Warriors (11-3) vs Celtics (13-2) Game #16 11/16/17

[FLCeltsFan]

at
Golden State Warriors (11-3) at Boston Celtics (13-2)
Thursday, November 16, 2017
8:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game [HASH]16, Home Game [HASH]8
TV: TNT, NBCSBA
Radio: WZLX 100.7, Sports Hub 95.7
TD Garden



Probable Starters

PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Jaylen Brown
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Marcus Morris
C: Al Horford

Celtics Reserves
Aron Baynes
Shane Larkin
Abdel Nader
Semi Ojeleye
Daniel Theis
Guerschon Yabusele
Terry Rozier
Jabari Bird
Marcus Smart

Injuries
Gordon Hayward (ankle) out

Two Way Players
Kadeem Allen

Head Coach
Brad Stevens




Probable Starters

PG: Stephen Curry
SG: Klay Thompson
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: Draymond Green
C: Zaza Pachulia

Warriors Reserves
Jordan Bell
Omri Casspi
Andre Iguodala
Damian Jones
Shaun Livingston
Kevon Looney
Patrick McCaw
JaVale McGee
David West
Nick Young

Injuries
Stephen Curry (thigh) probable

Two Way Players
Chris Boucher
Quinn Cook

Head Coach
Steve Kerr

Game Notes
The Celtics put their 13 game win streak on the line as they host the defending champion Golden State Warriors. The Warriors are on a 7 game win streak of their own. Last season, the series was tied 1-1 with both teams winning on the road. The Celtics won 99-86 in Oakland while the Warriors won 104-88 in Boston.

The Celtics starters in that loss at home were Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, Kelly Olynyk and Amir Johnson. Things sure have changed. However, the Warriors started the same lineup as is projected to start in this game. The Warriors are 5-1 on the road and also 5-1 vs Eastern Conference foes. The Celtics are 6-1 at home and 4-0 against Western Conference teams.

The Warriors have won 7 straight games by an average of 19.8 points. The Celtics have won 13 straight games by an average of 8.1 points. The Celtics snapped the Warriors 54 game home win streak when they beat them in Oakland on April 2, 2016. They will play once again in Oakland on January 21.

Stephen Curry missed the Warriors last game against the Magic with a thigh contusion. He is listed as probable for this game. The Celtics should be at full strength other than Gordon Hayward, who likely out all season. Kyrie Irving has one game behind him with the face mask on and hopefully he will be more used to it for this game as the Celtics will need him at 100%.

Key Matchups
vs
Kyrie Irving vs Stephen Curry
Both players are very tough to stop and can put up a lot of points in a hurry. Curry is just returning from a thigh contusion while Kyrie is playing with a face mask due to a facial fracture. Hopefully Kyrie remembers his newfound defense because he will need it to check Curry who is averaging 25.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and 1.7steals. He is shooting 46.7% from the field and 38.8% from beyond the arc.

vs
Jaylen Brown vs Klay Thompson
The Celtics youngsters are going to be challenged in this game for certain, especially on the defensive end as they try to slow down the Warriors' stars. Thompson is averaging 20.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists. He is shooting 51.1% from the field and 44.3% from 3 point distance.

vs
Jayson Tatum vs Kevin Durant
The Celtics' rookie will be tasked with trying to slow down former MVP Kevin Durant. Durant is averaging 24.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.23 blocks. He is shooting 53.5% from the field and 44.3% from beyond the arc. Tatum will have his work cut out for him and will need every bit of that maturity and defense that he has been showing so far this season.

Honorable Mention
Marcus Morris vs Draymond Green
Green is averaging 10.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 1.07 steals. He is shooting 52% from the field and 38% from beyond the arc. Green does a little bit of everything for the Warriors and is a good defender.

Keys to the Game
Defense - The Warriors can put up points quickly and in bunches. They are averaging a league leading 119.4 points per game. It will be important for the Celtics to bring their league leading defensive intensity into this game, especially to shut down the Warriors' fast breaks as they can get up the floor very quickly. The Celtics must especially guard the perimeter as the Warriors are very dangerous from beyond the arc shooting 41.3% from beyond the arc as a team. The Celtics hope of winning this game is to play lock down defense. The Warriors aren't terrible on defense with a defensive rating of 101.8, good for 7th in the league.

Rebound - The Celtics need to crash the boards to keep the Warriors from igniting their fast breaks. The Celtics also need to rebound to give themselves second chance points and limit the second chance points for the Warriors. This is one area that the Celtics have a slight advantage over the Warriors. The Celtics are 4th with 47.6 rebounds per game while the Warriors are 1th with 44.9 rebounds per game.

Take Care of the Ball - The Warriors can be very disruptive by getting into the passing lanes, averaging 8.6 steals per game. The Celtics need to stay focused and not give the Warriors any easy opportunities to steal the ball or to get out on the break. If the Celtics get sloppy with the ball, the Warriors will make them pay.

Be Aggressive - The Celtics need to come out focused and play hard from start to finish. The Celtics have to be the more aggressive team throughout the game. They must be aggressive on defense, on the boards, in chasing down loose balls, and in taking the ball to the hoop and not settling for jumpers. They will need energy and extra effort from every player on the team. They allowed the Nets to play with more energy at times and they can't do that against the Warriors.

Run, Run Run! - The Celtics play best when they run on every possession and run back on defense as well. The Warriors love to run and the Celtics have to match their effort and energy and keep up with the Warriors running game and even better, out run them.

X-Factors
Focus - The Celtics have to be focused on the game and not on all the hype of the Warriors and their stars. The Warriors are a veteran team for the most part and so won't be affected as much by playing on the road as young teams are at times. The only way the Celtics will get a win in this game is to outwork the Warriors and stay focused on the task at hand.

Bench Play
Both of these teams are relatively deep. The Celtics bench is averaging 44.4 points and 25.2 rebounds per game. The Warriors bench is averaging 44.9 points and 21.2 rebounds per game. The Celtics will need a better game from their bench than they got against the Nets when they scored just 13 points. The Celtics will need a good game from each of their reserves.

Home Game
The Celtics players gave the home crowd credit for helping them come back from 18 points down against the Hornets. The Garden crowd can be loud and make it hard for opposing teams to play well in the building. If ever the Celtics needed the fans to be loud and give them a boost, it is in this game.

[DERRENMATTS]

If our bench has a big night, as in 25+ pts collectively, we win this game.

If they play poorly, as they did against the Nets, we lose this game big time.

The Warriors are notorious for their huge runs they put together, sometimes mulitple times in a game. They can put up 15 pts in a flash, and before you know it, we're down double digits. We absolutely need to minimize their runs. And we absolutely cannot come up empty on a string of possessions too offen. We need to be right in their hip pocket, or we constantly need to keep them at a minimum of a 5 pt deficit.

I'm excited about this game. Half of me thinks we can do this, that we're a new team that's contender worthy. But the other half of me fears the Warriors are just too star studded and well coached.

I want a win. But if we lose, I hope its only by 1 or 2, and a highly competitive game throughout.

[afceltic]

The key against GSW is don't try to out shoot them from the 3 point line. That is how they go on their runs because they are the masters of making very bad shots which are usually long three pointers. But when teams come down and try to take the same shot, they usually miss and then the next thing you know you are down by double digits because they just hit a couple of 3's. Composure and being physical with them is how you beat them. IMO GSW's defense is very overrated because it is their overpowering offense that leads to bad shots by the other team which inflates their defensive stats. Thompson and Green are their only really good defensive players as Iggy is too old for good defense anymore.

I am also excited about this game, but stay realistic about the outcome and what it means in the big picture, which is very little win or lose.

[DERRENMATTS]

Yeah, trying to outshoot them could be costly. But at the same token, it's essential to be looking for the threes.

What we need is our guys shooting above 40% from there.

[Roadrunner]

Last time I checked, GS is favored by 7.5 points (spread).

Keys to the game (BOS):
1. Keep the turnovers reasonable.
2. Make GS work on defense.
3. High percentage shots (no hero ball...Smart).
4. Bench scoring.

In prior years, BOS has played GS very favorably.

[jmost]

We're really missing Gordon tonight, as our obvious issue is inability to score. For whatever reason, Tatum isn't getting many touches. Horford has been passing up open threes, and Kyrie is bothered by the mask (and has now taken it off - which I'm not sure is the smart thing to do). Brown is playing great, but no one else is stepping up. Even assuming the GH comes back 100% next year, I still think we need more scoring. Some will come with Tatum's growth, and Brown's too, but I think we need a scoring guard to replace the offensively ineffective Smart. You can't beat GS just with D, which has been fine tonight. You need to be able to score too.

IMO this game on national TV is Jaylen's coming out party. He's playing so aggressively and I love it.

[eddietours]

am still sweating lol

[jmost]

Kyrie and Jayson with two huge pressure free throws each. Great game.

[DERRENMATTS]

WOW!

[Roadrunner]

Wow. BOS is a very good team, however a "w" versus the reigning champs? 52-rebounds, that must be a recent day BOS record. Side note - Smart, 0-7. Frankly, I prefer him to everything lese, but shoot.

[DERRENMATTS]

What's impressive is we won without playing well.

We're still learning each other out. We are a really young team. Tatum and Jaylen haven't developed their games yet, but we're relying a lot on them. And we're missing our All-Star Hayward.

We could have used all those excuses had we lost the game. But to pull out that game after being dominated for most of the first half, yeah this team is onto something good.

[eddietours]

Stevens is God

[afceltic]

Great win, keep it rolling boys.

[eja117]

That was unreal. I missed a lot of the 3rd quarter. Smart is shooting himself out of the league

[Roadrunner]

I was watching highlights today. Two takes:

*BOS won alot of the 50-50 balls by hustle.
*Lots of no calls. Very physical.