Celtics (2-4) at Heat (4-2) Game #7 11/9

[FLCeltsFan]

at

Boston Celtics (2-4) at Miami Heat (4-2)
Saturday, November 9, 2013
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #7, Road Game #5
TV: CSNNE, SunSpM, NBA-LP 755(DTV), 752(Xfinity)
Radio: WZLX, WAXY
American Airlines Arena


Probable Starting Lineups
Point Guard
vs
Jordan Crawford vs Mario Chalmers

Shooting Guard
vs 
Avery Bradley vs Dwyane Wade

Small Forward
  vs 
Jeff Green vs LeBron James

Power Forward
  vs 
Brandon Bass vs Udonis Haslem
Center
  vs 
Vitor Faverani vs Chris Bosh


Celtics Reserves
MarShon Brooks
Jordan Crawford
Kris Humphries
Kelly Olynyk
Phil Pressey
Jared Sullinger
Courtney Lee
Phil Pressey
Keith Bogans
Gerald Wallace

Injuries
Rajon Rondo (ACL)out




Heat Reserves
Ray Allen
Shane Battier
Chris Andersen
Norris Cole
Rashard Lewis
Joel Anthony
Michael Beasley
James Jones
Greg Oden
Roger Mason, Jr

Injuries
None

Game Notes
This is the first of 3 meetings between these two teams this season.  The Heat won the series 3-1 last season but things have changed considerably since their last meeting.  The Heat have returned the same team that won the championship last season while the Celtics have basically a whole new roster and coaching staff. 

The Celtics have won 2 in a row against teams that are considered to be their rivals for a top lottery pick.  The Heat have won 3 in a row but they did lose to the Philadelphia 76ers, another team that is believed to be in the hunt for a top lottery pick. 

The Celtics best hope in this game is that the Heat will take them for granted and expect to get a win without trying.  One thing we have learned about the Celtics this season is that they play hard and never give up. 

Key Matchups
vs 
Avery Bradley vs Dwyane Wade
Avery Bradley does as good a job as anyone of hounding Wade and taking him off his game. 

  vs 
Jeff Green vs LeBron James
Green has had big games against LeBron and has been able to defend him well in the past.  The Celtics will need the aggressive Jeff Green to show up to have any chance of winning this game. 

Keys to the Game
Defense
Both teams pride themselves on their defense and defense is always a key to winning. The Celtics are 2nd in the league in points allowed, giving up just 92.7 points per game.  The Heat are 15th, giving up 99.2 points per game.  The Celtics are holding teams to 44.1% shooting while the Heat are allowing opponents to shoot 46.5%.  The Heat are shooting 50.7% from the field and the Celtics will need to play tough team defense in order to have a chance at this game.

Rebound
The Heat are dead last in the league in rebounding, pulling down just 33.5 rebounds per game.  They are also last in offensive rebounding with 7 per game.  The Celtics are doing better on the boards as the go, grabbing 41 rebounds per game and 11 on the offensive end.  Crashing the boards will give the Celtics second chance points as well as keeping the Heat from getting out on the break and getting put backs.

Be Aggressive
The Celtics have to be aggressive in going to the basket and not settle for jumpers, especially if they aren't falling. They have to dive for loose balls and be aggressive in crashing the boards. The starters need to come out and play aggressively from the beginning and the second unit needs to come in and pick up where they leave off. They have to attack the basket and be aggressive on defense for the whole 48 minutes.  No letting up.   

Take Care of the Ball
The Celtics have averaged 18.3 turnovers per game.  They limited their turnovers to 11 against the Magic and they will need to once again limit their turnovers in this game because the Heat will make them pay for every turnover.

X-Factors
Fatigue and Officiating
The Celtics are playing in back to back games while the Heat have been off since Thursday.  The Celtics are young and should be able to handle back to back games, but back to backs on the road are tough.

The officiating in Heat games is almost always one sided in their favor.  It's hard to play 5 on 8, which is what most Heat games end up being.   

[BudweiserCeltic]

I predicted a win last year, I predict a win tomorrow. Still iffy about our offensive potential, but I just love how we match-up defensively against the Heat.

Food for thought, have we played the Heat at full strength at any point in the last couple of years? I don't think so, one of my biggest recent laments.

[celticslove]

TP! this should be a fun game. vitor against shaq! 

[SHAQATTACK]

I hope.  El Hombre muscles some on the Heat inside.

We should pound the ball inside .....every trip down court .....inside

Sully. , KO, Hump and Fav ........make em defend us in the paint ...foul out Bosh

[VitorSullyandKOFan]

We got this. Tankers will lose their minds when we beat the Heat.

[SparzWizard]

I predicted a win last year, I predict a win tomorrow. Still iffy about our offensive potential, but I just love how we match-up defensively against the Heat.

Food for thought, have we played the Heat at full strength at any point in the last couple of years? I don't think so, one of my biggest recent laments.

They did partially played us without Chris Bosh back in 2012 playoffs! But then, we didn't have Avery Bradley, Jeff Green, and Chris Wilcox that year.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I predicted a win last year, I predict a win tomorrow. Still iffy about our offensive potential, but I just love how we match-up defensively against the Heat.

Food for thought, have we played the Heat at full strength at any point in the last couple of years? I don't think so, one of my biggest recent laments.

They did partially played us without Chris Bosh back in 2012 playoffs! But then, we didn't have Avery Bradley, Jeff Green, and Chris Wilcox that year.

I meant US at full strength, not them. I thought that the rise of Bradley as a SG defender along with Green backing-up Pierce was going to be huge against a team like the Heat, but we've never had that combo... well we did last year, and we won, but we were also playing without Rondo (the game we found out about his ACL injury) and we also lost Sully in that game for the year...

[SHAQATTACK]

Heat probably win the game ultimately .....they should though , they Have most ALL the advantage , the Stars, champions, their at home ....experience .....the refs cheating for the Heat as usual..

But. ...tell you this..... It won't be easy for Lebrick

Bossman. Will make em earn it.


Our secret weapon.......Stevens

[timobusa]

TP! this should be a fun game. vitor against shaq! 

Errr? Shaq came back from retirement?

[celticslove]

TP! this should be a fun game. vitor against shaq! 

Errr? Shaq came back from retirement?

i just made that comment based on the picture "shaq in black" (see AAA pic) hence the smiley.

[Edgar]

love the elves.. all i have to say

and pray in silence

[Clench123]

Lol at Crawford's picture.  It gets me every time.  Dude look so high lol. 

As far as the game, I have only one word...TANK!

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

Bold Predictions: Jordan Crawford outscores Dwayne Wade, Jeff Green with 4 blocks, Faverani outrebounds Chris Bosh. Miami need at least 1 overtime, and 5 dubious shooting foul calls to win the game.

[LarBrd33]

If Miami beats us by less than 15 points, I'm going to be shocked.  If that happens, it might be time to give up on the tank dreams and settle in as a scrappy overachieving 28 win team. 

[thirstyboots18]

If you are going to eat cheese, dream BIG.  Beat Miami.  Beat Miami!  Keep this dream streak going.