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Celtics (51-22) at Spurs (57-17) 3/31
« on: March 29, 2011, 11:23:10 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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 at  
Boston Celtics (51-22) at San Antonio Spurs (57-17)
Thursday, March 31
8:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #74, Road Game #37
TV:  TNT, TSN2
Radio:  WEEI, WOAI
AT&T Center





Probable Starters
PGSGSFPFC
PG: Rajon Rondo   10.4 PPG   11.3 APG   2.3 SPG
SG:  Ray Allen   17.0 PPG  2.7 APG  .452 3P%
SF:  Paul Pierce 18.7 PPG 5.1 RPG 3.3 APG
PF: Kevin Garnett  14.7 PPG  9.0 RPG 0.8 BPG
C:  Nenad Krstic  8.2 PPG  4.8 RPG  0.3 BPG

Boston Bench Mob
Glen Davis
Jeff Green
Delonte West
Sasha Pavlovic
Carlos Arroyo
Avery Bradley
Jermaine O'Neal

Injured
Shaquille O'Neal (Achilles) out
Von Wafer (calf) questionable
Jermaine O'Neal (knee) probable
Troy Murphy (ankle) questionable



Probable Starters
PG SG SF PF C
PG:  Tony Parker  17.5 PPG  6.6 APG  1.2 SPG
SG: James Anderson  3.7 PPG  0.8 APG   .447 3P%
SF:  Richard Jefferson   11.1 PPG   3.9 RPG  1.3 APG
PF: Tiago Splitter    4.6 PPG  3.3 RPG  0.3 BPG
C:  Antonio McDyess  5.2 PPG   5.3 RPG   0.5 BPG  

Reserves
Matt Bonner
Gary Neal
Chris Quinn
DeJuan Blair
Steve Novak
Daniel Green
Da'Sean Butler
George Hill

Injuries
Antonio McDyess (back) probable
Tony Parker (knee) probable
Tim Duncan (ankle) possible
Manu Ginobili (thigh) possible

Team Connections
Doc Rivers played for San Antonio during the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons.
Assistant Coach Roy Rodgers and Antonio McDyess both attended Alabama
Chris Quinn and Troy Murphy both attended Notre Dame
Doc Rivers and Steve Novak both attended Marquette University
Nenad Krstic and Richard Jefferson were teammates on the New Jersey Nets from 2004‐08

Game Notes
The Spurs went most of the season without any injuries to any of their starters while the Celtics have battle injuries all year long.  The injury bug has finally caught up to the Spurs and in their last game, a home loss to Portland on Tuesday, they played without 4 of their starters.  

For this game Duncan and Ginobili are both projected to be out.  Tony Parker is listed as questionable and Antonio McDyess is expected back in the starting lineup.    The Celtics may get a long awaited boost as Jermaine O'Neal has targeted this game for his return to the court. He is said to be looking good, but there's bound to be a lot of rust.   I'll update the lineups if there are any changes between now and then.  

The Celtics are up 1-0 in the series after a 2 point win in the Garden back in January.  Ginobili led the Spurs with 24 points and 8 rebounds in that one.  The Spurs have lost 4 in a row for the first time this season and will be motivated to end that streak in this game.  

Both teams are 5-5 in their last 10 games.  The Celtics are 22-14 on the road while the Spurs are 33-4 at home.  The Celtics are looking to end their losing streak at 1 while the Spurs are hoping that theirs will end at 4.  The Spurs are getting their first taste of playing through injures, something the Celtics have been doing all season.

The Celtics have been struggling and have lost to several teams recently that they should have beat.  They have also struggled to beat contending teams who are playing without star players.  Hopefully an extra day of practice between games will help them find their way back to ubuntu and to winning.

Key Matchups
vs
Rajon Rondo vs George Hill
After missing a game and being originally counted out for the second game, Rajon Rondo made a surprise start and showed some signs of snapping out of his slump.  The Celtics need him to continue to play well and be aggressive in leading the offense.   On the other side, Tony Parker was a late scratch from the Spurs last game and is considered questionable for this game.

vs  
Paul Pierce vs Richard Jefferson
This matchup has been a good one going back to Jefferson's days on the Nets.  With the injury bug finally hitting the Spurs, Jefferson was the only regular starter to play in the Spurs last game.  Pierce had a good game vs the Pacers and hopefully that will continue in this game as well.

Keys to the Game  
Defense - The Celtics must make defense a priority in this game and every game.  The Spurs are having one of their best offensive seasons in franchise history and the Celtics will need to play defense for 48 minutes and not just in spurts as they have been doing recently.   The Celtics especially need to guard the perimeter as the Spurs are shooting .402 from beyond the arc as a team, which is tops in the league.  

Focus The Spurs are very capable of taking advantage of any lack of focus on the Celtics part, even missing some of their key players.  The Celtics have to come out strong and they have to stay focused until the end of the game.  The Spurs won't let up and neither can the Celtics if they want to win this one.    Keeping their focus also includes taking care of the ball and not committing unforced turnovers.  The Celtics also can't get complacent if they have a lead.  The Spurs have won 11 games this season in which they came back from a double digit deficit.  

Rebound
The Spurs are a good rebounding team and the Celtics need to concentrate on crashing the boards. The Celtics have not been rebounding as well as they should.   The Pacers out rebounded the Celtics 36-29.  The Celtics must crash the boards and keep the Spurs from getting second chance points, which they do very well.  

Be Aggressive  When the Celtics are aggressive in going after loose balls, taking the ball to the hoop and playing in your face defense, they are very tough to beat.  When they get lazy and allow teams to beat them to loose balls and rebounds and when they settle for jumpers and don't go to the basket, they are very beatable.  They must stay aggressive.  

Ubuntu - The Celtics have gotten away from playing team ball in recent games.  They have been playing too much one on one and not moving the ball and making the extra pass to find the open man.  The Celtics have to get back to the principles of ubuntu and playing together as a team.  

X-Factor
Mental Toughness
The Celtics have been going through some tough times in recent games and they will need a lot of mental toughness to get back to winning as a team.  
« Last Edit: March 31, 2011, 11:36:21 AM by FLCeltsFan »

Re: Celtics (51-22) at Spurs (57-17) 3/31
« Reply #1 on: March 30, 2011, 01:13:11 AM »

Offline ACF

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TP. Go Celtics!

Re: Celtics (51-22) at Spurs (57-17) 3/31
« Reply #2 on: March 30, 2011, 01:13:37 AM »

Offline BASS_THUMPER

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gonna be crazy in my house that night

serious

Re: Celtics (51-22) at Spurs (57-17) 3/31
« Reply #3 on: March 30, 2011, 01:15:57 AM »

Offline barefacedmonk

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TP FL.

I don't know what to expect anymore...but Go Cs!
"An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching." - M.K. Gandhi


Re: Celtics (51-22) at Spurs (57-17) 3/31
« Reply #4 on: March 30, 2011, 01:18:18 AM »

Offline Megatron

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Oh no....Spurs are missing all 3 of their best players?

Not looking good considering our history. Hope they prove me wrong.

I expect this game to be a three fest, if they stay home on the perimeter we should do fine.

Splitter is going to have a career break-out game against Krsitc though.

Re: Celtics (51-22) at Spurs (57-17) 3/31
« Reply #5 on: March 30, 2011, 02:26:09 AM »

Offline Yvette

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Celtics has to win this one... For pride!...

Re: Celtics (51-22) at Spurs (57-17) 3/31
« Reply #6 on: March 30, 2011, 02:00:52 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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Pop says Parker and McDyess good to play vs. BOS. Duncan and Ginobili are possibilities. All 4 practiced today.

http://twitter.com/#!/JMcDonald_SAEN/status/53151026714394624

Re: Celtics (51-22) at Spurs (57-17) 3/31
« Reply #7 on: March 30, 2011, 02:33:07 PM »

Offline heitingas

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starters

delonte
pavlovic
green
bbd
krstic

bench

arroyo
bradley
murphy
JO

Re: Celtics (51-22) at Spurs (57-17) 3/31
« Reply #8 on: March 30, 2011, 02:44:30 PM »

Offline Silent Storm

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According to CSNNE, JO is probable for tomorrow.
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Re: Celtics (51-22) at Spurs (57-17) 3/31
« Reply #9 on: March 30, 2011, 03:01:48 PM »

Offline Tai

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Pop says Parker and McDyess good to play vs. BOS. Duncan and Ginobili are possibilities. All 4 practiced today.

http://twitter.com/#!/JMcDonald_SAEN/status/53151026714394624

Possibilities? Hmm, I'll bet at least one of them plays, then.  :)

Re: Celtics (51-22) at Spurs (57-17) 3/31
« Reply #10 on: March 30, 2011, 04:04:18 PM »

Offline apc

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good job FL,
just a little fix:
Both teams are 5-5 in their last 10 games.  The Celtics are 22-14 on the road while the Cavs are 33-4 at home

Re: Celtics (51-22) at Spurs (57-17) 3/31
« Reply #11 on: March 30, 2011, 04:08:14 PM »

Offline barefacedmonk

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good job FL,
just a little fix:
Both teams are 5-5 in their last 10 games.  The Celtics are 22-14 on the road while the Cavs are 33-4 at home

Cavs?

Cavs thank you for that record. ;)

"An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching." - M.K. Gandhi


Re: Celtics (51-22) at Spurs (57-17) 3/31
« Reply #12 on: March 30, 2011, 05:00:19 PM »

Online celticinorlando

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hoping for a win..expecting a loss

Re: Celtics (51-22) at Spurs (57-17) 3/31
« Reply #13 on: March 30, 2011, 07:11:00 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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good job FL,
just a little fix:
Both teams are 5-5 in their last 10 games.  The Celtics are 22-14 on the road while the Cavs are 33-4 at home

Cavs?

Cavs thank you for that record. ;)


Tee hee!  I was watching NBA TV while I was doing this and had just tutored math for 2 hours and it was past my bedtime, which left me pretty much out of it. There's probably other things I messed up too.  I know I was pretty happy about the Cavs beating the Heat last night so this was probably a Freudian slip.  

Re: Celtics (51-22) at Spurs (57-17) 3/31
« Reply #14 on: March 31, 2011, 08:54:07 AM »

Offline lovely_20

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TP FL.  Here's hoping for a C's win!!  ;)
"Basketball is like poetry in motion, cross the guy to the left, take him back to the right, he's fallin' back, then just J right in his face. Then you look at him and say, "What?""

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