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Boston Celtics (24-35) at New Orleans Pelicans (33-28)
Friday, March 6, 2015
8:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #60 – Road Game #29
TV: CSN-NE, FSNOLA, NBA-LP 763(DTV)/757(Xfinity)
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, WWL 105.3
Smoothie King CenterProbable Starters Point Guard Marcus Smart
Shooting Guard James Young
Small Forward Evan Turner
Power Forward Brandon Bass
CenterTyler Zeller
Celtics ReservesGerald Wallace
Jae Crowder
James Young
Phil Pressey
Shavlik Randolph
Isaiah Thomas
Jonas Jerebko
Gigi Datome
Kelly Olynyk
InjuriesAvery Bradley (elbow) out
Jared Sullinger (foot) out
Head CoachBrad Stevens
Probable Starters
Point Guard Tyreke Evans
Shooting Guard Eric Gordon
Small Forward Quincy Pondexter
Power Forward Anthony Davis
Center Omer Asik
Pelicans ReservesAlexis Ajinca
Norris Cole
Dante Cunningham
Luke Babbitt
Jimmer Fredette
Elliot Williams
Jeff Withey
InjuriesRyan Anderson (knee) out
Jrue Holiday (leg) out
Head Coach Monty Williams
Game Notes The Celtics begin a 3 game road trip with a stop in New Orleans to face the Pelicans. This is the second and final meeting between these two teams. Boston won the first game at home 108-100. Jared Sullinger led the Celtics with 27 points and 10 rebounds and Jae Crowder set a new career high with 22 points. Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 34 points 9 rebounds and 3 blocks and Eric Gordon scored a season high 21 points. Jrue Holiday was injured in that game and has been out ever since.
The Celtics are 5-5 in their last 10 games and 9-19 on the road while the Pelicans are 6-4 in their last 10 games and 21-10 at home. Anthony Davis just returned from a shoulder injury to lead the Pelicans to a win in their last game with 39 points, 13 rebounds, 8 blocks and 3 steals. Davis has averaged 23.2 points on 59.4% shooting in 5 career games against the Celtics.
The Pelicans are looking for their 7th win in their last 8 games. They are fighting for the final spot in the playoffs in the West. They are 1 game behind Oklahoma City for the 8th seed. OKC has been playing very well in spite of battling injuries to their two stars. The Celtics are still in the fight for the final spot in the East and need every game if they are to make up ground on the teams ahead of them.
Avery Bradley injured his elbow in Wednesday's win over the Jazz and didn't make the trip with the team. At this time, I'm not sure who will start in his place but I took a wild guess at James Young. That may change when the lineups are announced tomorrow because I didn't base it on anything other than a guess.
Key Matchups vs
Marcus Smart vs Tyreke Evans
Evans is averaging 16.8 points, 6.5 assists and 5.3 rebounds for the Pelicans this year. He will be a tough matchup for Smart who is celebrating his birthday on Friday. Smart is averaging 7.4 points, 3.5 assists, and 3.1 rebounds. He has only shot 7-30 over his last 3 games. It would be a good time for him to break out of his shooting slump.
vs
Brandon Bass vs Anthony Davis
Davis is averaging 24.2 points, 10.3 rebounds, a league leading 2.8 blocks, and 1.5 steals and is one of the toughest covers in the league. Last season when the Celtics played in New Orleans, Davis lit them up for 40 points along with 21 rebounds. In the first game in Boston, Davis had 34 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. It will take a team effort to slow him down in this one.
Keys to the GameFocus - The Celtics seem to lose focus at times and then have a flurry of turnovers and ill advised shots. They have to keep their focus and make smart passes avoid getting flustered. They also have to focus on their shots as they have averaged only 88.3 points on 36.5% shooting over their last 3 games. They have to keep their focus and hit their shots.
Defense - Defense will always be the key to winning. The Celtics have got to play tough defense and get stops if they want to win this game. The Pelicans average 99.5 points per game. They allow 99.1 points per game though. The Celtics are capable of playing tough defense, but it takes extra effort on their part.
Rebound - The Celtics have to crash the boards as a team. Rebounding takes effort and the Celtics have to show that effort on the boards.
Be Aggressive - The Celtics have got to be aggressive in going to the basket, playing defense, diving for loose balls and just playing harder. They won't win many games on talent alone so they need to outwork their opponents to get the win.
Pace and Space - The Celtics need to set the pace and run on every possession in order to get easy baskets before the defense sets up. They also need to space the floor and make the extra pass to find the open man.
X-Factors
Focus and MotivationThe Celtics are on the road once again and young teams tend to lose focus on the road. The Celtics need to keep their focus and block out the distractions. Both teams are fighting to make the playoffs and that motivation should give them more effort and focus.