Author Topic: Celtics (0-1) at Heat (1-0) 12/27  (Read 121354 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Celtics (0-1) at Heat (1-0) 12/27
« on: December 26, 2011, 04:16:24 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

  • Kendrick Perkins #1 Fan
  • Author
  • Rajon Rondo
  • *****
  • Posts: 5280
  • Tommy Points: 11831
  • Marcus Smart Fan!
 at  
Boston Celtics (0‐1) at Miami Heat (1‐0)
Regular Season Game #2 – Road Game #2
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
8:00 pm ET
TV: TNT
Radio: WEEI (850AM)
American Airlines Arena



Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Mario Chalmers

Shooting Guard
 vs  
Ray Allen vs Dwyane Wade

Small Forward

vs
Sasha Pavlovic vs LeBron James

Power Forward

vs
Kevin Garnett vs Chris Bosh

Center

vs
Jermaine O'Neal vs Joel Anthony




Reserves
Avery Bradley
Marquis Daniels
Chris Wilcox
Brandon Bass
Keyon Dooling
E'twaun Moore
Greg Stiemsma
JaJuan Johnson

Injuries

Paul Pierce (heel) day to day
Mickael Pietrus (knee) day to day


Reserves
Norris Cole
Udonis Haslem
Juwan Howard
Shane Battier
James Jones
Terrel Harris
Dexter Pittman
Mickell Gladness

Injuries
Eddy Curry  (hip)  out
Mike Miller (hernia)  out
Shane Battier (quad) day to day

Team Connections

Mario Chalmers and Paul Pierce both attended the University of Kansas
Doc Rivers and Dwyane Wade both attended Marquette University
Jermaine O’Neal played for the Heat during the end of the 2008‐09 season
and all of the 2009‐10 season
Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal were teammates in Toronto during the 2008‐09 season
Dexter Pittman and Avery Bradley were teammates at the University of Texas
Sasha Pavlovic and LeBron James were teammates in Cleveland from 2004‐09
Keyon Dooling played for the Heat during the 2004‐05 season

Key Matchups

vs
Rajon Rondo vs Mario Chalmers
Rondo started the season aggressively.  In the opener against the Knicks he scored 31 points, pulled down 5 rebounds and dished out 13 assists.   Chalmers had 3 points 1 rebound and 4 assists in Miami's opener against Dallas.  If Rondo continues to be aggressive, he should have another big game as Chalmers struggles to contain him.  

vs
Kevin Garnett vs Chris Bosh
Assuming that KG won't be suspended to going after Bill Walker after the Celtics' loss to the Knicks on Sunday,  this could be another key matchup for the Celtics.  Bosh has always been slightly intimidated by KG in the past and we can only hope that this continues because the Celtics will need every advantage they can get in this game.  

Honorable Mention

Jermaine O'Neal vs Joel Anthony
Jermaine has been playing well and should have an advantage over Anthony on both ends of the court.  The Celtics need JO to be aggressive and to dominate Anthony inside.  

Brandon Bass vs Udonis Haslem
The battle of the power forwards off the bench may be a very good one.  In the Celtics opener, Bass had 20 points and 11 rebounds in a very solid effort off the bench.   Haslem had 9 points and 14 rebounds off Miami's bench on Sunday.  This could be a fun battle to watch.  

Game Notes

The Heat are coming off a blow out win over the defending champion Mavericks.    With the news that Pierce hasn't run full court yet, I don't expect him to play and it could be a very long game watching Sasha trying to keep up with LeBron.    Pietrus isn't expected to join the team until Friday.  Even at full strength, the Celtics would have their hands full with the Heat, but short handed,  it could be a very long night.  

Add to the personnel problems the fact that this is the Heat's home opener,  and the Celtics are facing a huge disadvantage in this one.  The Celtics should have the added motivation to avenge their loss in last season's playoffs but the Heat will be looking to send a message to the league, and especially the Celtics, that they are the favorites this season.

Keys to the Game

Start strong - The Celtics must get off to a better start than they did against the Knicks.  It takes too much out of them to play catch up most of the game.  

Play 48 Minutes
- If they play well throughout the game, they have to be careful not to let up too soon.  They must play hard right up until the final buzzer because it is certain that the Heat will.

Rebound and Defend - These are keys to every single game.  The team that works harder on the boards and gets stops will be the team that gives themselves a good chance to win.  
« Last Edit: December 27, 2011, 01:28:47 PM by FLCeltsFan »

Re: Celtics (0-1) at Heat (1-0) 12/27
« Reply #1 on: December 26, 2011, 04:33:10 PM »

Online Who

  • James Naismith
  • *********************************
  • Posts: 47135
  • Tommy Points: 2401
Nightmare of a matchup between Sasha Pavlovic and LeBron James.

Going to be extremely difficult to win this game without Paul Pierce (especially w/o his defense).

Re: Celtics (0-1) at Heat (1-0) 12/27
« Reply #2 on: December 26, 2011, 05:09:10 PM »

Offline PosImpos

  • NCE
  • Frank Ramsey
  • ************
  • Posts: 12383
  • Tommy Points: 903
  • Rondo = Good
Nightmare of a matchup between Sasha Pavlovic and LeBron James.

Going to be extremely difficult to win this game without Paul Pierce (especially w/o his defense).

Yeah, if you think Melo really took it to us with Sasha and Marquis covering him . . . oh boy.
Never forget the Champs of '08, or the gutsy warriors of '10.

"I know you all wanna win, but you gotta do it TOGETHER!"
- Doc Rivers

Re: Celtics (0-1) at Heat (1-0) 12/27
« Reply #3 on: December 26, 2011, 05:58:48 PM »

Offline Celtics18

  • Ed Macauley
  • ***********
  • Posts: 11688
  • Tommy Points: 1469
Anyone heard any recent news on Paul?  Last I heard he was expected to be ready to play by tomorrow night's game.
DKC Seventy-Sixers:

PG: G. Hill/D. Schroder
SG: C. Lee/B. Hield/T. Luwawu
SF:  Giannis/J. Lamb/M. Kuzminskas
PF:  E. Ilyasova/J. Jerebko/R. Christmas
C:    N. Vucevic/K. Olynyk/E. Davis/C. Jefferson

Re: Celtics (0-1) at Heat (1-0) 12/27
« Reply #4 on: December 26, 2011, 06:26:53 PM »

Offline StarzNBarz

  • The Green Kornet
  • Posts: 78
  • Tommy Points: 5
Hopefully Pierce plays cause if not, LeBron is gonna score 40+. If you thought Melo looked unstoppable wait till Sasha is trying to guard LeBron.

Re: Celtics (0-1) at Heat (1-0) 12/27
« Reply #5 on: December 26, 2011, 06:30:19 PM »

Offline ACF

  • Danny Ainge
  • **********
  • Posts: 10756
  • Tommy Points: 1157
  • A Celtic Fan
TP. Go Celtics!

Re: Celtics (0-1) at Heat (1-0) 12/27
« Reply #6 on: December 26, 2011, 06:45:16 PM »

Offline Jon

  • Paul Silas
  • ******
  • Posts: 6499
  • Tommy Points: 385
If Pierce doesn't play, they need to tell Sasha and Marquis to stay a step and a half off LeBron and dare him to shoot. LeBron can get hot, but he's not a great shooter. If they turn him into a jump shooter, they might get lucky and see him go 5 for 18 and pull out the W.

Re: Celtics (0-1) at Heat (1-0) 12/27
« Reply #7 on: December 26, 2011, 06:50:14 PM »

Offline Eddie20

  • Don Nelson
  • ********
  • Posts: 8497
  • Tommy Points: 975
Nightmare of a matchup between Sasha Pavlovic and LeBron James.

Going to be extremely difficult to win this game without Paul Pierce (especially w/o his defense).

Yeah, if you think Melo really took it to us with Sasha and Marquis covering him . . . oh boy.

Melo is a better scorer than James. You really have to play him tight because he can kill you with his jumper.

Re: Celtics (0-1) at Heat (1-0) 12/27
« Reply #8 on: December 26, 2011, 07:40:27 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

  • Kendrick Perkins #1 Fan
  • Author
  • Rajon Rondo
  • *****
  • Posts: 5280
  • Tommy Points: 11831
  • Marcus Smart Fan!

Melo is a better scorer than James. You really have to play him tight because he can kill you with his jumper.
along with those elbows that he throws around so freely!!

Re: Celtics (0-1) at Heat (1-0) 12/27
« Reply #9 on: December 26, 2011, 10:33:18 PM »

Offline letsgoblue86

  • Ray Allen
  • ***
  • Posts: 3620
  • Tommy Points: 279
Joey Crawford's calling the game, right?

Re: Celtics (0-1) at Heat (1-0) 12/27
« Reply #10 on: December 27, 2011, 04:08:35 AM »

Offline bfrombleacher

  • Ray Allen
  • ***
  • Posts: 3343
  • Tommy Points: 367
Nightmare of a matchup between Sasha Pavlovic and LeBron James.

Going to be extremely difficult to win this game without Paul Pierce (especially w/o his defense).

Yeah, if you think Melo really took it to us with Sasha and Marquis covering him . . . oh boy.

Melo is a better scorer than James. You really have to play him tight because he can kill you with his jumper.

But LeBron James is a better defender. We need Sasha's production on the offensive end like he did against the Knicks...oh wait.

Re: Celtics (0-1) at Heat (1-0) 12/27
« Reply #11 on: December 27, 2011, 04:10:54 AM »

Offline jimmehx

  • Bill Walton
  • *
  • Posts: 1257
  • Tommy Points: 166
Can Quisy play 48 minutes on LBJ? Might hold him to ~45 that way.

All the same, go Cs! Should be a fun game.


"Uhhh... Wife makes chicken..." - Brian Scalabrine 2007.

Re: Celtics (0-1) at Heat (1-0) 12/27
« Reply #12 on: December 27, 2011, 06:58:06 AM »

Offline GreenFaith1819

  • NCE
  • Reggie Lewis
  • ***************
  • Posts: 15402
  • Tommy Points: 2785
TP FLCeltsfan.

Looking for better effort from the C's to start this game. I understand that in NY they started out a but sluggish.

They can win this one.

And Wade - no more wrasslin' moves. Stay away from Rondo, please.

Re: Celtics (0-1) at Heat (1-0) 12/27
« Reply #13 on: December 27, 2011, 07:09:32 AM »

Offline OhioGreen

  • Jaylen Brown
  • Posts: 686
  • Tommy Points: 55
Heat home opener---showtime! Brutal!
On the bright side, at least we'll get to see the rookies play in a blowout!

Re: Celtics (0-1) at Heat (1-0) 12/27
« Reply #14 on: December 27, 2011, 07:10:58 AM »

Offline Drucci

  • Global Moderator
  • Tiny Archibald
  • *******
  • Posts: 7223
  • Tommy Points: 439
Won't be able to watch the game live but I will watch it tomorrow morning. Not very optimistic about this one since we probably won't have Pierce (or he will be limited) but who knows?

I just hope Doc plays Marquis more than Pavlovic and gives the rookies a chance!

TP FL and go Celtics.