Celtics (40-23) at Clippers (37-25) Game #64 3/6/17

[FLCeltsFan]

at
Boston Celtics (40-23) at Los Angeles Clippers (37-25)
Monday, March 6, 2017
10:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game [HASH]64, Road Game [HASH]34
TV: TNT, CSNNE, Prime Ticket
Radio: 100.7 WZLX, AM570 LA Sports
Staples Center


Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Isaiah Thomas vs Chris Paul

Shooting Guard
vs
Avery Bradley vs JJ Redick

Small Forward
vs
Jae Crowder vs Luc Mbah a Moute

Power Forward
vs
Jonas Jerebko vs Blake Griffin

Center
vs
Amir Johnson vs DeAndre Jordan


Celtics Reserves
Marcus Smart
Gerald Green
Terry Rozier
James Young
Tyler Zeller
Kelly Olynyk
Demetrius Jackson
Jordan Mickey

Injuries
Avery Bradley (hamstring) probable
Al Horford (elbow) questionable

Head Coach
Brad Stevens




Clippers Reserves
Alan Anderson
Brandon Bass
Jamal Crawford
Raymond Felton
Brice Johnson
Wesley Johnson
Paul Pierce
Austin Rivers
Marreese Speights
Diamond Stone

Injuries
Brice Johnson (knee) questionable

Head Coach
Doc Rivers

Game Notes
The Celtics come off a heartbreaking loss to the Phoenix Suns to take on the Los Angeles Clippers for the second and final time this season. The Celtics won the first meeting in Boston 107-102 in an emotional game as Paul Pierce played his last game at the TD Garden. They were missing Chris Paul in that game but he is back for the Clippers now.

The schedule makers didn't do the Celtics any favors when they scheduled this trip. They played the Lakers at the Staples Center on Friday and instead of staying in LA to play the Clippers in the same building, they scheduled a trip to Phoenix for Sunday and a turn around to play the Clippers on Monday back at the Staples Center.

The Celtics are playing on the second night of back to back games. The short handed Celtics lost to the Suns on Sunday as Tyler Ulis hit a last second shot to give the Suns the win. The Celtics are 9-5 on the second night of back to back games. This is their first back to back set where both games are on the road.

Both teams are 6-4 in their last 10 games. Since the All Star break, the Celtics are 3-3. The Clippers are 2-4 since the break. Both teams have dealt with injuries. The Celtics were finally healthy for a couple of games and then injuries hit once again. The Clippers finally got Chris Paul back and are mostly healthy now. The Celtics are 19-14 on the road while the Clippers are 19-10 at home.

Avery Bradley missed the game against the Suns with a sore hamstring but it sounded like it was mostly precautionary and Avery said that he planned to play in this game. Whether the training staff lets him play remains to be seen. If Avery can't play, expect Jaylen Brown to start in his place.

Al Horford also missed the game against the Suns. He reportedly sprained his elbow going for a block against the LA Lakers on Friday night. There was no timetable given for his return but it wasn't considered to be serious so hopefully he will return soon. They could really use him in this game against Blake Griffin. If he can't play, Jonas Jerebko will more than likely get the start once again. Diamond Stone is questionable for the Clippers with a knee injury.

While not as emotional as Paul Pierce's final game in the Garden, this should be an emotional game for The Truth as he faces the team that he played with for 15 seasons for the final time. I imagine that Doc Rivers will encourage the Clippers to beat his former team. It can't sit will with him that the team that he left for a contender because he didn't want to go through a rebuild has a better record than his current team.

Standings Reset
The Celtics dropped to 3 games behind the idle Cavaliers. Washington scored a 1 point win over the Magic, who led most of the game, to move to within 2 games of the Celtics. The idle Raptors moved to 3 games behind the Celtics. Atlanta is 5 games behind the Celtics.

The Cavaliers play at Miami, the team that beat them by 28 points in Cleveland on Friday. The Hawks host the Golden State Warriors. The Wizards and Raptors are off on Monday night.


Key Matchups
vs
Jonas Jerebko vs Blake Griffin
Griffin is averaging 22.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game. He is very athletic and is always a threat to score and to grab rebounds for second chance points. The Celtics need to keep him off the boards and must stay with him on defense to keep him from having a big game.
Griffin is shooting 44% from beyond the arc in his last 10 games and so it will be important to cover him on the three point line as well as driving to the basket.

vs
Isaiah Thomas vs Chris Paul
Chris Paul missed the first meeting between these two teams but should be good to go for this one. He is averaging 17.5 points, 9.7 assists, and 2.2 steals per game. This is another team with tough back courts to defend. Expect Marcus, Avery, Jaylen or Jae to try to keep Chris Paul in check if he begins to have a big game.

Honorable Mention
Avery Bradley vs JJ Redick
Hopefully Avery will be good to go because his defense will be needed to keep Redick from having a big game. He is averaging 14.8 points, and shooting 43.7% from the field and 41.6% from beyond the arc. It will be key to keep a good defender on him at all times.

Keys to the Game
Defense - Defense wins games and the Celtics need to play tough team defense. The Clippers average 107.9 points per game and so the Celtics will need to slow them down and not get into a shoot out with them. The Celtics defense has been up and down this season but they will need to make it a priority in this game.

Rebound - The Celtics can't score if they don't have the ball. Much of rebounding is effort and desire and so the Celtics must put out the extra effort on the boards to give themselves extra possessions as well as to limit the Clippers fast break opportunities and second chance points. The Clippers will easily turn rebounds into points. The Clippers average 43.3 rebounds per game while the Celtics average 41.4 rebounds per game. They have to put in the work to win the battle of the boards.

Energy and Effort - The Celtics have to come out with energy and have to play harder than the Clippers. 100% effort from every Celtic will be needed to get a win in this one, especially if either Bradley or Horford or both can't play. They have to be the more aggressive team and be the team that wants it more. The Celtics will have to play harder and with more effort.

Take Care of the Ball - The Celtics need to move the ball to find the open man but they need to make careful passes and not turn the ball over. At times the Celtics seem to lose focus and get careless and turn the ball over several times in a row. The Clippers will turn those miscues into points on the other end.

Play 48 Minutes - The Celtics seem to play very well at times, sometimes starting off strong and sometimes finishing strong. But then at other times, they seem to fade away after a fast start or they start out sluggish and have to spend the rest of the game playing catch up. They have to make an effort to play hard and keep their focus from the starting tip until the final buzzer.

X-Factors
Focus on the Road- The Celtics are playing the 3rd game of a tough 5 game road trip. They are 1-1 so far after an easy win over the Lakers and a heartbreaking loss to the Suns. They have the Golden State Warriors coming up on Wednesday but they can't afford to look ahead. They have to focus on the game at hand and block out all the distractions of playing on the road.

Officiating - The officiating is an x factor for every game. Every officiating crew calls games differently. Some call every little foul making it difficult to get any rhythm and some let the teams play. Some refs have an agenda and call the game for or against a particular team or player. And there are always star calls no matter who the referees are. Expect Chris Paul and Blake Griffin to get their share of those. Regardless of how the game is called, the Celtics need to play through it and keep their focus.

[eja117]

This might be the first time I ever watch a game in the same time zone as Derren Matts. I think it'll be like 4 in the afternoon for us

[DERRENMATTS]

Too bad we can't catch this game live.

[eja117]

On TNT right now commentator Isaiah Thomas is wearing an IT4 jersey backwards

[eja117]

the commentators are Kevin McHale, Rip Hamilton, and Gregg Anthony and they are all wearing IT4 style white headbands

[eja117]

I didn't expect a small ball starting lineup but with Horford hurt it seems maybe we had to

[eja117]

I should have pointed out to Derren that this is probably the last time Paul Pierce is on the court with the Celtics

[eja117]

Actually it turns out Paul Pierce didn't play

[DERRENMATTS]

I"m DVR'ing this right now (kids are almost in bed), but I might just erase it without watching it (don't care to watch games I know we've lost).

Disappointing loss, but not the end of the world. Rather have our key core guys healthy in the playoffs.

[mev17]

What a garbage second half - from up 13 to down 14; a 27 point swing. And 73 points given up in the second half? No defense at all.

This team frustrates me because you never know when they are going to play well and when their game will go down the drain. I've lost count of double digit second half leads blown, not to mention losses to the likes of Phoenix and Sacramento. They are insanely unpredictable and I hate following that kind of team - you can never have any kind of a comfort level with them, disaster is always around the corner. I could see us finishing with the number two seed or falling down to the fifth seed. I can see us make it to the ECF or flame out in the first round. Anything goes with this team and no lead is ever safe!

[jmost]

I didn't see the game, but heard some of IT's critical comments afterwards. I think if the Celtics wind up with one of the Top 2 picks in the draft and pick either Fultz or Ball, IT will be traded before next season, possibly before the draft.

I don't think Danny foresaw what IT would become. I think he saw a really nice Vinnie Johnson type 6th man, who could come in and be a quality scorer for the bench unit. I don't think he saw IT becoming a top scorer in the league, who would expect (yes, I think IT expects it) a max contract after next year. I don't think IT is a max guy, and while I have no reason to say this, I doubt Danny does either.

I also think IT sees himself as a building block of the next Celtics championship team. He certainly talked that way when he was recruiting last summer. And I'm not convinced the C's brass are sold on that. Especially when he talks too much about stuff that should stay within the team. Frankly, I think IT has become a little full of himself. The looking at his wrist thing was cute at first, but has worn thin for me.

I love the guy's heart and toughness, but I'd trade him in a minute for a big man if we land a top young PG in the draft.

[afceltic]

Mar 7, 2017 11:55:40 GMT -5 jmost said:

I didn't see the game, but heard some of IT's critical comments afterwards. I think if the Celtics wind up with one of the Top 2 picks in the draft and pick either Fultz or Ball, IT will be traded before next season, possibly before the draft.

I don't think Danny foresaw what IT would become. I think he saw a really nice Vinnie Johnson type 6th man, who could come in and be a quality scorer for the bench unit. I don't think he saw IT becoming a top scorer in the league, who would expect (yes, I think IT expects it) a max contract after next year. I don't think IT is a max guy, and while I have no reason to say this, I doubt Danny does either.

I also think IT sees himself as a building block of the next Celtics championship team. He certainly talked that way when he was recruiting last summer. And I'm not convinced the C's brass are sold on that. Especially when he talks too much about stuff that should stay within the team. Frankly, I think IT has become a little full of himself. The looking at his wrist thing was cute at first, but has worn thin for me.

I love the guy's heart and toughness, but I'd trade him in a minute for a big man if we land a top young PG in the draft.

While I agree with a lot of your assessment about IT, let me play devils advocate for a second. IDK how IT doesn't get a max contract from Danny if he paid Al a max contract who isn't above average in any aspect of the game? He's just a guy who is there, maybe a great locker room guy, but those guys are not max guys, and Al is nowhere near a max player and Danny mistakenly gave it to him. At least IT is one of the best scorers in the league and while yes his height leads to very porous defense which nullifies some of that scoring, but at least he's elite at something. Honestly I don't think IT is worth a max contract either, but he deserves to be paid more than Horford does for just being another soft big man who doesn't make a difference. Max players are guys who are game changers, who win you games. IT has won us plenty of games, Al not so much. So Danny has put himself in a bind where he has to offer IT the max or trade him or Horford.

Personally I would rather build around IT and find a way to get that 27M back from Al's horrible deal over the next 3 years and use it on a guy who will make a difference.

[jmost]

I would agree that Horford wasn't worth the max. I'm already looking forward to being free of his contract in 3 years. I don't think Horford and IT are the foundation for a title team, no matter who you add. Not sure how tradable Horford is though, at that price. IT, on the other hand, has a year left at cheap money, and could bring a nice return.

One good thing is that you know Ainge will trade anyone if he thinks it's necessary to make the team better. He won't get emotionally attached to someone because they're a fan favorite, or because he signed the guy as a FA.

[afceltic]

Mar 7, 2017 17:15:42 GMT -5 jmost said:

I would agree that Horford wasn't worth the max. I'm already looking forward to being free of his contract in 3 years. I don't think Horford and IT are the foundation for a title team, no matter who you add. Not sure how tradable Horford is though, at that price. IT, on the other hand, has a year left at cheap money, and could bring a nice return.

One good thing is that you know Ainge will trade anyone if he thinks it's necessary to make the team better. He won't get emotionally attached to someone because they're a fan favorite, or because he signed the guy as a FA.

You are right about Danny, he will do whatever it takes to win, no matter what anyone else thinks. All I know is opening day next year is going to look at lot different from the team that gets eliminated by the Cavs, Raptors, or Wizards in the playoffs this year.

[jmost]

Yeah, I was looking at the roster the other day, thinking the same thing. I think as many as half the players could be new.