Celtics (19-13) at Cavaliers (23-7) Game #33 12/29/16

[FLCeltsFan]

at
Boston Celtics (19-13) at Cleveland Cavaliers (23-7)
Thursday, December 29, 2016
8:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game [HASH]33, Road Game [HASH]20
TV: TNT
Radio: 100.7 WZLX, 87.7 WTAM
Quicken Loans Arena



Probable Starters

PG: Isaiah Thomas ........................................ SG: Avery Bradley


C: Amir Johnson


SF: Jae Crowder ............................................ PF: Al Horford

Celtics Reserves
Jaylen Brown
Gerald Green
Demetrius Jackson
Jordan Mickey
Terry Rozier
James Young
Jonas Jerebko
Kelly Olynyk

Injuries
None

Head Coach
Brad Stevens




Probable Starters

PG: Kyrie Irving ................ SG: DeAndre Liggins


C: Tristan Thompson


SF: LeBron James................. PF: Kevin Love
Cavs Reserves
Mike Dunleavy
Kay Felder
Channing Frye
Richard Jefferson
James Jones
DeAndre Liggins
Jordan McRae
Iman Shumpert

Injuries
Mo Williams (NWT) out
Chris Andersen (knee) out
JR Smith (thumb) out

Head Coach
Tyron Lue

Game Notes
After one game at home, the Celtics are back on the road to take on the defending champion Cavaliers. This is the second of four meetings between these two teams this season. The Cavs won the first meeting 128-122. The Cavs were at full strength in that game while the Celtics were without Kelly Olynyk, Jae Crowder and Al Horford. Jaylen Brown and Tyler Zeller started that game for the Celtics.

The Celtics are playing in the first game of back to backs with the Miami Heat waiting for them at home on Friday. The Celtics are 5-1 overall in the first game of back to back sets. The Celtics are 6-4 in their last 10 games while the Cavs are 8-2 in their last 10. The Celtics are 12-7 on the road while the Cavs are an impressive 16-2 at home.

the Cavs have won 7 of their last 8 games and are a perfect 9-0 against Atlantic Division teams. The Cavs have also won 7 straight at home. The Celtics have no injuries listed this time. JR Smith (thumb), Chris Andersen (knee), and Mo Williams (not with the team) are out.

Key Matchups
vs
Jae Crowder vs LeBron James
James is averaging 25.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 8.6 assists. Jae has been effective against LeBron in the past and hopefully he can slow him down in this game. In 43 games vs the Celtics, James has averaged 29.7 points, his highest average against any team. He scored 30 points in the first meeting between these two teams.

vs
Isaiah Thomas vs Kyrie Irving
Irving is averaging 23.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists and LeBron has been touting his chances of being named MVP this year. He certainly has started off strong. The Cavs have so many weapons it will be tough to stop them all and Isaiah will get help from Avery and Marcus to keep Kyrie from having a huge game.

Honorable Mention
Al Horford vs Kevin Love
Love has settled into his role on the Cavs very nicely. He is averaging 21.7 points, and 10.8 rebounds. Love is the only player in the East averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds on the season. He had 26 points and 8 rebounds in their first meeting and shot 50% from beyond the arc.

Keys to the Game
Defense Defense Defense!! Defense is key to winning every game. The Celtics must concentrate on getting stops and keeping the Cavaliers from scoring at will. The Cavs are averaging 110.1 points per game but that increases to 114.5 points per game at home. The Celtics must play lock down defense and keep the hot shooting Cavs from scoring at will.

Rebound - The Celtics can't score if they don't have the ball. They must crash the boards as a team to prevent the Cavs from getting second chance and fast break points. They also need to rebound to give themselves extra possessions and to fuel their running game. The Cavs are averaging slightly more rebounds (44.4) than the Celtics (42.0) and the Celtics will need to put extra effort into beating the Cavs to the rebounds in this one.

Run, Run, Run - The Celtics need to run on every possession in order to get some easy points before the Cavs defense sets up. When the Celtics walk the ball up and slow the game down they struggle. They have to run and they have to move the ball. The Cavs are a good defensive team and so the Celtics need to try to beat their defense up the court.

Be Aggressive - The Celtics must be the more aggressive team. They have to beat the Cavs to every loose ball and win the 50/50 plays. They have to be aggressive on the boards and in driving into the paint and to the basket. They have to be the team that works harder and the team that wants it more.

Play 48 Minutes - The Celtics have to play hard from the opening tip to the final buzzer. They can't afford to let the Cavs get a big lead because the Cavs are a very good defensive team and it won't be easy to dig out of a hole against them. They also can't let the Cavs back in it if they can manage to build a lead. They must play all out for all 48 minutes.

X-Factors
On the Road - The Celtics are playing once again on the road. They have played well on the road in recent games and they hopefully can continue that trend in this game. They must block out the distractions of playing on the road and focus on the task of winning the basketball game.

Officiating - As always, the officiating is an x-factor. Every crew officiates differently and teams never know what to expect. Sometimes they let them play and other times they call a foul on every possession. Some games they call evenly and others they favor one team or the other. It's like Forrest Gump's box of chocolate... you never know what you are going to get. In most games against the Cavs, however, the Cavs seem to get the benefit of way too many calls.

[eja117]

I'm liking Jaylen's minutes right now

[afceltic]

This is a pathetic defensive effort (term used very loosely) tonight as we have given up 101 points in three freaking quarters. I can't watch the game because the cable went out over here, so I have a question for those who are watching it. Who is Horford guarding? Are they wearing him out to the point to where he can't rebound or score? I hope he proves me wrong, but I am to the point to where I am now saying that signing him to a max contract was a huge mistake. He brings nothing to the table in these types of games. 6 points, 1 freaking rebound, 3 assists and 3 blocks isn't going to do it Al.

It is pretty much Isiah and Bradley vs the Cavs tonight. It may be ok for Al to have these types of games in Atlanta where they are doomed to be mediocre for their existence, but in Boston we expect results and he has been horrible for the first half of the season. I would say try to trade him, but nobody is going to want him with this bloated contract with three years left on it for the results we are getting.

Please Al prove me wrong and I will gladly eat a full plate of crow. But right now, you suck and are a waste of 27M.

[afceltic]

It was a nice 4th quarter comeback from the bench lead by Smart, but the lineup that brought us back also had Jerebko who ended up leading us in rebounding tonight, Crowder, Green, and Zeller. From what the ESPN Gamecast said they didn't put Thomas, Bradly and Horford back in until the 4:33 mark of the 4th after the lead was cut from 18-6. We got within 1 on two occasions and were down by 2 with 21 seconds left and the ball, but somehow our best shot was a Crowder 3 which he missed of course. The only thing Al did in that last 4:33 was get an assist, commit some intentional fouls to get the ball back, and have his 7 foot shot blocked by LeFlop with 7 seconds left down by 3.

I am really liking how Smart is leading us defensively off of the bench. But like I said before, we need to upgrade at several positions to become a contender. After this loss tonight we are 0-9 vs teams that have better records than us, and 19-5 vs those who do not.

[mev17]

In all fairness, Horford has helped us win some games as well, such as his 17 and 14 game at Memphis, who we have beaten twice (and they have a better record than we do, so those were good wins). I did not see the game tonight, but did see him have a big block vs LeBron. I would like to see more consistent numbers from him, but his defense and ball distribution are very important to our team.

We do need some upgrades - IT can't out produce teams with multiple all-stars on them. And both in this loss and the recent OKC loss, we have allowed over 50% shooting against us, and well over 100 points. We won't win many shoot-outs; we need to at least contain other teams more consistently.

[Roadrunner]

Frustrating loss. Down way behind, made an epic run, only to lose close.

[eja117]

Dec 30, 2016 1:40:50 GMT -5 mev17 said:

In all fairness, Horford has helped us win some games as well, such as his 17 and 14 game at Memphis, who we have beaten twice (and they have a better record than we do, so those were good wins). I did not see the game tonight, but did see him have a big block vs LeBron. I would like to see more consistent numbers from him, but his defense and ball distribution are very important to our team.

We do need some upgrades - IT can't out produce teams with multiple all-stars on them. And both in this loss and the recent OKC loss, we have allowed over 50% shooting against us, and well over 100 points. We won't win many shoot-outs; we need to at least contain other teams more consistently.

But Horford is suuuuuppppoosssseeedd to help us win games. It's not supposed to be a pleasant surprise when it happens

[FLCeltsFan]

Horford has been good way more than he has been bad. Players will have off nights.

[afceltic]

15 points/7 rebounds/5 assists/2 blocks isn't what he is getting paid for. He was brought here for two reasons, to be the second guy to attract a elite free agent and to help Thomas with the scoring load. The first part is still up in the air, the second isn't going as planned yet as Thomas is our only real scoring threat.

FYI Cousins is averaging 29/10/4/2 and is only 26 years old while Horford is 30. Just looked at Horford's career stats and he is actually playing better than his career averages of 14/9/3/2. I am starting to think that this is on Danny as with those numbers Al is nowhere near a max contract player.

[afceltic]

Dec 31, 2016 11:31:23 GMT -5 FLCeltsFan said:

Horford has been good way more than he has been bad. Players will have off nights.

The problem is that the has had those "off nights' when we need him the most against the best teams in the league.