Get You Pumped: Celtics and Pistons in the Conference Finals reminds me of one play, and one play only. "Now there's a steal by Bird..."

Studs of the Series: For Detroit, it's Rasheed Wallace. The Celtics are a big team inside, and 'Sheed's going to have to play big by spending more time in the paint and less time leaking out to the perimeter for threes. For the Celtics, I'm going with Paul Pierce. He was pretty average through the first six games against Cleveland, but in Game 7, his 41 points were what gave his team the victory. If he plays more consistently, the Celtics will have a shot.

Biggest Liabilities: Ray Allen (obviously) for the Celtics. Boston is going to need all of their weapons firing to take out the Pistons, and if Allen doesn't regain his shooting touch, his team is in trouble. For Detroit, Chauncey Billups is supposedly 100% over the hamstring injury that kept him out of two games versus Orlando. If the injury flares up again though, that's going to be a big problem for the Pistons. Rodney Stuckey is a serviceable backup, but he's not yet in the same league as Billups.

FanHouse Prediction: The Celtics are 0-6 on the road in the playoffs, the Pistons are 3-2. While the Celtics turn into a completely different team on the road, Detroit for the most part does not. Since I know the Pistons can get one in Boston, and I know the Celtics can't win in Detroit, it makes it fairly easy to offer up my prediction. Pistons in 6.