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Memphis Grizzlies (20-23) at Boston Celtics (28-14)
Wednesday, January 22,2020
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #43, Home Game #23
TV: NBCSB, FSSE, NBA-LP
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, ESPN 92.9
TD Garden
Probable Starting Matchups Point Guard 
vs
Kemba Walker vs Ja Morant
Shooting Guard 
vs
Marcus Smart vs Dillon Brooks
Small Forward 
vs
Gordon Hayward vs Jae Crowder
Power Forward 
vs
Jayson Tatum vs Jaren Jackson, Jr
Center 
vs
Daniel Theis vs Jonas Valanciunas
Celtics ReservesJavonte Green
Semi Ojeleye
Vincent Poirier
Brad Wanamaker
Grant Williams
Enes Kanter
Carsen Edwards
Injuries/NWTRomeo Langford (g-league assignment) out
Robert Williams (hip) out
Jaylen Brown (thumb) out
Kemba Walker (knee) available
Two Way PlayersTremont Waters
Tacko Fall
Head CoachBrad Stevens
Grizzlies Reserves Grayson Allen
Kyle Anderson
Brandon Clarke
Marco Guduric
Solomon Hill
Tyus Jones
DeAnthony Melton
Injuries/NWT Bruno Caboclo (knee) out
Andre Iguodala (NWT) out
Josh Jackson (G-league assignment) out
Two Way Players John Konchar
Yuta Watanabe
Head Coach Taylor Jenkins
Game Notes The Celtics complete their 3 game home stand with a visit from the Memphis Grizzlies. This is the first meeting between these two teams this season. They will meet one more time in Memphis on March 25.. The Celtics won the series 2-0 last season and have won the last 7 games overall in the series.
The Celtics have dropped to 4th in the East, 1.5 games behind the 2nd place Heat and half a game behind the 3rd place Raptors. The Celtics are 17-5 at home and 4-6 in their last 10 games. The Grizzlies are 8-10 on the road and 8-2 in their last 10 games. The Celtics are looking for their 2nd straight win while the Grizzlies are hoping to avoid losing their second straight game. The Celtics are 9-5 against the West while the Grizzlies are 6-8 against the East.
The Grizzlies are about to play their first game on the road in over 2 weeks. They are coming off a 6 game home stand, going 5-1 over those 6 games. The Celtics snapped their 3 game losing streak with a big win over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Grizzlies had their 7 game winning streak broken with a loss to the Pelicans on MLK day.
The Celtics have watched the Grizzlies progress very closely this season. The Grizzlies owe the Celtics a draft pick. It was top 8 protected last season and did not convey since the Grizzlies had the 8th worst record last season, which became the 2nd pick due to a friendly bounce of the Lottery balls. It is top 6 protected this season and will be unprotected next season. With the Grizzlies sitting in playoff position as of now, it looks as though the Celtics will get a mid first round pick from them in this draft.
The Celtics were almost healthy for one game as they had everyone but Robert Williams available to face the Lakers on Monday. Jaylen Brown had missed 2 games with a thumb sprain and returned to play on Monday. He came up limping in the third quarter and is back on the injury list as out with a sprained ankle. I expect Marcus Smart to take his place in the starting lineup.
Kemba Walker is also listed on the injury list once again with knee soreness. He is listed as available in the latest injury report. Robert Williams still remains out with the hip injury. Carsen Edwards appears to be back with the Celtics while Romeo Langford is on assignment with the Red Claws. Bruno Caboclo is out with a knee injury for the Grizzlies. Andre Iguodala is not with the team as they seek to trade him before the deadline. Josh Jackson is on assignment with the G-League.
Key Matchups vs
Kemba Walker vs Ja Morant
Ja Morant is one of the leaders for rookie of the year. He is fun to watch and has led the Grizzlies to a surprisingly strong start this season. He is averaging 17.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists. He is shooting 49% from the field and 41% from beyond the arc. Kemba is expected to play in this game and he will need to be able to keep up with and stay in front of a very quick Morant. If needed, we may also see Marcus Smart covering him.
vs
Jayson Tatum vs Jaren Jackson, Jr
Jackson is averaging 17.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.4 blocks per game. He is shooting 48% from the field and 41% from beyond the arc. Tatum will need to stay with him both in the paint and on the perimeter as he is a threat from both. Hopefully Tatum will continue to be able to shoot well as the Celtics will need his offense as well as his defense.
Honorable Mention Daniel Theis vs Jonas Valanciunas
Theis will be tasked with keeping Valanciunas off the boards and off of the 3 point line. Valanciunas is averaging 15.0 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.0 blocks per game. He is shooting 59.7% from the field and 41.7% from beyond the arc. He should get some help from Kanter to contain him as well.
Keys to the GameDefense - Defense is always key to getting a win. The Celtics had been letting their defense slip but they seemed to right the ship in their game against the Lakers. The Grizzlies are averaging 113.6 points per game and the Celtics are averaging 112.2 points per game. The Celtics are 5th with a defensive rating of 105.5 while the Grizzlies are 22nd with a defensive rating of 111.7. The Celtics have to especially keep the Pelicans out of the paint where they lead the league with 55.6 point in the paint. The Celtics must continue to make defense a priority if they want to get a win.
Rebound - Rebounding takes effort and desire and the Celtics will need both to win the rebounding battle against the Grizzlies. The fact that the Celtics out-rebounded the much bigger Lakers by 12 proves that much of rebounding is effort. The Celtics have to put more effort into crashing the boards than the Grizzlies do, because when they are aggressive on the boards, it usually translates to the other parts of the game.
Be Aggressive - The Celtics need to play hard and be the more aggressive team. They have to go after rebounds, loose balls, and 50/50 balls. They have to be aggressive on defense and in getting to the basket. They have to be the team that works harder and wants it more. The Celtics must match the Grizzlies' aggressiveness from the opening tip to the final buzzer.
Effort and Intensity - After several games with less than 100% effort, the Celtics finally played with great effort and intensity against the Lakers. Effort and intensity was definitely missing from the Celtics previous 3 losses. They have to give consistent effort every minute of every game. They need to make grit and heart part of their identity for every game.
Move the Ball - The Celtics have to keep the ball moving. Over dribbling and playing hero ball won't win them many games. The Grizzlies lead the league with 29.7 assists per game in the month of January, which is one reason for their 7 game win streak in the month. They Celtics have to move the ball and find the open man and get the best shot. When the ball sticks, it does not usually lead to success.
X-Factors
Home Court - The Celtics are playing in front of the home crowd once again. They need to use the energy of the crowd to give them a boost to establish home court dominance. The Grizzlies are not terrible on the road, going 8-10 so far. The Celtics need to come out strong at home from the start and use the crowd to give them motivation to keep playing hard. Hopefully the crowd will also rattle the road team.
Underestimation - The biggest mistake the Celtics can make is to underestimate an opponent. They have done that with several sub .500 teams recently and it came back to bite them. The Grizzlies are below .500 but they have been playing very well and it would be a big mistake for the Celtics to underestimate them. They are third in pace (103.59) and will run the Celtics off the court if they don't come out ready for them.
Officiating - Officiating is always an x-factor. Sometimes the game is all about the refs and other times you hardly notice them. Sometimes they call every little ticky tack foul and other times they let them play. No matter how the refs call the game, the Celtics must adjust to it and not allow bad calls or missed calls to mess with their focus.
Topic: Grizzlies (20-23) at Celtics (28-14) Game #43 1/22/20 (Read 30910 times)