at
Orlando Magic (3-4) at Boston Celtics (3-4)
Monday, November 11, 2013
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #8, Home Game #3
TV: CSNNE, FSFL, NBA-LP 758(DTV), 756(Xfinity)
Radio: 98.5 Sportshub, WBZ, WDBO
TD Garden
Probable Starting MatchupsPoint Guard vs
Jordan Crawford vs Jameer Nelson
Shooting Guard vs
Avery Bradley vs Arron Afflalo
Small Forward vs
Jeff Green vs Maurice Harkless
Power Forward vs
Brandon Bass vs Jason Maxiell
Center vs
Kelly Olynyk vs Nikola Vucevic
Celtics ReservesMarShon Brooks
Jordan Crawford
Kris Humphries
Kelly Olynyk
Phil Pressey
Jared Sullinger
Courtney Lee
Phil Pressey
Keith Bogans
Gerald Wallace
InjuriesRajon Rondo (ACL)out
Magic ReservesVictor Oladipo
E'Twaun Moore
Andrew Nicholson
Kyle O'Quinn
Doron Lamb
Ronnie Price
Hedo Turkoglu
InjuriesGlen Davis (foot) out
Tobias Harris (ankle) out
Solomon Jones (meniscus) out
Game NotesThe Celtics and Magic meet for the second of 4 games this season. Their first meeting was just last week when the Celtics came out the winners 91-89, in spite of shooting just 35.8% for the game.
The Celtics have won 9 straight over the Magic, dating back to December 25, 2010. The Magic will be looking to avenge Friday's loss as well as to break the Celtics' winning streak over them. To do so, they will need to figure out the Celtics' defense as they held the Magic to 38.8% shooting from the field and just 20% from beyond the arc.
The Magic are 0-3 on the road while the Celtics are 1-1 at home. The Celtics are riding a 3 game win streak while the Magic have lost their last two.
Kelly Olynyk moved into the starting lineup for the Heat game and given the success of that lineup, will most likely remain there. But then again, with this team and coach, you never know.
Key Matchups vs
Avery Bradley vs Arron Afflalo
Afflalo is the Magic's leading scorer with 19.7 points per game. In their first meeting, he put up 23 points, scoring Orlando's last nine points, including a four-point play with 1:38 remaining. Bradley has been flourishing since moving to the two guard spot and his defense will be needed to limit Afflalo in this game.
vs
Kelly Olynyk vs Nikola Vucevic
Vucevic is averaging 15.7 points, 12.1 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game. Kelly Olynyk will most likely get the start again and it will be up to him to keep Vucevic out of the paint where he can do a lot of damage if not guarded closely.
Keys to the GameRebound - The Magic are #1 in the league in rebounding, pulling down 47.7 per game. The Celtics are going to have to work hard to get rebounds to give themselves a chance at winning this game. They were out rebounded by just 6 rebounds in their first meeting and they have to do at least that well in this one also.
Limit Turnovers - The Celtics are tied with the Magic for 7th in the league in turnovers with 17.7 turnovers per game. In their 3 game win streak, the Celtics have limited their turnovers to 12.3 per game. It's no surprise that they started to win when they cut down on their turnovers. They must continue to take care of the ball.
Run, Run, Run - The Celtics have shown that when they run, they are capable of playing very well, and they need to run the ball up the court before the Magic's defenses can get set up. They ran pretty much the whole game against the Heat and they need to so the same in this game.
Play 48 Minutes - The Celtics finally put together a full game for 48 minutes against the Heat. It's finally coming together for them as a team and they need to continue to build on it.
X-FactorsHome and Focus The Celtics are finally home for a 3 game home stand this week after playing 5 games in 7 nights in 5 different cities. They should get some energy from the home crowd and they need to keep their focus and not let down since they have won 3 games in a row.