Rockets (25-7) at Celtics (28-10) Game #39 12/28/17

[FLCeltsFan]

at
Houston Rockets (25-7) at Boston Celtics (28-10)
Thursday, December 28, 2017
8:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game [HASH]39, Road Game [HASH]20
TV: TNT, ATTSN-SW, TNT-SAP
Radio: 100.7 WZLX, 790 AM KBME
TD Garden


Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Kyrie Irving vs James Harden

Shooting Guard
vs
Marcus Smart vs Eric Gordon

Small Forward
vs
Jayson Tatum vs Trevor Ariza

Power Forward
vs
Al Horford vs Ryan Anderson

Center
vs
Aron Baynes vs Nene


Reserves
Abdel Nader
Daniel Theis
Guerschon Yabusele
Terry Rozier
Shane Larkin
Jabari Bird

Injuries
Marcus Morris (knee) day to day
Semi Ojeleye (back) day to day
Jaylen Brown (knee) day to day
Gordon Hayward (ankle) out

Two Way Players
Kadeem Allen

Head Coach
Brad Stevens



Reserves
Tarik Black
Bobby Brown
Zhou Qi
PJ Tucker
Troy Williams

Injuries
Clint Capela (eye) out
Luc MBah a Moute (shoulder) out
Chris Paul (adductor) questionable
Troy Williams (knee ) out
Chinanu Onuaku (G-League) out

Two Way Players
Demetrius Jackson
Briante Weber

Head Coach
Mike D'Antoni

Game Notes
The third place Celtics host the 2nd place Houston Rockets for the first of two games this season. They will meet for the second game on March 3 in Houston. The series was tied last season with each team winning on their home court.

The Celtics are 5-5 in their last 10 games and are looking for their second straight win after a victory in Charlotte on Wednesday night. The Celtics are 14-5 at home and 10-2 vs Western Conference teams. The Rockets are 7-3 in their last game and have lost their last 3 games. The Rockets are 12-2 on the road and 11-2 against Eastern Conference teams.

The Rockets had their 8 game road winning streak snapped by the Thunder on Christmas Day. The Rockets are playing in the first of back to back games while the Celtics are playing on the second night of back to back games. The Celtics are 3-3 in the second of back to back games and 0-1 when the games are road/home.

Both teams are dealing with injury problems. Chris Paul has missed the last two games for the Rockets with an adductor injury. He was still sore after going through Sunday's practice and is questionable for this game. Clint Capela broke an orbital bone in Monday's game vs OKC and is out for this game. Luke Mbah a Moute (shoulder) and Troy Williams (knee) are also out for this game.

Jaylen Brown bumped knees with Markieff Morris in Monday's game vs the Wizards and missed Wednesday's game. He may have possible ligament damage and will likely miss this game also. Semi Ojeleye was upgraded to semi-questionable for Wednesday's game but he didn't play so he may be able to play in this game but is questionable as of now. Marcus Morris also missed Wednesday's game and it's not known as of now whether he will play in this game or not.

I'm taking a guess that Nene will start for the Rockets in place of Capela. Also, I expect Marcus Smart to once again start at shooting guard if Jaylen Brown is still out. Houston's game notes have James Harden starting at point guard and Eric Gordon starting at the shooting guard spot if Chris Paul is unable to play.

Key Matchups
vs
Kyrie Irving vs James Harden
James Harden is averaging 32.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 9.2 and 1.8 steals per game this season. It will be up to Kyrie to try to slow Harden down. Harden averaged 33.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 9.8 assists in the 2 games between these two teams last season. Harden is not known for playing great defense and so the Celtics may be able to take advantage of that if Kyrie can get hot.

vs
Marcus Smart vs Eric Gordon
Eric Gordon is averaging 19.5 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.0 for the Rockets this season. Gorden scored 19 in the only game he played in vs the Celtics last year. Smart will need to slow Gordon down along with adding some offense of his own to make Gordon work on the defensive end.

Honorable Mention
Jayson Tatum vs Trevor Ariza
Ariza is averaging 12.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.6 steals per game this season. He has burned the Celtics in the past and so the Tatum needs to be solid on defense to keep him from having a big game.


Keys to the Game
Defense - Defense is always a key to every game. Defense wins games. The Rockets are 1st in the league in scoring at 115.1 ppg. The Celtics are 20th and averaging 103.5 ppg. The Celtics started off with the best defense in the league by far, but lately have let their defense slip. The Celtics defensive rating is now 101.0 (2nd) while the Rockets are 10th with a defensive rating of 104.1. The Celtics absolutely need to get back to playing hard nose gritty defense. The Celtics need to play tough team defense and limit the Rockets' scoring if they expect to get a win in this game.

Rebound - In order to score, the Celtics need the ball and to get the ball, they will need to crash the boards as a team. They can't allow the Rockets to own the boards, which will limit the Celtics fast breaks as well as their second chance points. Houston averages 44.1 rebounds while the Celtics average 43.9 rebounds per game. When the Celtics put out extra effort on the boards, it usually carries over into the rest of their game.

Energy and Aggressiveness - The Celtics need to play physical ball and be aggressive on both ends of the court. They have to come out and play hard from start to finish with no let up. It seems when the Celtics get a lead, they stop being aggressive, as we saw in the third quarter against the Hornets. They have to be aggressive and they have to play like the team that wants it more for 48 minutes.

X-Factors
Home Game and Fatigue - The Celtics are playing at home once again and need to get a boost from the always supportive crowd at the Garden. They are also playing on the second night of back to back games and during a stretch in which they have gotten very little rest and no practice time. In the meantime, the Houston Rockets are well rested as they haven't played since Monday. Fatigue could be a factor for the Celtics, but hopefully the home crowd can give them a boost.

Injuries - Both teams are dealing with injuries. The Celtics may be missing Jaylen Brown, Semi Ojeleye and Marcus Morris. They have to have the "Next Man Up" mentality and each player has to step up their game to make up for their injured teammates. The Rockets also may be missing several key players. Clint Capela, Luc MBah a Moute, and Troy Williams are all out while Chris Paul is questionable. Needless to say, if Chris Paul is out, it will make it much easier for the Celtics, but they have to be ready for the possibility that he may return for this game.

[eja117]

I'm a little nervous that we're getting killed at home in the first quarter even though the Rockets don't have Capella or CP3. Granted we played last night, but still

[eja117]

Wow. I have never seen the Celts beat up like this, and certainly not under Brad. We'll probably win

[eja117]

I haven't seen a beating like this since 50 Shades of Grey. Smart's new nickname is Anastasia Steele

[jmost]

As much as I hate the fact that we routinely fall way behind, I have to give the guys credit for staying with it and fighting back.

Down 4 now (7:05 to go) after TR's steal and dunk.

[mev17]

Wow, just when you think they are toast they come back (and whenever I am ready to consider them a contender, they fall). Another crazy ending right when it looked like Houston would hold on. As jmost says, credit them for fighting back, but my goodness the terrible quarters need to end (or at least not be SO terrible).

Might have caught a break in that Houston was without Chris Paul, and Capela (who has been a beast this year, 6th in rebounding, 6th in blocked shots, 1st in FG%), plus Harden didn't have one of his better games. On the other hand, we were minus Brown and playing a back-to-back, so big win against a good team!!

[Roadrunner]

Signature win (another one). The cardiac C's roll once again.

[jmost]

If basketball were like football, where a player plays either offense or defense, but rarely both, Smart would be an All-Star. For much of the game I was disgusted with him, particularly on offense, muttering to myself that I can't wait for him to be gone. Then he seals the comeback by inducing two offensive fouls on Harden. I read this morning that Harden was 0-7 with 4 turnovers when guarded by Smart. Harden actually admitted to pushing off, saying he had no choice because the refs were allowing him to be held. I do think Smart embellished both fouls though.

[Roadrunner]

Dec 29, 2017 8:15:44 GMT -5 jmost said:

If basketball were like football, where a player plays either offense or defense, but rarely both, Smart would be an All-Star. For much of the game I was disgusted with him, particularly on offense, muttering to myself that I can't wait for him to be gone. Then he seals the comeback by inducing two offensive fouls on Harden. I read this morning that Harden was 0-7 with 4 turnovers when guarded by Smart. Harden actually admitted to pushing off, saying he had no choice because the refs were allowing him to be held. I do think Smart embellished both fouls though.

I was watching the highlights @work, since 99% of the company was on PTO, and I thought one was a real foul, and the other was a quasi-flop. If Smart only took 5 shots a game, and say made 2, my opinion of him changes. However, 10 shots and making only 3? Smart is my "scream" player when he shoots, aka Antoine Walker or Sam Cassell of the past.

[jmost]

Yes! He's the Antoine Walker of this team, although at least he plays good D.

Which one did you think was the real foul? The second one? I thought he exaggerated the first one more.

On another note, one of the best things to come out of this game was seeing Tatum assert himself when the team needed him to be more aggressive.

[Roadrunner]

Dec 29, 2017 19:18:46 GMT -5 jmost said:

Yes! He's the Antoine Walker of this team, although at least he plays good D.

Which one did you think was the real foul? The second one? I thought he exaggerated the first one more.

On another note, one of the best things to come out of this game was seeing Tatum assert himself when the team needed him to be more aggressive.

Smart is an all-NBA defender. I thought the real foul was the second one, because Harden kept on bumping him. One aspect I noticed (watching the highlights only), HOU took it to Tatum (as the weak link), and Tatum sagged to far off defending.