Detroit Pistons travel to Boston for a top of the Eastern Conference clash

Both the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics have been in top form to start the season and now meet at TD Garden for a huge Eastern Conference matchup.

There’s not a single person on this planet who would have predicted before the season that slightly over a month into the 2017-18 campaign the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons would be the early pacesetters.

You’d be laughed at if you suggested the Celtics would do so with their big offseason recruit, Gordon Hayward, being ruled out for the season after the first game.

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Despite how unlikely this scenario seemed a month ago, we find ourselves looking at the Celtics sitting atop the East with an 18-3 record, with the Pistons slightly behind at 12-6.

Both teams have thoroughly deserved their great start to the season and earned the right to have this be a big-time matchup.

A big reason for the Celtics starting the season well in spite of Hayward’s horrific injury has been Kyrie Irving.

Irving has looked like a man on a mission since being traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers in August.

He’s currently averaging 23 points, 5.1 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game on 48 percent shooting from the field – a career high.

Arguably the most impressive thing about this great run he’s having is his steal numbers.

He’s currently in the top 15 in the league, which isn’t mindblowing, but considering he only averaged 1.2 last season and 1.1 the year before it’s a very nice leap.

Irving has also been deadly at finishing inside.

He hasn’t been great from three so far (36.5 percent) and thus his field goal percentage has been slightly affected, but when looking just at his two-point field goal percentage you get the proper picture of how amazing he is.

Irving is shooting 53.6 percent from two-point range.

When taking into account the sheer amount of shots he takes (12 two-point attempts per game) he is just about the best non-big man finisher from inside the three-point line in the league.

He has developed into a genuine star, so it’s lucky the Pistons now have an elite stopper at their disposal.

Back in July Avery Bradley stated Irving was the toughest player in the NBA to defend after spending extensive time on him during the Eastern Conference Finals.

This matchup will be a huge test for Bradley as Irving averaged 25.8 points and 5.4 assists while shooting 62.2 percent from the field and 50 percent from three in the Conference Finals.

If Bradley can at least contain Irving it’ll go a long way in giving the Pistons a shot at taking home a win.

The Pistons were dominated in last year’s season series with the Celtics, but positively, all three of their losses came by six points or less.

While the team didn’t fare well in the win/loss column, Andre Drummond feasted on a team that struggled to rebound the ball.

Drummond averaged 21.3 points and 17.8 rebounds in these contests, well up from the 13.6 and 13.8 he averaged across the entire season.

Now that Drummond has added a great passing game, is being disruptive on the defensive end and has sorted out his free throw woes (at least for the time being), he may be in for an even bigger performance.

However, Drummond might not find life on the boards as easy as it was a year ago.

The Celtics have improved their rebounding out of sight, largely thanks to former-Piston Aron Baynes.

A year ago they averaged 42 rebounds per game and were ranked 27th in the league.

All of a sudden they’re pulling in 46.6 per game, which ranks them equal-fifth in the NBA.

Baynes against Drummond will be an interesting matchup, as both men love to play physical.

It wouldn’t be surprising at all to see a few tempers flare up over the course of this game, and with this being first in the East against second could you really blame anyone for getting fired up?

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