AT
New York Knicks (19-35) at Boston Celtics (35-19)
Tuesday, February 23
7:30 PM ET
TV: CSN-NE, MSG, NBA LP 752, 753
Radio: WEEI, WEPN
TD Garden
Referees: Monty McCutchen, Kevin Fehr, Courtney KirklandProbable Starting Matchups 
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Rajon Rondo vs Chris Duhon
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Ray Allen vs Tracy McGrady
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Tony Allen vs Wilson Chandler
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Kevin Garnett vs Danilo Gallinari
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Kendrick Perkins vs David Lee
Reserves Rasheed Wallace
Marquis Daniels
Nate Robinson
Shelden Williams
Marcus Landry
Brian Scalabrine
Glen Davis
Injuries Paul Pierce (thumb) questionable
Reserves Bill Walker
Eddie House
Al Harrington
Jonathan Bender
Sergio Rodriguez
Toney Douglas
Injuries Eddy Curry (knee) out
JR Giddens (knee) out
Tracy McGrady (knee) questionable
Key Matchups 
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Rajon Rondo vs Chris Duhon
Rajon Rondo is the engine that makes this team run. When Rondo is aggressive and drives to the basket and sets the pace of the game, the Celtics play so much better than when he is tentative. He needs to set the tone for the starters right from the beginning. He should have a very good game against Duhon
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Ray Allen vs Tracy McGrady
Ray Allen has been playing his best basketball of the season and TMac had a great first game with the Knicks. Hopefully Ray will stay hot and since McGrady hasn't been playing until recently, Ray should have more stamina and be able to outlast TMac.
Honorable Mention Nate Robinson vs Eddie House
This will be a fun matchup to watch between two players who were traded for each other. Eddie shot the lights out in his first game with the Knicks and will be looking to light up the Celtics as well. Nate hasn't had a practice with the Celtics and so Doc said they would mostly run pick and rolls when he is in.
Team Connections Doc Rivers played for the Knicks from 1992-95..
Tom Thibodeau was an assistant coach with New York from 1996-2002
Eddie House played for the Celtics from 2007-10 and was a part of the 2008 championship team
J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker also played for the Celtics
from 2008-10
Nate Robinson was a member of the Knicks from 2005-10
Al Harrington and Marquis Daniels were teammates in Indiana during the 2006-07 season.
Game Notes The Celtics are currently leading the season series, 1-0; Celtics won the season series 3-1 against New York in 2008-09
Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 24.0 points per game last season
Al Harrington led the Knicks with 22.3 points per game last season against the Celtics
The C’s are 17-4 against the Knicks since the 2004-05 season
The Celtics are leading the all-time series 267-169 with the Celtics 144-59 at home
This game should have more emotion than any Celtics/Knicks game in recent memory. This will be Nate Robinson's debut with the Celtics and Eddie's first game back to the Garden as a Knick. I am sure Eddie will receive a warm welcome but he will do his best to bury his old team in a shower of 3's. We have no idea what to expect from Nate but it is certain that he also will do his best to help his new team beat his old team.
With the addition of Eddie and Tracy McGrady, the Knicks won't be quite as easy to beat as they have been in the past. In their first meeting this season in New York, the Celtics won by 2 points in overtime. The Knicks have been slumping, having gone 1-9 in their last 10 games. The Celtics have been picking up the pace and even though they are 6-4 in their last 10 games, they have won 3 of their last 4 games. The Knicks are 7-17 on the road while the Celtics are 15-9 at home. The Knicks last won in Boston in November 2006.
The Knicks are playing in back to back games, having played the Bucks the night before. But, in spite of that, I am sure they will be up for this game. Tracy McGrady is trying to prove to one and all that he can still play. However, in last night's game against the Bucks he came up limping once again and at this point, his status against the Celtics isn't known. We know that Eddie House will be motivated to put on a show. And, an underrated addition to the team is Sergio Rodriguez, who is a handful off the bench.
Just when the Celtics thought they were finally healthy, the Captain came up with a thumb injury. He is questionable for this game and it would be a good thing for Doc to sit him in this game because he hasn't been very effective in the past 2 games since hurting his thumb. I would guess that Doc will start Tony if Pierce does sit out, but it also could be Marquis Daniels.
Keys to the GameDefense The Celtics had gotten back to their tough team defense in the first 3 games of the road trip, but against the Nuggets, they slacked off again. They need to bring that defensive focus game in and game out.
Rebound The Celtics have been allowing other teams to out rebound them. They need to make a concerted effort to grab rebounds on both the offensive and defensive ends. David Lee is very good at tip ins and put backs and the Knicks will be looking to run on defensive rebounds so the Celtics must crash the boards to limit both of those options for the Knicks.
Rondo's Aggression As goes Rondo, so goes the team. Rondo must be aggressive and set the pace of the game and take the ball inside. He can't be tentative because that makes the whole team tentative.
Focus The Celtics tend to lose focus from time to time, especially at home for some bizarre reason. They have to make a statement over the last part of the season and so they have to come out focused in each and every game and they have to re-establish home dominance.
X-FactorFirst Home Game After Road Trip
The first home game after a road trip tends to be a let down game. Hopefully the Celtics will be focused on getting back to dominance and not let this happen.
Topic: Knicks (19-35) at Celtics (35-19) 2/23 (Read 53857 times)