That is a good way to look at it. By using your method, I calculate that the Pistons are 3 games back vs. the 5 games back that the standings indicate.

Celtics home record is .840, their road record is .762. So the average between them is .801. .801 x 47 games = 37.6 wins

Pistons home record is .818, our road recored is .654. So our average between them is .736. .736 x 47 games = 34.6 wins.


Garnett being out was probably offset by the games that our starters missed earlier in the year.