Hornets (12-6) at Celtics (21-2) 12/12

[FLCeltsFan]

  at 
New Orleans Hornets (12-6) at Boston Celtics (21-2) Friday, December 12
8:00 PM ET
Game #24, Home Game #14
TV:  ESPN, CSN HD
TD Banknorth Garden



ProbableStarters
PG   Rajon Rondo 10.3 PPG  7.6 APG  2.3 SPG

SG    Ray Allen 19.2 PPG  2.7 APG .393 3P%

SF Paul Pierce 18.2 PPG  6 RPG 3.5 APG

PF Kevin Garnett  16.4 PPG  9.4 RPG  1.4 BPG

C Kendrick Perkins  8 PPG  8.1 RPG  1.8 BPG

Reserves
Tony Allen
Glen Davis
Eddie House
Leon Powe
Gabe Pruitt
Brian Scalabrine
Patrick O'Bryant
Sam Cassell

Injuries:
None

D-League
JR Giddens
Bill Walker





Probable Starters
PG    Chris Paul 20.6 ppg, 11.8 apg, 5.6 rpg, 2.8 spg,

SG    Rasual Butler  7.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 21.6 mpg

SF    Peja Stojakovic  14.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.1 apg, 31.2 mpg

PF    David West  19.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.1 apg, 37.4 mpg

C  Tyson Chandler  8.1 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.4 bpg, 32.1 mpg

Reserves
James Posey
Devin Brown
Hilton Armstrong
Sean Marks
Morris Peterson
Melvin Ely
Antonio Daniels
Julian Wright

Injuries
None

Key Matchups
  vs 
Rajon Rondo 10.3 PPG  7.6 APG 4.9 RPG,  2.3 SPG
Chris Paul 20.6 PPG, 11.8 APG, 5.6 RPG,  2.8 SPG

  vs 
Kevin Garnett  16.4 PPG  9.4 RPG  1.4 BPG
David West  19.9 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 2.1 APG

Honorable Mention
  vs 
Tony Allen  9 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 1.1 APG,  20 MPG
James Posey  8.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG,  1.1 APG, 27.6 MPG

Team Connections
Hilton Armstrong and Ray Allen are former UConn Huskies
Julian Wright and Paul Pierce are former Kansas Jayhawks
Sean Marks and Leon Powe are former Cal Golden Bears
Mike James played for the Celtics in the '03-'04 season
Hornets asst. Paul Pressey was an asst. for the Celtics from '04-'06
Scal was coached by Byron Scott in New Jersey
Melvin Ely and Eddie House were teammates on the Clippers
Peja Stojakovic and Eddie House were teammates in Sacramento
James Posey was instrumental in helping the Celtics win the championship last season.

Key Facts:
The Hornets are 9-0 when scoring 100 points or more
The Hornets are 9-0 when shooting 22 or more free throws
The Hornets are 11-1 when leading after 3 quarters

The Hornets Big Three of Chris Paul, Peja Stojakovic and David West are averaging 59.3 of the Hornets' 98.7 points per game.  They are shooting 52.9% from the field and 51.3% from beyond the arc. 

These two teams split the series 1-1 last season. 

James Posey will receive his championship win in a ceremony before the game. 

Keys to the Game
Defense  The Celtics have to guard both the perimeter and the interior.   The Hornets have good 3 point shooters as well as players who can take the ball to the basket, not to mention the alley oop passes from Paul to Chandler. 

Focus   The Celtics need to keep their focus and not be distracted by the hoopla surrounding Posey's return.  They have to take care of the ball and play team ball.

Pedal to the Metal  The Celtics have to come out strong and not let up until the end of the game.  They can't let a team like the Hornets get a big lead  and they also can't let them hang around and keep it close.  The Celtics have to play all out the entire 48 minutes.

Bench Play  The Celtics bench has to keep up the level of play when they come into the game.   They had a very good game vs the Wizards and can't have a let down in this one.  They have to be more consistent from game to game. 

[BigAlTheFuture]

TP for you FLCeltsFan. Great thread, once again.

[guava_wrench]

I look forward to seeing how Rondo defends Paul.

[ACF]

TP for you FLCeltsFan. Great thread, once again.

I TP'ed you as well, BigAl 

[Dybdal]

As allways TP's for the work on the Game Threads! but i've got a funny feeling about this game, after such a high last night in Washington you just get the nagging feeling its time to get your head out of the clouds, not to mention that the streak is at 13

man i hope we smash them though' and that Tony Allen gets some loving in that game aswell, it would do wonders for his building confidence.

[Chief]

Rondo can put himself into the elite pg status tonight on national tv. He played great against CP last year, I have a feeling he'll play even better tonight.

[jackson_34]

Rondo can put himself into the elite pg status tonight on national tv. He played great against CP last year, I have a feeling he'll play even better tonight.

Absolutley. Rondo definently kept Paul in check last season, to the point where Paul played mediocre at best.

Welcome Back Posey!

[silvershamrocker]

Ray Allen should take advantage of being guarded by Rasual Butler.

[ManUp]

I get the feeling an example will be made of the Hornets. There a team the Celtics will get up for, I'm not expecting a let down game at all. The Celtics will show the league just how dominating they can be.

TP to FLC for the Game thread. Great work, as always, on the Thread and Daily links.

[Redz]

I get the feeling an example will be made of the Hornets. There a team the Celtics will get up for, I'm not expecting a let down game at all. The Celtics will show the league just how dominating they can be.

Agreed.  Celts are in full spank mode!

[Redz]

Anyone know what time the Posey ceremony is happening?

[illantari]

Anyone know what's going on with Mike Gorman today?  Why is Gary Tanguay doing the play by play?

[houlana]

Pose just had an interview about last year with dickerson.
class act, miss this guy on the team. he laid it all out for us last year.
cant wait for him to get his ring tonight

[BudweiserCeltic]

[dang], Tyson Chandler not playing tonight?

[blueygreen]

Haha, anybody else notice on the pregame the picture of PP warming up and the caption saying he was 4th total points scored in the NBA?