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Pacers (27-13) at Celtics (24-15) Game #40 1/9/19
« on: January 08, 2019, 10:13:02 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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Indiana Pacers (27-13) at Boston Celtics (24-15)
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
7:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #40, Home Game #20
TV:  NBCSB, FSInd,  NBA-LP 751(DTV)/751(xfinity)
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, 1070 The Fan
TD Garden



Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard

vs
Kyrie Irving vs Darren Collison

Shooting Guard

vs
Marcus Smart vs Victor Oladipo

Small Forward
vs
Jayson Tatum vs Bojan Bogdanovic

Power Forward
vs
Marcus Morris vs Thaddeus Young

Center
vs
Al Horford vs Miles Turner


Celtics Reserves
Semi Ojeleye
Daniel Theis
Brad Wanamaker
Guerschon Yabusele
Gordon Hayward
Jaylen Brown
Robert Williams

Injuries
Jabari Bird (personal) out
Aron Baynes (hand) out

Two Way Players
PJ Dozier

Head Coach
Brad Stevens




Pacers Reserves
Corey Joseph
Tyreke Evans
Doug McDermott
Domantas Sabonis
Ike Anigbogu
Aaron Holiday
Alize Johnson
T. J. Leaf
Kyle O'Quinn

Two Way Players
Edmund Sumner
Davon Reed

Injuries
Miles Turner (shoulder) out
Darren Collison  questionable (sore right leg)

Head Coach

Nate McMillan

Game Notes
Indiana Pacers come to Boston for the 2nd of 4 meetings between these two teams this season.  The Pacers beat the Celtics 102-101 on November 3 in Indiana.  In that game, Victor Oladipo hit a 3 pointer to put the Pacers up one and then stole the inbounds pass from Gordon Hayward to seal their win. 

They will meet again in Boston on March 29 and finally in Indiana on April 5.  They split the series 2-2 last season with each team winning a pair of games on the road.   For the second game in a row, the Celtics are facing a team playing on the second night of back to back games.  The Pacers are 5-1 on the second night of back to back games this season and 1-1 when the second game is on the road.  The Celtics are playing on the front end of back to back games and will travel to take on the Heat on Thursday.

The Pacers are 3rd in the East, 2 games ahead of Boston and 2.5 games out of first place.  The Celtics are 5th in the East, 4.5 games out of first and 1.5 games behind the 76ers.  The Celtics are 14-5 at home while the Pacers are 12-8 on the road.  The Celtics are 6-4 in their last 10 games while the Pacers are 8-2 in their last 10. 

The Celtics are finally getting healthy with Kyrie Irving, Marcus Morris and Robert Williams all returning to action on Monday.  Aron Baynes is still out with the hand injury but has made progress and could be back as soon as next week.   Miles Turner missed Tuesday's game for the Pacers and is questionable for this game with a shoulder injury.  Domantas Sabonis will likely start in his place if he is still out for this game. 

Key Matchups
vs
Marcus Smart vs Victor Oladipo
This is a very key matchup as Oladipo is Indiana's top scorer and slowing him down will be very important.  He is averaging 20.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.8 steals.  He is shooting 43% from the field and 34% from beyond the arc.  Slowing down Oladipo will go a long way toward getting a win over the Pacers.  Marcus needs to lock in on defense to keep him from having a big game.   

vs
Jayson Tatum vs Bojan Bogdanovic   
Bogdanovic is averaging 16.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists.  He is shooting 45% from beyond the arc.  Tatum needs to stay with him both in the paint and on the perimeter. 

Honorable Mention
Al Horford vs Domantas Sabonis
Miles Turner missed Tuesday's game with a shoulder injury and is listed as doubtful for this game.  The Pacers will miss his rim protection if he misses this game.  If Turner can't play, Domantas Sabonis will likely play here.  He is averaging 14.9 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists.  He is shooting 62.3% from the field off the bench.

Keys to the Game
Rebound - The Celtics must box out and crash the boards.  They can't score without the ball and it will take extra effort on their part to grab the rebounds.  The Celtics must crash the boards as a team and beat the Pacers to the rebounds if they want a win in this one. 

Be Aggressive
-  I already mentioned that the Celtics must be aggressive on the boards, but they also must be aggressive on defense, in going after loose balls,  and just all around going all out. They have to aggressively attack the basket. They need to start the game with that aggressive attitude and be aggressive through the whole game with no let up.  They can't let the Pacers out work them. 

Play Defense
-  Defense wins games.   The Pacers average 107.7 points per game while the Celtics average 111.8 points per game.  The Pacers have a defensive rating of 102.9, good for 2nd in the league while the Celtics have a defensive rating of 104.1, 3rd in the league.  If the Celtics want to get a win in this game, they must make playing tough defense a priority. 

Move the Ball Carefully - Both teams depend on ball movement for their offense. The Celtics need to move the ball and find the open man but they have to make careful passes and not get careless.    The Pacers are 3rd in the league with 19.8 points off turnovers per game and so the Celtics must focus on making good passes and be aware of the Pacers ability to close out the passing lanes.  If the Celtics get careless, the Pacers will make them pay.

Play 48 Minutes - We see it in every game, the Celtics either start strong and get a big lead and then let up or start slow and then have to play catch up the rest of the game.  If they do either of those things in this game, Indiana will make them pay.   They have to play hard for 48 minutes.  Start strong and play hard all the way to the final buzzer. 

X-Factors
Home Game - The Celtics are playing in the final game of a 4 game home stand.  They need to draw strength and motivation from the home crowd.   The crowd will hopefully throw the Pacers off a bit and give the Celtics an advantage in their building. 

Back to Back - The Pacers are playing on the second night of back to back games.  They are coming off a win over Cleveland and had to travel overnight.   The Pacers have played well in back to back games with a 5-1 record but hopefully fatigue will be a factor for them to give the Celtics an edge down the stretch. 
« Last Edit: January 09, 2019, 04:39:23 PM by FLCeltsFan »

Re: Pacers (27-13) at Celtics (24-15) Game #40 1/9/19
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2019, 10:16:17 PM »

Offline Jiri Welsch

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Also first?!! I think there might be two game threads but I am giving you a TP in both, FLCelts! You deserve an infinite amount

Re: Pacers (27-13) at Celtics (24-15) Game #40 1/9/19
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2019, 10:16:41 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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TP to  Jiri Welsch  for being the first to post in the game thread!!!!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Celtics!!!!

Re: Pacers (27-13) at Celtics (24-15) Game #40 1/9/19
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2019, 10:20:30 PM »

Offline liam

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GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CELTICS!!!!!


TPs to those above!

Re: Pacers (27-13) at Celtics (24-15) Game #40 1/9/19
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2019, 10:23:50 PM »

Offline slamtheking

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TP for another great thread FL

Re: Pacers (27-13) at Celtics (24-15) Game #40 1/9/19
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2019, 10:35:01 PM »

Offline jambr380

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Big game - time to see if our recent play is for real! TP FLC for another great game thread!

Re: Pacers (27-13) at Celtics (24-15) Game #40 1/9/19
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2019, 10:39:30 PM »

Offline Sophomore

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Big game - time to see if our recent play is for real! TP FLC for another great game thread!

We really should win this one — we are healthy and the Pacers played and then travel tonight. Great chance to pick up a game on a team currently ahead of us in the standings.

Re: Pacers (27-13) at Celtics (24-15) Game #40 1/9/19
« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2019, 10:48:45 PM »

Offline trickybilly

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Give them faulty pacemakers.
"Gimme the ball, gimme the ball". Freddy Quimby, 1994.

Re: Pacers (27-13) at Celtics (24-15) Game #40 1/9/19
« Reply #8 on: January 08, 2019, 11:05:51 PM »

Offline hwangjini_1

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frist page!!!! we get the hint flc, the celtics will belt the oderous pacers.  ;D

as ever, one more tp to your impressive collection for yet one more great game thread.

celtics win this one folks!!!!!

goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo celtics!!  ;D
I believe Gandhi is the only person who knew about real democracy — not democracy as the right to go and buy what you want, but democracy as the responsibility to be accountable to everyone around you. Democracy begins with freedom from hunger, freedom from unemployment, freedom from fear, and freedom from hatred.
- Vandana Shiva

Re: Pacers (27-13) at Celtics (24-15) Game #40 1/9/19
« Reply #9 on: January 08, 2019, 11:39:00 PM »

Offline rondofan1255

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Go celts

Re: Pacers (27-13) at Celtics (24-15) Game #40 1/9/19
« Reply #10 on: January 09, 2019, 06:49:24 AM »

Offline hodgy03038

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Let's GO Celts. We need this win against a team ahead of us. They are on a back-to-back. No excuses. Come out strong and keep the pressure up. Don't allow Oladipo any end of game open shots.

Re: Pacers (27-13) at Celtics (24-15) Game #40 1/9/19
« Reply #11 on: January 09, 2019, 09:09:48 AM »

Offline apc

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REVENGE!
That loss was a tough one.

Re: Pacers (27-13) at Celtics (24-15) Game #40 1/9/19
« Reply #12 on: January 09, 2019, 09:16:12 AM »

Offline A Future of Stevens

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Let's stick Marcus on Dipo to give him the clamps. Go Celtics!
#JKJB

Re: Pacers (27-13) at Celtics (24-15) Game #40 1/9/19
« Reply #13 on: January 09, 2019, 09:30:29 AM »

Offline SHAQATTACK

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Free

the

Time Lord

Re: Pacers (27-13) at Celtics (24-15) Game #40 1/9/19
« Reply #14 on: January 09, 2019, 10:05:17 AM »

Offline RodyTur10

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Important game. Pacers are a really tough team and a possible playoff-opponent. Trying to get revenge for that Oladipo-shot from last time they met. Bogdanovic is also a guy to look out for, hopefully Tatum does a better job on defense than we've seen recently, on paper he should be able to keep Bogdanovic under control with his length.