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New Jersey Nets (5-52) at Boston Celtics (36-20)
Saturday, February 27
1:00 PM ET
Game #57 Home Game #27
TV: CSN-NE, YES HD, NBA-LP 751, 752
Radio: WEEI, WFAN
TD Garden
ProbableStarting Matchups Point Guard 
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Devin Harris
Shooting Guard 
vs
Ray Allen vs Courtney Lee
Small Forward 
vs
Marquis Daniels vs Trenton Hassell
Power Forward 
vs
Kevin Garnett vs Yi Jianlian
Center 
vs
Kendrick Perkins vs Brook Lopez
ReservesShelden Williams
Glen Davis
Nate Robinson
Rasheed Wallace
Brian Scalabrine
Marcus Landry
Injuries:Paul Pierce (thumb) day to day
Marquis Daniels (flu) probable
ReservesJosh Boone
Bobby Simmons
Keyon Dooling
Tony Battie
Chris Douglas Roberts
Kris Humphries
Terrence Williams
InjuriesChris Quinn (ankle) out
Jarvis Hayes (calf) out
Key Matchups
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Devin Harris
Last season, Harris beat out Rondo for a spot on the All Star team and this year Rondo beat out Harris for the All Star spot. This should be a good matchup of 2 very quick point guards. Rondo needs to be aggressive in going to the hoop and finding the open man.
vs
Kendrick Perkins vs Brook Lopez
Lopez has been one of the bright spots for the Nets in an otherwise dismal season. Lopez leads the team in points, rebounds, and blocks. If Perk can slow down Lopez, this should be a fairly easy win.
Honorable MentionKevin Garnett vs Yi Jianlian
KG should be able to handle Yi easily if healthy, but there are questions as to whether KG is completely healthy.
Team ConnectionsBrian Scalabrine played for the Nets from 2001-05
Josh Boone and Ray Allen are former UConn Huskies
Eddie House played for the Nets during the 2006-07 season
Assistant Coaches Doug Overton (1999-2001) and Roy Rogers (1997-98) both played for the Celtics
Eddie House and Keyon Dooling were teammates with the Clippers during the 2003-04 season
Tony Battie played for the Celtics from1998-2004 and drove Paul Pierce to the hospital after he was stabbed in 2000
Trenton Hassell and Kevin Garnett were teammates in Minnesota from 2003-07
Marquis Daniels and Devin Harris were teammates in Dallas from 2004-06
Jarvis Hayes and Rasheed Wallace were teammates in Detroit during the 2007-08 season
Marcus Landry and Devin Harris are former Wisconsin Badgers.
Game Notes The C’s are 3-0 against New Jersey this season…Celtics swept the season series 4-0 against New Jersey in 2008-09
Paul Pierce is leading the C’s with an average of 20.0 points per game in his two appearances against the Nets this season
Brook Lopez is leading the Nets with an average of 20.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game against Boston this season
The Celtics are currently on a 12 game winning streak against the Nets which is the longest winning streak on either side of the franchise since the
Nets became a franchise in 1976.
The Celtics are leading the all-time series 106-54 with the Celtics 56-24 at home
This is the 4th and final meeting between these two teams this season. The Celtics won all 3 of the previous games. The Nets have won just 5 games all season but have been in many of those games right to the end and any teams sleeping on them could be handed a loss.
The Nets are 2-27 on the road and have won just 1 of their last 10 games. The Celtics are 16-10 at home and are 6-4 in their last 10. The Celtics seemed to have turned the corner on that last road trip, winning 3 of 4, but lapsed back into some bad habits in Thursday's game against the Cavs. It would truly be a signal for worry if the Celtics were to lose to the Nets.
Keys to the Game Rebound Rebounding shows the amount of effort and desire a team has. The Celtics must bring both effort and desire and crash the boards on both ends.
Defense No explanation needed. Defense is the key to winning. Period. The Celtics have played defense in spurts, most notably in the first half, and then forget all about how to play defense as a team in the second half. They must get back to a game long defensive effort.
Play 48 Minutes The Celtics seem to either be hot at the beginning and then let up at the end of games or they come out sluggish and have to play catch up the entire game. They have blown more 10 + point leads than any team in the league. They must come out focused and stay focused for the full 48 minutes. They have to figure out their 3rd and 4th quarter problems if they expect to go deep into the playoffs.
X-Factor Trap GameAs bad as the Nets have been, it would be easy to look past them. But that would be a mistake because the Nets have played teams hard but just can't seem to finish. If the Celtics let up, they might just be surprised by a team who decides to try a bit harder to beat a division rival.
Topic: Nets (5-52) at Celtics (36-20) 2/27 (Read 57760 times)