Nets (5-52) at Celtics (36-20) 2/27

[FLCeltsFan]

   at 
New Jersey Nets (5-52) at Boston Celtics (36-20)
Saturday, February 27
1:00 PM ET
Game #57  Home Game #27
TV:  CSN-NE, YES HD, NBA-LP 751, 752
Radio:  WEEI, WFAN 
TD Garden


ProbableStarting Matchups
Point Guard
  vs 
Rajon Rondo vs Devin Harris

Shooting Guard 
  vs 
Ray Allen vs Courtney Lee

Small Forward
  vs 
Marquis Daniels vs Trenton Hassell 

Power Forward
  vs 
Kevin Garnett vs Yi Jianlian   

Center
  vs 
Kendrick Perkins vs Brook Lopez




Reserves
Shelden Williams
Glen Davis
Nate Robinson
Rasheed Wallace 
Brian Scalabrine
Marcus Landry

Injuries:
Paul Pierce (thumb)  day to day   
Marquis Daniels (flu)  probable 


Reserves
Josh Boone
Bobby Simmons
Keyon Dooling
Tony Battie 
Chris Douglas Roberts
Kris Humphries
Terrence Williams

Injuries
Chris Quinn (ankle)  out
Jarvis Hayes (calf)  out

Key Matchups
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Devin Harris
 Last season, Harris beat out Rondo for a spot on the All Star team and this year Rondo beat out Harris for the All Star spot.   This should be a good matchup of 2 very quick point guards.  Rondo needs to be aggressive in going to the hoop and finding the open man. 

vs
Kendrick Perkins vs Brook Lopez
Lopez has been one of the bright spots for the Nets in an otherwise dismal season.   Lopez leads the team in points, rebounds, and blocks.    If Perk can slow down Lopez, this should be a fairly easy win. 

Honorable Mention
Kevin Garnett vs Yi Jianlian
KG should be able to handle Yi easily if healthy, but there are questions as to whether KG is completely healthy.   

Team Connections
Brian Scalabrine played for the Nets from 2001-05
Josh Boone and Ray Allen are former UConn Huskies
Eddie House played for the Nets during the 2006-07 season
Assistant Coaches Doug Overton (1999-2001) and Roy Rogers (1997-98) both played for the Celtics
Eddie House and Keyon Dooling were teammates with the Clippers during the 2003-04 season
Tony Battie played for the Celtics from1998-2004 and drove Paul Pierce to the hospital after he was stabbed in 2000
Trenton Hassell and Kevin Garnett were teammates in Minnesota from 2003-07
Marquis Daniels and Devin Harris were teammates in Dallas from 2004-06
Jarvis Hayes and Rasheed Wallace were teammates in Detroit during the 2007-08 season
Marcus Landry and Devin Harris are former Wisconsin Badgers.

Game Notes
 The C’s are 3-0 against New Jersey this season…Celtics swept the season series 4-0 against New Jersey in 2008-09
 Paul Pierce is leading the C’s with an average of 20.0 points per game in his two appearances against the Nets this season
 Brook Lopez is leading the Nets with an average of 20.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game against Boston this season
 The Celtics are currently on a 12 game winning streak against the Nets which is the longest winning streak on either side of the franchise since the
Nets became a franchise in 1976.
 The Celtics are leading the all-time series 106-54 with the Celtics 56-24 at home

This is the 4th and final meeting between these two teams this season.  The Celtics won all 3 of the previous games.   The Nets have won just 5 games all season but have been in many of those games right to the end and any teams sleeping on them could be handed a loss. 

The Nets are 2-27 on the road and have won just 1 of their last 10 games.  The Celtics are 16-10 at home and are 6-4 in their last 10.  The Celtics seemed to have turned the corner on that last road trip, winning 3 of 4, but lapsed back into some bad habits in Thursday's game against the Cavs.   It would truly be a signal for worry if the Celtics were to lose to the Nets.   

Keys to the Game
Rebound  Rebounding shows the amount of effort and desire a team has.  The Celtics must bring both effort and desire and crash the boards on both ends. 

Defense No explanation needed.   Defense is the key to winning.  Period.  The Celtics have played defense in spurts, most notably in the first half, and then forget all about how to play defense as a team in the second half.  They must get back to a game long defensive effort. 

Play 48 Minutes The Celtics seem to either be hot at the beginning and then let up at the end of games or they come out sluggish and have to play catch up the entire game.  They have blown more 10 + point leads than any team in the league.   They must come out focused and stay focused for the full 48 minutes.   They have to figure out their 3rd and 4th quarter problems if they expect to go deep into the playoffs.   

X-Factor
Trap Game
As bad as the Nets have been, it would be easy to look past them.   But that would be a mistake because the Nets have played teams hard but just can't seem to finish.  If the Celtics let up, they might just be surprised by a team who decides to try a bit harder to beat a division rival. 

   

[More Banners]

I was just watching the Globetrotters on ESPN2 at a Mexican place of all things, and thought that we could really use a gaime against the Generals...

Here it is!

[bello_man09]

I will be watching this game at work....

[Redz]

5-52 is just weird to look at.

Can we please just walk over these scrubs and take care of biz early.

[BASS_THUMPER]

cant watch..

but yall stay on positive mode in here tonight..

[BASS_THUMPER]

I was just watching the Globetrotters on ESPN2 at a Mexican place of all things, and thought that we could really use a gaime against the Generals...

Here it is!

wow..i needed that nap...

boring

[celticinorlando]

5-52 is just weird to look at.

Can we please just walk over these scrubs and take care of biz early.

PLEASE do as the man asks!!

[Drucci]

I'm smelling a Celtics blowout and a big game from Nate.

TP FL and let's go Celtics!

[ACF]

Very nice to once again say "TP for FL".

GO CELTICS!

[Jon]

It'd be great if there was a blowout and the C's could spend the second half just letting Nate learn the plays. 

[Q_FBE]

Is there a basketball game today?

Nobody told me about it. I can't believe that the Nets have only won five games this season. They appear to have enough talent to win at least 15 games this year.

Did they beat Denver (or somebody good) recently?

Perhaps Doc will bench Rondo (and everyone else) and play Nate Robinson for 48 minutes hoping that Nate can beat the Nets all by himself.

[Drucci]

At least, if the game is a blowout (I hope so), we will still have the "Maria Menounos play by play experience" to comment on.

[Who]

Nice start -- Celts lead 12-2

[Jon]

Nice start -- Celts lead 12-2

Let's end this way early and spend the rest of the game playing "get Nate acquainted with the plays."

[Tai]

Indeed.