Wizards (11-36) at (Celtics (25-22) 3/25

[FLCeltsFan]

 at  
Washington Wizards (11-36) at Boston Celtics (25-22)  
Sunday, March 25
6:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #48,  Home Game #25
TV:  CSN-NE, Comcast Sportsnet, NBA-LP 753 (Wiz)/754(C's)
Radio:  WEEI,  WJFK
TD Garden  




Probable Starters
PG SG SF PF C
Rajon Rondo...Ray Allen...Paul Pierce...Brandon Bass... Kevin Garnett

Celtics Reserves
Ryan Hollins
Sasha Pavlovic
JaJuan Johnson
E'Twaun Moore
Marquis Daniels
Keyon Dooling  
Greg Steimsma

Injured
Ray Allen (ankle)  day to day
Avery Bradley (ankle)  day to day
Mickael Pietrus (concussion) day to day
Jermaine O'Neal (wrist) out
Greg Stiemsma (foot) probable




Probable Starters
PG SG SF PF C
John Wall...Jordan Crawford....Chris Singleton...Trevor Booker...Nene


Wizards Bench
Jan Vesely
Kevin Seraphin
Shelvin Mack
Roger Mason Jr
Edwin Eubiles
Brian Cook
Maurice Evans

Injured
Andre Blatche  (conditioning)  out
Rashard Lewish (knee)  out  

Team Connections
Wizards Assistant Coach Sam Cassell played for the Celtics during the 2007-08 season and was a member of the 2008 NBA Championship team
Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen were teammates in Seattle from 2003-07
Kevin Garnett played for Wizards Head Coach Flip Saunders in Minnesota from 1995-2005
He also played for Wizards Assistant Coach Randy Wittman in Minnesota in 2007
Garnett and Cassell were teammates in Minnesota from 2003-05
John Wall and Rajon Rondo both attended the University of Kentucky
Avery Bradley and Maurice Evans both attended the University of Texas.

Key Matchups
vs
Rajon Rondo vs John Wall
This is for Kentucky Pride.  Both point guards will be looking to prove they are the best PG out of Kentucky.  The Celtics need Rondo to be aggressive and to set the pace of the game.  

vs
Kevin Garnett vs Nene
This will be Nene's 3rd game with the Wizards with mixed results so far.  In his first game, he had 22 points and 10 rebounds against the Nets, but in his second game vs the Pacers, he only managed 6 points and 5 rebounds.   Nene is a tough matchup but he is still learning the Wizards system.  KG needs to be aggressive in this one and hope to get Nene in foul trouble early.  


Keys to the Game
Rebound  The Celtics must crash the boards and keep the Wizards from getting second chance points, fast break opportunities and extra possessions. The Celtics have been doing much better in recent games on the boards but they must continue to improve and to rebound as a team.  

Defense    Defense always wins games.  The Celtics have to make defense their priority and shut down the paint as well as staying on their outside shooters.   When the Celtics clamp down on defense the rest of their game picks up.   Against Philly, they played very good defense to start the game but then allowed way too many easy baskets in the second half.  They have to defend for 48 minutes in this one.  

Be Aggressive  The Celtics need to play aggressively.  They need to take the ball to the hoop and not settle for jumpers. They also have to go for every loose ball and battle for all the rebounds.  The Wizards will be looking to avoid a season sweep to the Celtics and so they will be playing hard and the Celtics need to match their intensity.  

Limit Turnovers - The Celtics turn the ball over way too much.  The tend to make lazy passes and lose focus from time to time and give their opponents easy scoring opportunities because of it.  They seem to lose focus at points in the game and then turn the ball over several times in a row. They have got to keep their focus and take better care of the ball.  

Game Notes:  
This is the 4th and final meeting between these two teams.  The Celtics have won all 3 of the previous games.  The Wizards may come out of the gate strong in order to avoid being swept by the Celtics in the regular season.   These aren't the same Wizards the Celtics faced in the 1st 3 meetings.   Only John Wall has started in all 4 games.  The addition of Nene makes them much tougher inside.  

The Wizards are 3-7 in their last 10 games while the Celtics are 5-5 in their last 10 games, going 4-4 on their extended road trip.  The Celtics are finally back home after 2 weeks on the road and they will look to improve their 16-8 home record.  The Wizards are 5-13 on the road.  

The Celtics will be short handed, as they have been many times this season.  But, they will have a much brighter outlook after finding that teammate Mickael Pietrus will return this season, likely sooner than later.  As they have done all season, the players on the court must give a little extra to fill in for those who are on the sidelines.  

The Wizards  are lottery bound and are in the next to last place in the East.  They are playing for ping pong balls and for their future but still might be a dangerous team since they also are playing for pride and don't want to be swept.  We have to hope that being home will be good for what ails them.  

X-Factors
Home and Injuries
Ray, Avery and Mickael are all listed as day to day.  Greg Stiemsma is still playing on a very sore foot.  The Celtics probably won't know for sure who is playing until just before game time.  Who knows if we will have enough players to even field a team the way things have been going.  They will be at home again after 2 long weeks on the road and home cooking might just be what they need to give them a boost in this game.  

[ManUp]

This should be a win, heard the Wizards have been playing better since the trade though.

Lol, at Blatche's "injury" does this really mean he's too fat to play?

TP for the hard work.

[StarzNBarz]

Well Dirk was out for conditioning reasons earlier this year too.

Wizards should be chicken noodle soup for the Celtics. Cure all of their illnesses.

[green7]

i hope this message get's out there to rondo, doubt it will but i really don't care about his 14 or 18 assist if he's only scoring 4 points he did this same thing late mid last season. scoring like 4-6 points because he's so focus on beating nash for the number 1 spot in assist help your team by scoring dude this is why i really am  starting to believe you can't build a team around him. prove me wrong please

[thestackshow]

Andray Blatche, from rising star to complete scrub. I remember when some people here wanted to trade KG for him a year or two ago.

Another victim of the lockout.

Also, he cant play due to his conditioning? Oh man, I would hate to have that guy on this team, Doc wouldnt let him see the light of day.

[bostonman1]

Celtics are back home after a mediocre road trip.  They are shorthanded but at this point in the season there isn't a whole lot they can do about it.

At least they get to play the pathetic Wizards at home.  Washington has been more competitive at least since their trades but they are a truly awful team.

Celtics have to win this game as they can't afford home losses to bad teams this late in the season...

[azzenfrost]

If Pietrus comes back and plays, would be awesome.

[j804]

If Pietrus comes back and plays, would be awesome.

I hope he doesn't and Doc holds him from this game. That was a bad hard fall let him get some rest and prior to the following game if he feels ready to give it a go let him.

[j804]

Nene will be a tough matchup for Kevin 

[Chief]

What happened to all the posts?

[j804]

somethings fishy around here