Celtics (11-1) at Cavaliers (8-6) 11/27

[FLCeltsFan]

at
Boston Celtics (11-1) at Cleveland Cavaliers (8-6)
Regular Season Game #13, Road Game #6
Tuesday, November 27
7:00 PM ET
TV: NBA-TV HD, FSOhio HD, CSN
Quicken Loans Arena



Probable Starting Lineup
PG Rajon Rondo PPG 9.1 | APG 5.2 | STL 1.58
SG Ray Allen PPG 19.6 | APG 3.5 | 3P% .375
SF Paul Pierce PPG 22.2 | RPG 5.3 | APG 5.2
PF Kevin Garnett PPG 20.9 | RPG 12.7 | BPG 1.5
C Kendrick Perkins PPG 7.9 | RPG 5.3 | BPG 1.5

Off the Bench
Eddie House, James Posey, Brian Scalabrine, Scot Pollard, Leon Powe, Big Baby Davis, Gabe Pruitt

Injury Report
Tony Allen, thigh bruise, day to day (most likely won't play)
Ray Allen, ankle sprain, day to day, (plans to play if possible)


Probable Starting Lineup
PG Daniel Gibson PPG 12.7 | APG 2.9 | 3P% .538
SG Sasha Pavlovic PPG 7.8 | RPG 2.4 | APG 2.1
SF Le Bron James PPG 31.3 | RPG 8.3 | APG 8.1
PF Drew Gooden PPG 14.4 | RPG 9.9 | BPG 0.6
C Zydrunas Ilgauskas PPG 14.9 | RPG 11.9 | BPG 1.7

Off the Bench
Damon Jones, Dwayne Jones, Devin Brown, Ira Newble, Eric Snow

Injury Report
Larry Hughes, Deep bone bruise, out
Donyell Marshall, sprained wrist, out
Cedric Simmons, ankle sprain, out



Key Matchup
vs
Paul Pierce and LeBron James have had some battles over the past few years. Both had been the sole star on their respective teams and both had to play superior for their teams to win. Pierce now has help in the form of KG and Ray Allen while LeBron is still the lone star on his team and still has to carry his team. He is averaging a league high 31.3 points per game and is also leading his team in assists. Instead of trying to outscore LeBron in this game Pierce can concentrate on trying to stop him and letting the others on the team pick up the slack on offense.

vs
Rajon Rondo and Daniel Gibson are both second year point guards and both are quick and good defenders. Gibson is an excellent 3 point shooter and is shooting 54% from beyond the arc. Rondo will need to keep him from setting up behind the arc and hitting those 3's. Should be a good matchup between 2 sophomore point guards.

Keys to the Game
Contain LeBron. I don't know if you can ever stop LeBron, but they can hope to limit the damage he does. He is not only scoring 31 points a game, but dishing out 8 assists which makes him dangerous if you double him. If they can limit his effectiveness on the offensive end and make him work on the defensive end, we have a good chance to win this game.

Defense The Celtics have to defend the paint with Perk and KG limiting easy baskets and layups around the basket. They also have to defend beyond the arc as Gibson, Ilgauskas, Pavlovic, and LeBron can all hit the 3 if left open.

Limit turnovers. The Celtics have been getting better at taking care of the ball and haven't been turning it over quite as much, but still turn it over too much. They need to concentrate on limiting turnovers that will lead to easy baskets for the Cavs.

Hustle and Energy The Celtics need to hustle for loose balls and for rebounds. They have to come out with energy and be the more aggressive team, especially going after offensive rebounds and on defense.

Game Notes
Both the Celtics and Cavs have won 3 games in a row and are coming in to the game with momentum. LeBron has had a triple double in his last two games. Over his last six games, James has averaged 37.5 points on .526 shooting, 10.2 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game. LeBron's play is crucial to his team's success. Ray Allen is nursing a sprained ankle and is day to day but plans to give it a try in this game if at all possible. The Celtics will need to play well, especially on the defensive end, in order to beat the defending Eastern Conference champions.

[FLCeltsFan]

Cavs win the tip. LeBron with a no look inside to Z who misses the layup. Celtics rebound. Rondo with a pass inside to Perk for a dunk. Cavs hit a jumper. Rondo called for a travel. Pavlovic hits a 3. RA misses a jumper on the baseline, Gibson hits a jumper. Pierce loses the handle on the ball inside and turns it over. Z with a jumper. KG backs in on Gooden and misses. Gooden hits a jumper. Time out with Cavs up 11-2 and 8:55 left in the first. Not a good start. And I have to listen to the Cavs announcers.

[FLCeltsFan]

Pierce hits a jumper out of the time out. Gooden hits a jumper on the wing. PP misses a jumper and James rebounds. Cleveland miss and rebound goes out of bounds to Boston. KG misses a jumper and Z rebounds. Cavs miss and long rebound comes out to RA who is fouled. Celtics inbound on the side. RA misses a jumper and Gooden gets the weak side rebound. Z hits a jumper in the paint. Z fouls Rondo as he brings the ball up. Celtics inbound on the side. KG misses a contested Jumper. Z rebounds. KG blocks LeBron's jumper. RA hits a 3. Sasha misses and Gibson rebounds but turns it over. Z with a block on RA's shot. Some wild ball handling by the Cavs leads to a turnover. Rondo misses a jumper and Z rebounds. Z hits a baseline jumper. PErk misses a hook shot in the lane and Z rebounds. James takes it hard to the hoop for a dunk. Time out with Cavs up 19-7 and 4:58 left in the 1st.

[FLCeltsFan]

Celtics inbound on the side. Posey hits a 3 on a a feed from Rondo. Gooden called for a travel. KG hits a jumper over Gooden on the left baseline. Pavlovic misses and PP rebounds. Ray Allen fouled by Gibson. Celtics inbound on the side with 15 on the SC. Posey spins in the lane and has it stripped by Gooden. James misses a 3 and Posey chases down the rebound on the baseline. KG with two fakes in the paint and draws a foul on Gooden. Time out with Cavs up 19-12 and 2:55 left in the first

[FLCeltsFan]

KG hits both FTs. Lebron is fouled by PP. Pavlovic misses a 3 at the SC but Gooden rebounds. Brown hits a hook shot in the lane. RA called for a travel. RA with a steal as he gets in the passing lane. RA hits a 3 off the catch. He caught the ball with his left hand and with one motion put it up. What a sweet shot. Brown is fouled by PP as he gets the offensive rebound. He hits both FTs. Pierce and KG on the bench. Rondo takes it to the hoop and his layup is blocked. Cavs quickly come the other way. Scal knocks it out of bounds. Cavs inbound with 19 on the SC. James takes it to the hoop and lays it in and draws the foul on Posey. Lebron is taking time to get up after getting hit in the head. He hits the FT. RA hits a 3. Brown misses a 3 and Celtics rebound. Celtics holding for the last shot. Rondo's fall away jumper at the buzzer goes in and out. Score at the end of 1 is Cavaliers 26 and Celtics 20

[FLCeltsFan]

Celtics inbound to start the second. Pollard misses a jumper and Jones rebounds. Pollard called for a foul on Z. Cavs inbound on the side. Jones misses and rebound goes out of bounds to Boston. Posey misses a 3 and Rondo rebounds. RA drives down the lane and lays it in. Z hits a baseline jumper over Posey. RA misses a jumper and Cavs rebound. Pavlovic at the line back rims the first. Hits the second. RA drives to the hoop and kicks out to Posey for an open 3. Travelling called on Z as Pollard plays good defense. Pierce comes in for RA. House loses it and Pollard grabs the loose ball, gets it back to house who misses a jumper. Cavs rebound. Jones misses an Pollard rebounds. PP misses a jumper. Pavlovic rebounds. Brown misses a layup but is fouled. Time out with Cavs up 29-25 and 8:35 left in the half

[FLCeltsFan]

The trainer is working on RA's ankle on the sidelines. Brown hits both FTs. PP drives down the lane and hands off to Pollard for a layup. James drives to the hoop and draws the foul. He hits the first. KG comes in for Pollard. Lebron hits the second FT. PP drives to the hoop and lays it in with his left hand. Lebron hits a fall away jumper over the double team. Celtics miss and Z rebounds. Posey called for tripping LeBron. Cavs are in the penalty. He hits both FTs. Perk gets the ball inside from PP and he hits a hook shot. Perk slaps the ball away from Pavlovic. PP is fouled going to the hoop. He hits the first and former Celtic Dwayne Jones checks into the game. PPmisses the second and Cavs rebound. LeBron misses and Posey missed from the corner. Perk with a block. Celtics come away with it. PP turns it over. Pavlovic dribbles the ball off Rondo's foot. Time out with Cavs up 37-32 and 5:48 left in the half. Perk with 3 good defensive plays in a row.

[FLCeltsFan]

Celtics called for defensive 3 seconds. Gibson hits the T. James misses a 3 at the SC. Perk with the rebound. KG held by Gooden. Starters back on the floor for Celtics. KG hits a jumper over Gooden. Z misses a jumper. PP rebounds. RA misses and Perk rebounds but misses the put back. Cavs rebound. Cavs miss and Perk rebounds. PP is fouled by Gibson as he drives down the lane. He hits both FTs to cut the lead to 2. Pavlovic drives baseline and lays it in. RA hits a jumper quickly on the other end. Gibson hits a long 3. PP in to KG who hands off to Perk who is fouled. Perk hits both FTs. Cavs easily pass out of the pressure by Rondo. defensive 3 second violation. Time out with Cavs up 43-40 and 2:55 left in the half

[Global Celtic]

Did you guys saw how Perk quickly defended Rajon from Devin Brown? That's team spirit. UBUNTU! Well, up by 3 when this one seemed tough at the beguining. Classy Ray playing through pain in his ankle and really leading us. Smooth and effective: that's Killer Ray. A couple of big shots from Posey and Perk better in offense than D against Ilgauskas. If we stop LeBron and Ilgauskas, we can beat him easily. Hope to see Big Baby and Pruitt.

[CelticsLoyalist]

That game winning 3 Allen hit against the Cats really snapped Ray our of his shooting slump! 3-4 from three land right now and 16 points at the half!!

[CelticsLoyalist]

globalceltic said:

Did you guys saw how Perk quickly defended Rajon from Devin Brown? That's team spirit. UBUNTU! Well, up by 3 when this one seemed tough at the beguining. Classy Ray playing through pain in his ankle and really leading us. Smooth and effective: that's Killer Ray. A couple of big shots from Posey and Perk better in offense than D against Ilgauskas. If we stop LeBron and Ilgauskas, we can beat him easily. Hope to see Big Baby and Pruitt.

LeBron is at least being contained. I dont like to see Z with this many points and rebounds tho. Even tho I have him on my fantasy team. That takes a back seat when any of my fantasy players go up against the C's.

[FLCeltsFan]

Gibson rims out the T. Cavs inbound with 14 on the SC. James gets inside and misses a layup but Z is there for the rebound and layup. KG faces up and hits a jumper. Perk called for a foul as Lebron drives to the hoop. James misses the first hits the second. KG finds Perk inside and he is fouled. Perk hits the first misses the second. Rondo skies for the rebound in traffic. and is fouled. He hits the first and misses the second. Cavs rebound. Gibson misses a 3. PP rebound. PP misses. KG rebounds and gets the ball inside to Perk for a dunk to tie the game at 46. Perk with a block out of bounds on Gibson's shot. Cavs inbound with 2 seconds on the SC. Perk with another block and celtics come away with it. RA is knocked to the ground hard as he goes to the hoop. Brown shoved Rondo and had something to say that KG didn't like and KG squared up as he was helping RA up. . Brown called for a technical foul. RA hits the T and then hits both FTs. Cavs 3/4 court heave is no good and Score at the half is Celtics 49 and Cavs 46

[FLCeltsFan]

Celtics inbound to start the half. Celtics hit a jumper. Cavs miss a jumper at the SC. Perk rebounds. KG gets inside and misses a layup. KG gets the rebound and lays it down for Perk who draws the foul on Z. He hits both FTs. Rondo with some pressure as Cavs bring the ball up court. Gooden lays it in. KG gets a pass over the top and lays it in. Gooden hits a jumper after good ball movement. KG goes one on one against Gooden and is called for a travel. Z with a travel. Rondo misses a shot on the baseline but gets his own rebound in traffic. RA misses a 3 and the rebound goes over the backboard to the Cavs. James hits a jumper. PP misses a long 3 and Z rebounds. Gooden hits a baseline jumper. PP hits a jumper. James hits a jumper from the top of the key. PP drives into the lane and is called for travelling. Gooden hits a short jumper to take the lead by 1. Rondo misses a jumper and long rebound comes out to RA. RA hits a 3. Pavlovic gets to the hoop and lays it in. Z with a block. Pavlovic takes it hard to the hoop and is fouled. Time out with Score tied at 60 and 5:44 left in the third

[The Eye of the Q is upon you!]

Hi, there FL, I got sick of work after eleven hours and decided to watch Celtics basketball. Got in at 2:15 left in the 2nd qtr and the Celtics turned around with hustle, 2nd chance points, Perkins contributing in all categories and unselfish play. Cleveland has gotten hot and taken the lead back but the Celtics have chances here.

[FLCeltsFan]

Pavlovic misses the first FT and hits the second. PP misses a 3 and Cavs rebound. Perk knocks the pass out of bounds with 11 on the SC. Z is fouled by Perk. He hits both FTs. RA drives and kicks out to Rondo for a jumper on the baseline. Gooden hits a jumper. Offensive foul on Perk. Rondo with a steal. PP drives and gives it up to KG for a dunk. Celtics with another steal. RA drives and misses a layup. Cavs rebound and Lebron hits a 3. KG hits a jumper over Z on the baseline. Gooden hits a jumper in the paint. PP hits a jumper from the FT line over the defender. Gooden hits a jumper on the baseline. Posey misses in the paint and rebound goes out off Cavs. Time out with Cavs up 72-68 and 1:48 left in the third.