Advantage, Garnett

KG uses size to gain edge on Pistons in the paint

NBA. While the Pistons are regarded as one of the elite defensive teams in the league, there are still areas where teams can exploit certain weaknesses.

That’s where Kevin Garnett comes in.

For about six years now, the Pistons have reformed the strategy that team defense will ultimately triumph over individual matchups, and that is exactly why they prevailed over the Hall of Fame-laden Lakers in the 2004 Finals. Just look at the Celtics, who preach the same mantra.

But with players like Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups, Detroit is quicker and better on the perimeter, especially with an athletic Rasheed Wallace, who can rove around the zone while supporting the back line.

Wallace, though, isn’t as strong defensively when he’s faced with a one-on-one matchup in the paint, and he’s also prone to foul trouble. So when the Celtics go to Garnett in the low block, where he is as difficult to contain as anyone in the league, the Pistons are already trying to play catch-up.

Plus, their other low-post defenders — Antonio McDyess, Jason Maxiell and Theo Ratliff — are solid players, but they don’t come close to the problems Cleveland’s big men bring on that end of the court.

Off the bat, that will feel like a mismatch in Garnett’s favor.

“We wanted to establish Kevin,” Paul Pierce said of Garnett, who scored the Celtics’ first four points of Game 1, and eight of his 26 points in the first quarter. “We know the success he’s had against Detroit. We feel like Kevin has an advantage almost every night, especially on the one-on-one or on the block, on the wing, so we try to get him the ball and establish that.

“It’s great to have a guy like this, and I’ve never played with anybody like this in my whole career. He just makes my life so much easier.”