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BostonCeltics (22-5) at Orlando Magic (22-7)
Friday, December 25 - Merry Christmas!!!
2:30 PM ET
Game #28 Road Game #14
TV: ABC
Radio: WEEI, WDBO
Amway Arena Probable Starting Matchups Point Guard vs
Rajon Rondo 12.1 PPG 9.7 APG 2.7 SPG
Jason Williams 7.3 PPG 4.6 APG 0.8 SPG
Shooting Guard vs
Ray Allen 16.0 PPG 2.9 APG .364 3P%
Vince Carter 18.6 PPG 3.1 APG .336 3P%
Small Forward vs
Tony Allen 6.7 PPG 3.0 RPG 1.0 APG
Mickael Pietrus 9.4 PPG 2.9 RPG .5 APG
Power Forward vs
Keven Garnett 15.3 PPG 7.6 RPG 0.9 BPG
Rashard Lewis 15.6 PPG 5.6 RPG .4 BPG
Center vs
Kendrick Perkins 12.3 PPG 8.0 RPG 2.0 BPG
Dwight Howard 18.0 PPG 12.9 RPG 2.4 BPG
ReservesRasheed Wallace
Eddie House
Shelden Williams
Lester Hudson
Bill Walker
JR Giddens
Brian Scalabrine
Injuries Marquis Daniels (thumb) out
Big Baby Davis (thumb) possible
Paul Pierce (knee) out
Kevin Garnett (thigh) will play
ReservesMarcin Gortat
Matt Barnes
Jameer Nelson
JJ Redick
Ryan Anderson
Brandon Bass
Anthony Johnson
Injuries Adonal Foyle (knee) out
Team Connections Doc Rivers coached the Magic from 1999-2004, winning the NBA’s Coach of the Year award in his first season (1999-2000)
Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen were teammates in Seattle from 2003-07
Anthony Johnson and Brian Scalabrine were teammates in New Jersey from 2001-03
Anthony Johnson played for Doc Rivers in Orlando during the 1999-2000 season
Vince Carter and Brian Scalabrine were teammates in New Jersey during the 2004-05 season
Vince Carter and Rasheed Wallace are former North Carolina Tar Heels
Anthony Johnson and Shelden Williams were teammates in Atlanta and
Sacramento from 2006-08
Key Matchups vs
Kendrick Perkins vs Dwight Howard
This is the key matchup between these two teams. Slowing down Dwight Howard and keeping him off of his favorite spots around the basket is key to slowing down the Magic. Perk is one of the few centers in the league who has been able to cover Howard one on one. The Celtics need Perk to contain Howard with single coverage as the Magic have so many outside threats, it is dangerous to double off of any of them.
vs
Kevin Garnett vs Rashard Lewis
Another key matchup between these two teams is at the power forward spot. KG and Lewis both have the ability to play on the perimeter as well as taking the ball inside. The health of KG is very important in this matchup. If he is less than 100%, the Magic have an advantage at this spot.
vs
Ray Allen vs Vince Carter
Vince Carter has moved ahead of Dwight Howard to become the Magic's leading scorer. But, he usually has to put up a lot of shots to get his points. Ray will need the help of the Celtics team defense to keep Carter from going off.
Honorable Mention vs
Rajon Rondo vs Jason Williams
Jameer Nelson is also back playing his way into shape after his recent injury. Depending on how Nelson has been progressing, we may see more of a Nelson/Rondo matchup then Williams/Rondo pairing. Either way, Rondo sets the tone for the Celtics and needs to be aggressive on both ends of the floor.
Game Notes • The Magic are currently leading the season series 1-0; the Celtics split the season series 2-2 with Orlando during the 2008-09 season
• Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 23.3 points per game last season
• Dwight Howard averaged 16.8 points, 15.5 rebounds and 4.00 blocks per game against the Celtics last season
• The Celtics are 8-11 against the Magic since the 2004-05 season
• The Celtics are leading the all-time series 42-38 with the Celtics 29-11 at home
The Celtics are looking to avenge their earlier loss this season as well as their loss in the playoffs last year. The feeling among Celtics nation last year was that if the Celtics had a healthy Kevin Garnett, the outcome of that series would have been different. They lost 83-78 at home to the Magic this season with Kevin Garnett, but many would argue that at that time, KG wasn't fully healthy after coming back from offseason knee surgery.
The Celtics were dealt a blow Wednesday morning when Pierce had a procedure on his knee to drain infection. He will miss this game and probably the whole western road trip coming up. Bill Walker has been recalled from the D League to replace Pierce. At this point, I'm not sure if they will start Walker or Tony Allen but have put Tony into the starting lineup as he has been playing very well and in the past has responded well when put into a starting role.
KG sat out the Celtics last game against the Pacers with a thigh bruise. Doc said that it was just a precaution and that KG would be ready to go for this game. Again, there are doubters that we are getting the full story. I guess the fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me rule is in effect. Hopefully after several days of rest, KG will be 100% in this game because the Celtics will need him.
The Magic have a good bench with Gortat, Nelson, Barnes, Reddick, Anderson, Bass and Johnson. The Celtics bench is somewhat weakened with two key players, Marquis Daniels and Big Baby Davis, out with injuries. The Celtics' reserves need to have strong games to make up for their absence and to keep the Celtics from falling behind when the starters get a rest.
The Celtics are 12-1 on the road and have played better on the road this season than they have at home. The Magic are a tough home team, though with an 11-2 record at Amway Arena. The Celtics are 9-1 in their last 10 games while the Magic are 7-3. The Celtics are on a 2 game win streak while the Magic have won 3 in a row.
Keys to the GameFocus - The Celtics' focus seems to waiver at times and when it happens at the start of games, they fall into a hole that they spend the rest of the game digging out of. When it happens in the middle of games, they give up leads and allow other teams to go on a run. But, when the Celtics put their mind to it and focus especially on the defensive end, they can shut down any team in the league and win going away. The Celtics need to come out focused and keep their focus for 48 minutes.
Defense - Defense is the key to winning. Period. The Celtics have shown that they have the capability of shutting down team and when they play tough defense, the offense runs more smoothly. But when they falter on defense, it seems as though their game suffers on both ends.
Rebound - Dwight Howard can take over a game on rebounds and putbacks alone if the Celtics don't box him out and crash the boards as a team. Rebounding takes effort and desire and the Celtics must show both if they want to win this game.
Ball Movement - The Celtics need to move the ball and find the open man. When they have their passing game going, they are hard to beat. If they resort to too much dribbling and too many iso's, it will allow the Magic defenses to set up and the Celtics will struggle to score.
The X factor in this game will be how well the Celtics respond to playing without Paul Pierce and if KG is back to 100%.