Celtics (55-24) at Heat (55-24) 4/10

[Who]

It'll be interesting to see if Miami has made any real progress since the last time these two sides met.

Judging from their other games ... it doesn't look like they have.

[aporel#18]

Rondo averages 11.2 assists per game, not rebounds per game.

Fixed it.  After 80 game threads and the fact that I seem to be putting more effort into my game threads than the Celtics are putting into playing the games, I figure that a mistake here or there is understandable.     

  , true, if they care as much as you the HCA wouldn't be a concern at this point. Here's another TP, FL

[FLCeltsFan]

Official Report
Dan Crawford
Dan Crawford has been a referee in the NBA since the 1984-85 season. Prior to the NBA, Crawford officiated in high school for 12 years, 8 years at the collegiate level (MVC and CCAC) and 4 years in the CBA. He has officiated 1,600+ regular season games, 190+ play-off games and 18 NBA Finals games. After one of the games in Chicago in round 1 in 2008, there was some controversy when he was seen leaving the arena with his family all decked out in Chicago Bulls gear. The Celtics are 5-0 this season and are 7-3 over their last 10 game with Crawford officiating. The Heat are 1-2 this season and 4-6 in their last 10 games with Crawford. Crawford is a homer ref with a home team W/L record of 49-18.

Tony Brothers
Tony Brothers started his NBA career 14 years ago. He has officiated 21 playoff games. Before landing in the NBA he acquired officiating experience in the CBA, college basketball and high school basketball in Virginia. There are several articles about what a terrible ref Brothers is and detailing his misdeeds. He has angered a lot of fans of just about every team because of bad calls, no calls, and one sided officiating. The Celtics are 4-1 this season and 6-4 in their last 10 games with Brothers on the court. The Heat are 3-2 this season and 6-4 with Brothers in their last 10. His home W/L record this season is 37-26.

Michael Smith
Michael Smith has officiated over 740+ regular season games and 10 playoff games. He worked 5 years in the CBA, 8 years at the college level and 10 years at the high school level before making it to the NBA. The Celtics are 2-3 with Smith this season. His last 3 games with the Celtics were all poorly officiated. In the Magic at Celtics on January 17, the Celtics won but the Magic took 13 more free throws than the Celtics and the officiating was terrible for both teams. In the last game he officiated, Golden State had a 26-6 free throw advantage with just over 8 minutes left and the Celtics ended with a 28-11 free throw deficit even after several intentional fouls to stop the clock. The officiating was terrible the whole game. Both teams are 5-5 in their last 10 games with Smith on the court. Smith is another homer ref with a home W/L is 42-19.

[Surferdad]

It's kind of crazy to think that a few weeks back this game would have been meaningless but that right now it will be huge to determine if Boston or Miami will get the #2 seed! Still a meaningless game in the sense that we've already won the series and that a win won't change much to Miami's hopes of beating us in the playoffs but I hope that the C's show up and (almost) secure the 2nd seed.

TP FL and go Celtics!

Not meaningless in any sense at all, you had it right the first time.

I was really hoping Shaq could play.  Think of the irony of BOTH Shaq and Jermaine returning to Miami and beating them up when a big man is exactly what they've been missing all season.

[Q_FBE]

Official Report
Dan Crawford
Dan Crawford has been a referee in the NBA since the 1984-85 season. Prior to the NBA, Crawford officiated in high school for 12 years, 8 years at the collegiate level (MVC and CCAC) and 4 years in the CBA. He has officiated 1,600+ regular season games, 190+ play-off games and 18 NBA Finals games. After one of the games in Chicago in round 1 in 2008, there was some controversy when he was seen leaving the arena with his family all decked out in Chicago Bulls gear. The Celtics are 5-0 this season and are 7-3 over their last 10 game with Crawford officiating. The Heat are 1-2 this season and 4-6 in their last 10 games with Crawford. Crawford is a homer ref with a home team W/L record of 49-18.

Tony Brothers
Tony Brothers started his NBA career 14 years ago. He has officiated 21 playoff games. Before landing in the NBA he acquired officiating experience in the CBA, college basketball and high school basketball in Virginia. There are several articles about what a terrible ref Brothers is and detailing his misdeeds. He has angered a lot of fans of just about every team because of bad calls, no calls, and one sided officiating. The Celtics are 4-1 this season and 6-4 in their last 10 games with Brothers on the court. The Heat are 3-2 this season and 6-4 with Brothers in their last 10. His home W/L record this season is 37-26.

Michael Smith
Michael Smith has officiated over 740+ regular season games and 10 playoff games. He worked 5 years in the CBA, 8 years at the college level and 10 years at the high school level before making it to the NBA. The Celtics are 2-3 with Smith this season. His last 3 games with the Celtics were all poorly officiated. In the Magic at Celtics on January 17, the Celtics won but the Magic took 13 more free throws than the Celtics and the officiating was terrible for both teams. In the last game he officiated, Golden State had a 26-6 free throw advantage with just over 8 minutes left and the Celtics ended with a 28-11 free throw deficit even after several intentional fouls to stop the clock. The officiating was terrible the whole game. Both teams are 5-5 in their last 10 games with Smith on the court. Smith is another homer ref with a home W/L is 42-19.

The fact that two of the three officials in this game have refereed 2000 NBA games but only 31 playoff games really bothers me a lot. And the fact that they are considered homer refs. Dan Crawford, the veteran official with the apparent  Bulls bias, may help us today if we play well because he might want to get the Celtics a two seed and improve the chances of a Celtics Bulls ECF.

Miami needs to come out and win this game just to get the feel of beating Boston. The Celtics have not played well the last month and I am concerned heading into the post season. Does adding Shaq make that much of a difference? Can Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic limit the need to use Baby? Can Ray Allen find his shooting touch? Can Rondo play a little better?

Remember, winning today does not guarentee a 2 seed or a 2nd round victory over the Heat. There is a lot that can go wrong for both teams playing today.

I think the bench contributions will decide todays game as the major players cancel each other out. Does Eddie House or Daman Jones bone us with a key three pointer?

[libermaniac]

It's not out of the question that even if the C's lose today, they can still get the #2 seed.  The C's finish at Wash and home vs. the Knicks (2 winnable games).  The Heat finish at ATL and at Tor.  Two losable games.  C's own the tiebreaker.  Just sayin.

[prov1ml34]

Unrelated note, the Magic are beating the hell out of Rose. Something we should have done.

[Fafnir]

It'll be interesting to see if Miami has made any real progress since the last time these two sides met.

Judging from their other games ... it doesn't look like they have.

Our level of play had fallen off though. I am nervous.

[RJ87]

Unrelated note, the Magic are beating the hell out of Rose. Something we should have done.

39 pts on 13 or 17 shooting (10 of 10 from the FT line) doesn't sound like a beatdown to me.

[lovely_20]

I just caught the end of the Orl/Chi game...I wish Nelson had launched that 3 just a second earlier...

[prov1ml34]

Unrelated note, the Magic are beating the hell out of Rose. Something we should have done.

39 pts on 13 or 17 shooting (10 of 10 from the FT line) doesn't sound like a beatdown to me.

He laid on the floor half injured three or four times grimacing in pain. They were extremely physical with him. A stat line doesn't show the physicality of a game

[RJ87]

Unrelated note, the Magic are beating the hell out of Rose. Something we should have done.

39 pts on 13 or 17 shooting (10 of 10 from the FT line) doesn't sound like a beatdown to me.

He laid on the floor half injured three or four times grimacing in pain. They were extremely physical with him. A stat line doesn't show the physicality of a game

Physicality? He still went off and his team still won. So they didn't really beat him down too much, now did they?

[Redz]

Love all those empty seats

[Redz]

Good job getting the contact KG

[aporel#18]

were are the Miami fans? half-full or half-empty arena?

Let's go Celtics!!!