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Celtics (49-23) vs Kings (24-49) Game #73 3/25/18
« on: March 24, 2018, 11:16:10 PM »

Online FLCeltsFan

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Boston Celtics (49-23) at Sacramento Kings (24-49)
Sunday, March 25, 2018
6:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #73, Road Game #36
TV: NBCSB, NBCSCA,  NBA-LP  755(DTV)/759(xfinity)
Radio: 100.7 WZLX, 1140 AM KHTK
Golden 1 Center




Probable Starters
PG SG SF PF C
PG: Terry Rozier
SG: Jaylen Brown
SF:  Jayson Tatum 
PF:  Al Horford
C:   Aron Baynes

Celtics Reserves
Shane Larkin
Abdel Nader
Semi Ojeleye
Guerschon Yabusele
Greg Monroe
Jabari Bird
Kadeem Allen
Marcus Morris

Injuries
Gordon Hayward (ankle)  out
Kyrie Irving (knee) out
Marcus Smart (thumb)
Daniel Theis (knee)  out
Jaylen Brown (concussion) will play
Marcus Morris (ankle) out

Two Way Players
Kadeem Allen
Jabari Bird

Head Coach
Brad Stevens




Probable Kings Starters
PG SG SF PF C
PG: De'Aaron Fox
SG: Bogdan Bogdanovic
SF:  Justin Jackson
PF:  Skal Labissiere
C :  Willie Cauley-Stein

Kings Reserves

Bruno Caboclo
Vince Carter
Buddy Hield
Kosta Koufos
Frank Mason III
Zach Randolph

Injuries
Harry Giles (knee) out
Iman Shumpert  (knee)  out
Garrett Temple (ankle)  out
Zach Randolph (illness)  game time decision

Two Way Players
JaKarr Sampson
Jack Cooley

Head Coach
Dave Joerger

Game Notes
The Celtics continue their 4 game Western road trip with a stop in Sacramento to take on the Kings.  The Celtics beat the Kings 113-86 in Boston on November 1.   These two teams for some reason love home court advantage.  The Celtics have won their last 10 games vs the Kings in Boston while the Kings have won their last 5 games in Sacramento against the Celtics. 

The Celtics have won two straight games, both against playoff contenders.  Hopefully they can continue that streak against one of the West's lottery teams.  The Celtics are 6-4 in their last 10 games while the Kings are 5-5 in their last 10 games.  The Celtics are 19-8 against Western Conference teams while the Kings are 13-15 against Eastern Conference teams.

The Celtics are 25-10 on the road while the Kings are 13-23 at home.  The Celtics remain 4.5 games behind the #1 Raptors and are 6 ahead of the #3 Cavaliers.  Toronto hosts the Nets while Cleveland visits the Nets.  The Kings are 12th in the West and are 5.5 games ahead of the last place Suns, who the Celtics play on Monday. 

The Celtics get Jaylen Brown back for this game after missing 6 games while going through the league's concussion protocol.   I'm guessing that he will go back to his starting spot at the 2 guard.  Kyrie Irving (knee), Marcus Smart (thumb), Daniel Theis (knee) and Gordon Hayward (ankle) remain out. 

Marcus Morris will also be out with a sprained ankle that happened sometime during the Portland game.  For the Kings, Harry Giles is out with a knee injury and Iman Shumpert is out with a knee injury along with plantar fasciitis.  Garrett Temple has been ruled out with an ankle injury and Zach Randolph is a game time decision with gastroenteritis. 

Key Matchups
vs
Jaylen Brown vs Bogdan Bogdanovic
If Jaylen does return for this game he will be tasked with defending Bogdan Bogdanovic who is averaging 11.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists.  He is shooting 39.7% from beyond the arc so Jaylen will need to stay with him on the perimeter.  Hopefully Jaylen can shake off any rust from the injury and play well in this game.

vs
Aron Baynes vs Willie Cauley-Stein
Cauley-Stein is averaging 12.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals.  Cauley-Stein has  a slight height advantage but Baynes has an experience and a strength advantage.  Cauley-Stein shoots just 18% from beyond the arc, so their battles will mostly be inside. 

Honorable Mention
Celtics Bench vs Kings Bench
The Kings have some players on their bench who could give the Celtics more problems than their starters do. Buddy Hield had 17 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals in the first game between these two teams.  Zach Randolph had 16 points in the first game.  Hield is averaging 13.1 points per game while Randolph is averaging 14.5 points and 6.7 rebounds.  The Celtics also need to keep an eye on Vince Carter who is averaging 5.5 points per game but is still capable of putting up a lot of points if not well defended. 

Keys to the Game
Rebound - Much of rebounding is effort and desire.  The Celtics have to put out extra effort  to grab the rebounds on both ends of the court.   By doing so, they limit the second chance points and fast breaks for the Kings and also give themselves extra possessions.   The Celtics are averaging 44.6 rebounds per game, good for 8th in the league.  The Kings are 28th with 40.8 rebounds per game. 

Defense
- The Celtics are first in the league with a defensive rating of 101.3.  The Kings are 29th with a defensive rating of 109.7.    Defense wins games.   The Celtics must continue to make defense a priority.  The Celtics also must particularly guard the perimeter as the Kings shoot the second highest percentage from beyond the arc (38.2%).

Be Aggressive - The Celtics must be the more aggressive team. They have to go after loose balls, rebounds and also be more aggressive defensively. They have to be aggressive in going to the basket and also in moving the ball.  The more aggressive team usually gets the calls and also the win.  The Celtics have to play like the team that wants it more. 

Move the Ball-  The Celtics play best when they keep the ball moving to find the open man.  When they tend to dribble too much, the rest of their game seems to become stagnant. The Celtics need to play team ball and keep the ball moving. 

X-Factors
On the Road - The Celtics have lost their last 5 games against the Kings in Sacramento.  They need to block out the distractions of playing on the road and a hostile crowd and focus on playing Celtics basketball.  It would be a good time for the Celtics to break that streak and get a win. 

Next Man Up -  The Celtics have been doing a good job of stepping up in the absence of key players who have been injured.  They may be getting Jaylen Brown back but they are still missing key players.  Hopefully everyone will continue to step up and have big games to help the Celtics get a win. 

Let Down - The Celtics are coming off two big wins over Western Conference contenders and now they face one of the worst in the West.   Will they let down their guard and not play as hard?  They have to play like Sacramento is the best in West because the Kings will certainly want to avenge their earlier loss in Boston and they will give their best to beat the Celtics and the Celtics need to play harder than they do. 
   
« Last Edit: March 05, 2019, 09:31:37 PM by FLCeltsFan »

Re: Celtics (49-23) vs Kings (24-49) Game #73 3/25/18
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2018, 11:18:26 PM »

Offline KGs Knee

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Go C's!

Re: Celtics (49-23) vs Kings (24-49) Game #73 3/25/18
« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2018, 11:18:50 PM »

Online FLCeltsFan

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TP to KGs Knee   for being the first to post in the game thread!!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Celtics!!!!!!

Re: Celtics (49-23) vs Kings (24-49) Game #73 3/25/18
« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2018, 11:44:07 PM »

Offline SCeltic34

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I'll be going to the game.  Gonna hit up a bar with a buddy and have some beers beforehand because Sunday daytime drinking + live Celtics basketball is among the best possible ways to spend a Sunday.

Bummed that Kyrie is out since I dropped money to get lower level seats to see this one (tickets to see the Kings vs. the C's are much more expensive than a lot of other teams, Kings tickets are usually really cheap), but hopefully Brown is back and Tatum has a good game.  Will be great to see the future of our franchise in person.

Re: Celtics (49-23) vs Kings (24-49) Game #73 3/25/18
« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2018, 12:50:08 AM »

Offline Timdawgg

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I will be there too.  My first game since the Antoine walker return game in 2005.  Can’t wait.  I live in Vegas so get to see the summer league games all the time but not the same as an actual game. So excited.  Also staying at the same hotel as the celts and bumped into Jaylen and have seen Horford and Baynes hanging out so far.  Go C’s.
A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.

Push yourself again and again. Don't give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.

Larry Bird

Re: Celtics (49-23) vs Kings (24-49) Game #73 3/25/18
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2018, 01:13:42 AM »

Offline nickagneta

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Would love to have a nice easy blowout win because Sactown wants to lose. Why does it seem that's the way it should be, but won't be?

Re: Celtics (49-23) vs Kings (24-49) Game #73 3/25/18
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2018, 01:27:19 AM »

Offline LilRip

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We already have the 2nd seed all locked up. The remaining games are all just confidence builders as well as entertainment, imo. I hope the guys get through this game healthy and with their spirits up!
- LilRip

Re: Celtics (49-23) vs Kings (24-49) Game #73 3/25/18
« Reply #7 on: March 25, 2018, 02:13:29 AM »

Offline LatterDayCelticsfan

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Let's see if we can make it to 55 wins for the season.
Banner 18 please 😍

Re: Celtics (49-23) vs Kings (24-49) Game #73 3/25/18
« Reply #8 on: March 25, 2018, 03:09:19 AM »

Offline nickagneta

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Let's see if we can make it to 55 wins for the season.
When Haywood went down I thought they would have trouble reaching 50 wins. Who knew that Rozier, Brown, Tatum and Theis would be so good picking up the slack. Those players really stepped up and developed and helped define this team this year.

That said, if they lost their remaining ten games and ended up with just 49 wins, this season is still way better than I ever thought it could be when Gordon was laying on that floor with his ankle facing in the wrong direction. The mass amount of player games lost to injury, coupled with the development of the youth, mixed with Stevens excellent coaching to get more than what should be expected from this group is astounding to me and gives me so much hope for banners 18 and 19 going up in the next 4-5 years.

Re: Celtics (49-23) vs Kings (24-49) Game #73 3/25/18
« Reply #9 on: March 25, 2018, 03:13:46 AM »

Offline Somebody

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We're winning 57 games imo, too clutch and too good.
Jaylen Brown for All-NBA

Re: Celtics (49-23) vs Kings (24-49) Game #73 3/25/18
« Reply #10 on: March 25, 2018, 07:46:26 AM »

Offline Surferdad

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9th man, in the rotation.

Sweep the 2-game road trip!

Re: Celtics (49-23) vs Kings (24-49) Game #73 3/25/18
« Reply #11 on: March 25, 2018, 08:01:44 AM »

Offline hodgy03038

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Go Cs. We are supposed to win this one so let's get it done. Beast mode Tatum, Morris & Monroe.

Re: Celtics (49-23) vs Kings (24-49) Game #73 3/25/18
« Reply #12 on: March 25, 2018, 09:01:30 AM »

Offline SHAQATTACK

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Go Cs. We are supposed to win this one so let's get it done. Beast mode Tatum, Morris & Monroe.

when i hear WE are supposed to win ......then i get worried

Re: Celtics (49-23) vs Kings (24-49) Game #73 3/25/18
« Reply #13 on: March 25, 2018, 11:18:27 AM »

Offline Hank Finkel

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Go Celtics!!!!  50 wins for C’s today and 50 losses for the Kings sounds about right.

Re: Celtics (49-23) vs Kings (24-49) Game #73 3/25/18
« Reply #14 on: March 25, 2018, 11:25:17 AM »

Offline 2short

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Vince Carter and Zach Randolph deserve better than the kings