Celtics (54-23) at Bulls (57-20) 4/7

[Greenbean]

Let's see if we can get a win on the road against this team. Something tells me we will have to do the same thing a month from now!

[FLCeltsFan]

FL I have always wondered but never asked, where do you get your pictures from the top of each game thread? This week its the flasks, it's something cool every week. Do you go on EBay or something like that?

I go to the sites that sell NBA Merchandise.  Sometimes they are from the team stores, sometimes from the NBA store, most are from football fanatics because their pictures are just the right size and I don't need to resize them.  Sometimes I just do a google search for a particular item I get in my mind. 

[Fafnir]

Very big game.

[Dr H]

I am SO pumped for this game, can't wait for tonight. (insert Bart Scott's 'CAN'T WAIT!' saying here)

This is probably the 3rd best game I am looking forward to(1st being the season opener against Miami, 2nd being our first meeting with LA)

I honestly don't see them losing this game...the C's are going to show remind everyone who the East goes through.

[P2]

OK, what has chaged roster-wise since our loss at Chicago on January 8?

Kevin Garnett > No KG
Jermaine O'Neal > Injured JO
Jeff Green > Marquis Daniels
Delonte West > Nate Robinson
Nenad Krstic > Semih Erden
Troy Murphy > Luke Harangody
Carlos Arroyo > Avery Bradley

No Shaq < Shaq

And from their perspective:

Noah > No Noah
Rasual Butler > No Rasual Butler

[aporel#18]

TP for the game thread, fantastic job as always, FL.

I expect a focused Celtics team tonight, Rondo will play a great game and the defense will be all-world.

Go Celtics!!!

[greenpride32]

Biggest game of the season.

Not only can we send a message to the East with a victory over Chicago but a win will also put us in a virtual tie with The Lakers for home court at 55-23 a piece

The race for home court advantage is back on!

Biggest game until SUN vs MIA....  Even if we win against CHI, it's going to be quite difficult to make up 2 games with only 4 more to go. I think at this point this games means more about keeping ahead of MIA then catching CHI.

After tonight CHI has @CLE @ORL @NYK NJN.

[celticinorlando]

i forgot they played the last game without KG. game tonight is about not allowing rose to prance into the lane with dribble penetration. boston has laid the welcome mat out in the last few games (will bynum, holiday) and PGs have been getting to the rim way too easy

[BballTim]

Biggest game of the season.

  The fans probably feel this way more than the players do, but you never know.

[j804]

i forgot they played the last game without KG. game tonight is about not allowing rose to prance into the lane with dribble penetration. boston has laid the welcome mat out in the last few games (will bynum, holiday) and PGs have been getting to the rim way too easy

Ding ding.

This worries me the most about tonight.

[Mr October]

Big game tonight. I am fired up for this one!

I want to see some great defense from our defensive anchors. Win in the paint, win the game.

[ejk3489]

Game 2 of the 2009 playoff series with Chicago is on NBA TV right now if anyone wants to get ready for tonight.

Forgot how crazy those game were. (Ok not really, they're pretty hard to forget)

[RebusRankin]

I want to see the KG effect on Boozer and the lane in general. Ditto with O'Neal. Second I want to see if we can't apply the Wade/LeBron principles of D to DRose.

[FLCeltsFan]

Official Report
Ron Garretson
In his 23 NBA seasons, since 1987, Garretson officiated over 1,600 games, including 1,397 regular season NBA games, 157 playoff games and 11 Finals games. He also officiated the 1993 Europe Tour in London and the 1997 NBA All-Star Game. He is the son of former NBA referee Darell Garretson. Before joining the NBA as a referee, he spent two years officiating high school games in Arizona and two more in the Continental Basketball Association. One of the losses this season was the loss in Chicago where the Bulls shot 35 free throws to 22 for the Celtics. At one point just after the half, Derrick Rose alone had almost doubled the Celtics free throws as a team. That performance elicited these comments from Bulls fans:

    Book these refs for the playoffs please

    Who hired these refs? Lets give them promotion after the game
    Wow have never seen Rose draw so many fouls and get so many FTs.

    Ron Garretson, Tommy Nunez, Sean Wright
    Best refs of all time.

    Best refs EVAR!!!

Another loss was the Clippers game where the officiating was terrible both ways but the Clippers took 41 free throws to just 21 for the Celtics. The Celtics are 6-4 over their last 10 games and 1-3 this season with Garretson. The Bulls are 3-0 this season and 6-4 over their last 10 games with Garretson. Garretson is not affected by home crowds and is one of the few refs with more wins for the road team with a home W/L record this season is 28-37.

Mark Ayotte
This is Ayotte's 7th year as an NBA referee. He has 12 years of college officiating experience and 10 years of high school officiating experience before making it to the NBA. The Celtics are 2-3 this season and 5-5 over their last 10 games. In the 5 games officiated by Ayotte, the Celtics shot 89 free throws to 123 free throws for their opponents. The Celtics had a free throw advantage in just one game vs Minnesota. The Bulls are 1-0 this season and 5-5 over their last 10 with Ayotte. Ayotte tends to be influenced by the home crowd and has a home W/L record this season is 44-15.

David Guthrie
Guthrie began his career as a referee in the NBA in the 2005-2006 season. He has been a college, CBA and NBDL referee and he has also officiated the 2003 and 2004 NCAA Men’s Division I tournament. The Celtics are 4-0 this season with Guthrie calling the game including that OT Bulls game. In that game, the Celtics took 25 free throws to 18 for the Bulls. The Celtics are 7-3 in their last 10 with Guthrie as a ref. The Bulls are 5-1 this season and 7-3 in their last 10 with Guthrie calling the game. His home W/L record is 34-23.

[j804]

Ron Garretson?

BLASPHEMY


*in my Tommy Heinsohn voice*