Celtics (19-4) at Knicks (16-9) 12/15

[Who]

It'll be interesting to see how well Jermaine O'Neal does against Amare. That would allow KG to defend Gallo and keep a defensive lineup more akin to what the Celtics are comfortable playing with.

I'd be a little concerned with that matchup, Amare vs JO, but only if Amare was playing very intelligent basketball. He has the quickness advantage on Jermaine but Jermaine's length and overall defensive quality should still allow him to do a serviceable job on Amare.

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Has Perk defended Amare for a lengthily period before? Since KG joined the Celtics?

I don't think he has. The Suns acquired Shaq in that 2007-08 season. Garnett has had him most of the time when matched up against the Suns. I remember Scalabrine doing a great job against Amare on one or two occasions too.

[celticinorlando]

i am guessing we will not see rondo tomorrow night vs atlanta. although I like Nate with the starters....

Knicks play no defense and Boston can get whatever they want inside. Throw in Perk, JO and Shaq and they can't play within 10 with boston

Yeah, Rondo's probably out tomorrow.

The Hawks should be favorites as the Celts will be without Shaq and Rondo....

no joe johnson for them is pretty big though

[Fafnir]

Donny Marshall: "and Rondo had a great game tonight"

Does he even watch the games?

Rondo played as well as he could have given his injury situation, but anyone could see he was hurting the team.

I only saw the fourth, but Rondo played well once he checked back in.

He wasn't himself but he was solid on D and moved the ball well to other scorers.

what I saw was Rondo's man penetrating at will after he checked back in, and Rondo making some bad passes and turnovers in key moments down the stretch.

He had one turnover, and also made several good entry passes and swung the ball.

His man scored twice in transition (Rondo wasn't supposed to be the guy back iirc it was Ray both times) He also hit a contested three off a pick.

[Mike-Dub]

We really need our bodies back.  

[Fafnir]

It'll be interesting to see how well Jermaine O'Neal does against Amare. That would allow KG to defend Gallo and keep a defensive lineup more akin to what the Celtics are comfortable playing with.

I'd be a little concerned with that matchup, Amare vs JO, but only if Amare was playing very intelligent basketball. He has the quickness advantage on Jermaine but Jermaine's length and overall defensive quality should still allow him to do a serviceable job on Amare.

-----------------------------------------------

Has Perk defended Amare for a lengthily period before? Since KG joined the Celtics?

I don't think he has. The Suns acquired Shaq in that 2007-08 season. Garnett has had him most of the time when matched up against the Suns. I remember Scalabrine doing a great job against Amare on one or two occasions too.

TP for reminding how much Scalabrine has owned Amar'e. Hilariously one time was after Amar'e declared he was going to have a "Gorilla Game".

[Jon]

It'll be interesting to see how well Jermaine O'Neal does against Amare. That would allow KG to defend Gallo and keep a defensive lineup more akin to what the Celtics are comfortable playing with.

I'd be a little concerned with that matchup, Amare vs JO, but only if Amare was playing very intelligent basketball. He has the quickness advantage on Jermaine but Jermaine's length and overall defensive quality should still allow him to do a serviceable job on Amare.

-----------------------------------------------

Has Perk defended Amare for a lengthily period before? Since KG joined the Celtics?

I don't think he has. The Suns acquired Shaq in that 2007-08 season. Garnett has had him most of the time when matched up against the Suns. I remember Scalabrine doing a great job against Amare on one or two occasions too.

Yeah.  I don't know if either would be ideal (Jermaine might be better because of his length); however, I think we'd all agree that simply having two more bodies (if not 3) would've allowed KG to play Amare even harder.  I think KG (and Baby too) had to tone it down because they both knew that they couldn't get in foul trouble and leave Pierce or Daniels on him.  

[Kwhit10]

Great job beating the Knicks when they probably couldn't play  much better than that; also with us missing key guys.

[celticinorlando]

We really need our bodies back.  

imagine baby, shaq, JO, nate, Daniels and West off the bench. can't wait to see this team whole

[Fafnir]

i am guessing we will not see rondo tomorrow night vs atlanta. although I like Nate with the starters....

Knicks play no defense and Boston can get whatever they want inside. Throw in Perk, JO and Shaq and they can't play within 10 with boston

Yeah, Rondo's probably out tomorrow.

The Hawks should be favorites as the Celts will be without Shaq and Rondo....

no joe johnson for them is pretty big though

Yeah it is, but Shaq is a big problem for the Hawks. Semih/Davis will allow them to play Horford at the 5 and have a big advantage at that position.

Plus its a back to back game, after a tough game where a fast pace was played.

I still think the Hawks will probably win, especially since Rondo is likely out once his ankle swells.

[Megatron]

Knicks played their best game in 10 years, literally, and couldnt beat a team missing half of their roster and whos star point guard was injured/played like trash for the entire game.

Fully healthy we would have won by 50.

[Neurotic Guy]

Tomorrow is just a gravy game after tonight.  Long minutes for bench players tomorrow -- it should be fun to see how it goes.  But, with the win tonight, the game tomorrow is one we shouldn't expect to win. 

[Who]

It'll be interesting to see how well Jermaine O'Neal does against Amare. That would allow KG to defend Gallo and keep a defensive lineup more akin to what the Celtics are comfortable playing with.

I'd be a little concerned with that matchup, Amare vs JO, but only if Amare was playing very intelligent basketball. He has the quickness advantage on Jermaine but Jermaine's length and overall defensive quality should still allow him to do a serviceable job on Amare.

-----------------------------------------------

Has Perk defended Amare for a lengthily period before? Since KG joined the Celtics?

I don't think he has. The Suns acquired Shaq in that 2007-08 season. Garnett has had him most of the time when matched up against the Suns. I remember Scalabrine doing a great job against Amare on one or two occasions too.

Yeah.  I don't know if either would be ideal (Jermaine might be better because of his length); however, I think we'd all agree that simply having two more bodies (if not 3) would've allowed KG to play Amare even harder.  I think KG (and Baby too) had to tone it down because they both knew that they couldn't get in foul trouble and leave Pierce or Daniels on him.  

Definitely

[Megatron]

i am guessing we will not see rondo tomorrow night vs atlanta. although I like Nate with the starters....

Knicks play no defense and Boston can get whatever they want inside. Throw in Perk, JO and Shaq and they can't play within 10 with boston

Yeah, Rondo's probably out tomorrow.

The Hawks should be favorites as the Celts will be without Shaq and Rondo....

no joe johnson for them is pretty big though

Yeah it is, but Shaq is a big problem for the Hawks. Semih/Davis will allow them to play Horford at the 5 and have a big advantage at that position.

Plus its a back to back game, after a tough game where a fast pace was played.

I still think the Hawks will probably win, especially since Rondo is likely out once his ankle swells.

Hawks without JJ are a lottery team. Celtics without Rondo are a playoff team.

Therin lies your answer. We will win tommorow.

[Fafnir]

i am guessing we will not see rondo tomorrow night vs atlanta. although I like Nate with the starters....

Knicks play no defense and Boston can get whatever they want inside. Throw in Perk, JO and Shaq and they can't play within 10 with boston

Yeah, Rondo's probably out tomorrow.

The Hawks should be favorites as the Celts will be without Shaq and Rondo....

no joe johnson for them is pretty big though

Yeah it is, but Shaq is a big problem for the Hawks. Semih/Davis will allow them to play Horford at the 5 and have a big advantage at that position.

Plus its a back to back game, after a tough game where a fast pace was played.

I still think the Hawks will probably win, especially since Rondo is likely out once his ankle swells.

Hawks without JJ are a lottery team. Celtics without Rondo are a playoff team.

Therin lies your answer. We will win tommorow.

The Hawks would still be a lower tier playoff team without Joe Johnson. They'd be fighting for the 6/7/8th seed though, so I suppose that's not too far from a lottery team.

[crownsy]

Donny Marshall: "and Rondo had a great game tonight"

Does he even watch the games?

Rondo played as well as he could have given his injury situation, but anyone could see he was hurting the team.

LOL! TP. How can Donny even think of saying that Rondo had a great game without at least clarifying that it was great for a guy on one leg. Yea, Pierce had a great game against the Bobcats last week then I guess.

Because donny's a stat guy and Rondo's line was actually pretty good.

Just another reason why stats don't tell the whole story sometimes.