at
Los Angeles Clippers (19-23) at Boston Celtics (28-13)
Monday, January 25
7:30 PM ET
Game #42, Home Game #20
TV: CSN-NE, FSNP, NBA LP 762, 763
Radio: WEEI, KFWB
TD Garden Probable Starting MatchupsPoint Guard vs
Rajon Rondo vs Baron Davis
Shooting Guard vs
Ray Allen vs Ricky Davis
Small Forward vs
Paul Pierce vs Al Thornton
Power Forward vs
Kevin Garnett vs Marcus Camby
Center vs
Kendrick Perkins vs Chris Kaman
ReservesRasheed Wallace
Big Baby Davis
Eddie House
Bill Walker
Shelden Williams
Tony Allen
InjuriesMarquis Daniels (thumb) out
Brian Scalabrine (shoulder) out
D LeagueJR Giddens
ReservesSebastian Telfair
Brian Skinner
Craig Smith
Mardy Collins
Steve Novak
DeAndre Jordan
Rasual Butler
InjuriesEric Gordon (toe) questionable
Blake Griffin (knee) out
Kareem Rush (ACL) out
Sebastian Telfair (groin) out
Team Connections Baron Davis and Paul Pierce co-host a charity event called LA Stars during the summer along with Gilbert Arenas
Eddie House played for the Clippers during the 2003-04 season
Doc Rivers played for the Clippers during the 1991-92 season
Marcus Camby played for Tom Thibodeau in New York when he was
an assistant coach from 1998-2002
Ricky Davis played for the Celtics from 2003-06
Armond Hill played for the Clippers when they were in San Diego during the 1981-82 season
Craig Smith and Kevin Garnett were teammates in Minnesota during the 2006-07 season
Sebastian Telfair played for the Celtics during the 2006-07
season
Alex Acker and Rasheed Wallace were teammates in Detroit in the 2005-06 and 2008-09 seasons
Sebastian Telfair, Craig Smith and Shelden Williams were teammates in Minnesota during the 2008-09 season.
Key Matchups vs
Rajon Rondo vs Baron Davis
Rondo has to still be stinging from Baron's last second game winner in their last matchup. Baron had the slight edge with 24 points, 13 assists, and 3 steals to 20 points, 6 assists and 2 steals for Rondo. Rondo should be looking to even the score in this game.
vs
Kendrick Perkins vs Chris Kaman
Chris Kaman netted a game-high 27 points and 12 boards in the last meeting between these two teams. Perk has to do a better job in this game of slowing Kaman down.
HonorableMention Kevin Garnett vs Marcus Camby
This is a matchup between 2 defensive players and it should be a battle. Camby is the Clippers' leading rebounder and shot blocker and both KG and Camby are key to their teams' focus and success. This will be a tough matchup for both players.
Game Notes • The Clippers are currently leading the season series 1-0; Celtics and Clippers split the season series 1-1 in 2008-09
• Ray Allen led the Celtics with 18.5 points per game last season
• Baron Davis averaged 14.5 points per game against the Celtics last year
• The C’s are 6-5 against the Clippers since the 2004-05 season
• The Celtics are leading the all-time series 81-31 with the Celtics 41-11 at home
Keys to the GameDefense - Defense wins games and the Celtics need to continue to make it a priority. When they play team defense, good things happen. They lost their trust on defense while KG was out. Hopefully with him back, they will regain that trust and get back to playing the lock down defense that will win them the championship.
Rebound - The Celtics need to make an effort to crash the boards and get more rebounds, especially on the offensive end. In the past few games they have allowed themselves to be out-rebounded and that makes games alot closer than they should be. Rebounding is all about effort and they have to get back to putting out that effort.
Focus - The Celtics' focus has wavered recently and because of that they have lost several games they should have won. They need to regain their focus and get back to playing as a team.
Play 48 minutes - The Celtics need to come out strong to start the game. They also must play hard through all 4 quarters. They did better against the Blazers but still didn't put them away when they had a lead. They have to get back to putting teams away once they get them down.
X-Factor RevengeThe Celtics suffered a heartbreaker out in LA when Baron Davis hit a last second shot to win the game. They have to have that game on their mind when they take the court in this one in order to even the score.