|
|
Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 7, 2008 21:11:51 GMT -5
 at  Charlotte Bobcats (11-21) at Boston Celtics (29-3)
Wednesday, January 9
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #33, Home Game #18
TV: NBA LP ch 753, CSN HD, News 14 Carolina
TD Banknorth Garden   Probable Starters      Rajon Rondo/ Ray Allen/ Paul Pierce/ Kevin Garnett/ Kendrick Perkins Off the BenchJames Posey, Eddie House, Scot Pollard, Brian Scalabrine, Tony Allen, Leon Powe, Big Baby Davis Key off the Bench Tony has been playing with more and more confidence on both ends of the court. His defense will be needed to keep Charlotte's 3 point shooters at bay. Injuries: None other than stitches        Jeff McInnis/ Raymond Felton/ Jason Richardson/ Gerald Wallace/ Emeka Okafor Off the BenchMatt Carroll, Ryan Hollins, Jermareo Davidson, Nazr Mohammed, Jared Dudley Key off the Bench  Matt Carroll (brother of Pat, who played for the Celtics Summer League team) can put up points in a hurry and will need to be covered outside the arc. If given the space to shoot, he can hit the 3. InjuriesDerek Anderson, knee Othella Harrington, knee Sean May, knee Adam Morrison, torn ACL Key Matchups vs  Kevin Garnett (6'11") PPG 19.1 RPG 10.10 APG 3.6 EFF + 26.59 Gerald Wallace (6'6") PPG 19.4 RPG 5.20 APG 2.8 EFF + 16.91 Wallace has been playing great and it will be up to KG to keep him from putting up big numbers in this game. He has scored over 20 in each of his last 6 games. Wallace is very athletic and a good defender, but he also gives up 5 inches to KG which should give the Celtics a mismatch they can exploit.  vs  Paul Pierce (6'7") PPG 21.5 RPG 5.70 APG 5.0 EFF + 21.28 Jason Richardson (6'6") PPG 19.4 RPG 5.20 APG 2.8 EFF + 16.91 Richardson has been averaging 28.3 ppg over his last 8 games and he leads the league in 3 point field goals made. He has hit at least one 3 pointer in 28 consecutive games. Pierce will have to concentrate on defense to keep Richardson from going off offensively. Coaching Matchup:  vs  The Bobcats are coached by former Celtic Sam Vincent in his first year as head coach. Keys to the GameDefense. The Bobcats are a good 3 point shooting team as well as having players who can get to the basket. The Celtics must defend both on the perimeter and in the paint. Play 48 Minutes. The Celtics have to start off strong and not let up. The Bobcats have given the Celtics problems over the years and so the Celtics shouldn't think they can coast against them. Take Care of the Ball The Bobcats rank 11th in the league in steals and if the Celtics get sloppy with the ball, they will make them pay.
Game Notes The Bobcats came close to beating the Celtics in their first meeting this season as Ray Allen lifted the Celtics to a 96-95 win with his 3 at the buzzer. The two teams split the season series 2-2 last year and this team has typically given the Celtics problems. They have a very good front line of Richardson, Wallace and Okafor who can get to the basket and score in the paint. They also have good 3 point shooters who can stretch the defenses. This could be a trap game in that the Celtics are still on a high after beating the Pistons on Saturday. They haven't played since Saturday and they are facing a team with an 11- 21 record who are also 1-11 on the road. The Bobcats are playing in the second of back to back games. But, they have given the Celtics problems in the past and so shouldn't be overlooked. The Celtics need to take this team serously as they can be a very dangerous team. |
|
|
|
Post by Roadrunner on Jan 7, 2008 22:12:02 GMT -5
Last game vs. the 'Cats, took a minor miracle to win. Hopefully, the Celtics won't need luck this time. Would like to see a player off the bench contribute. example - big baby vs. detroit.
|
|
|
|
Post by Celtic17 on Jan 8, 2008 15:56:26 GMT -5
Time for a big game from Eddie or James... Ray needs to put up nice numbers again too.
30-3 looks good to me.
|
|
|
|
Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 9, 2008 19:44:14 GMT -5
Tony Allen starting for Ray. Big Baby not playing. Picking up with 10 min left in the first quarter. Cats with the ball. Felton hits a runner in the lane. PP with a nice bounce pass into KG who misses the layup but gets the rebound. Lays it in and is fouled. He hits the FT. Richardson misses Wallace rebounds and then KG picks off the pass. KG hits a pull up jumper. Okafor misses a hook shot as Perk plays him well. PP rebounds. KG hits a layup. Time out with Celtics up 9-4 and 8:26 left in the first.
|
|
|
|
Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 9, 2008 19:51:44 GMT -5
Wallace with a nice pass inside for a dunk. Offensive foul called on PP as Wallace takes the charge. Wallace takes it down the lane for a layup. He got away with a travel. PP misses on the baseline. Perk gets the rebound but has it stripped. McInnis misses a jumper and PP rebounds. McInnis called for a foul on Rondo as he drives to the hoop. He hits the first and misses the second. KG rebounds and hands it off to Rondo who hits a jumper from just past the FT line. Richardson is fouled by PP who picks up his second foul early. Posey comes in for PP. Richardson misses the first. misses the second. Perk rebounds under the basket. Rondo with a pass inside to Perk and the ball goes through his hands out of bounds for a turnover. Felton misses a jumper. KG rebounds. Rondo's shot is short and Cats rebound. Cats miss from the outside and Perk rebounds. KG misses in the paint and goes after the rebound but Okafor comes away with it. Richardson hits a jumper. KG finds Posey inside who misses a layup but he tips in his own miss. Cats hit a jumper. KG misses a layup and Cats rebound. Rondo with a steal. He gets up the floor quickly and passes to Tony who passes to KG for a layup. Cats miss and Rondo rebounds and takes it all the way to the hoop for a layup. Time out with Celtics up 18-12 and 3:32 left in the first
|
|
|
|
Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 9, 2008 19:57:17 GMT -5
Celtics break up a pass and Cats inbound with 5 on the SC. Richardson hits a baseline jumper off the catch. Rondo takes it to the hoop and lays it in. Richardson gets to the hoop and hits up and under. Rondo drives to the hoop and hits a reverse layup. Rondo called for a foul. Time out with Celtics up 22-16 and 1:59 left in the first
|
|
|
|
Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 9, 2008 20:02:42 GMT -5
Cats inbound on the side. Cats with a 24 second violation. Scal is in with Rondo, KG, Posey, and Tony. Rondo misses a layup. Cats rebound and Richardson takes it in for a layup. Celtics miss a jumper and Cats rebound. Cats miss and Scal rebounds. Rondo gets it to Tony who is cutting to the basket on the baseline and he is fouled. Pollard comes in for KG. Tony hits both FTs. Mohammed hits a hook shot over Pollard in the lane. Rondo takes it at the defender and misses a runner in the lane. Cats rebound and miss a jumper at the buzzer. Score at the end of 1 is Celtics 24 and Cats 20
|
|
|
|
Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 9, 2008 20:10:24 GMT -5
Cats inbound to start the second. Richardson misses a jumper and Posey rebounds. Tony hits a jumper over the defender. Posey, Pollard, House, Tony and Scal on the floor. Cats miss and Posey tips the rebound to House. Scal shoots an airball with 3 on the SC. rebound goes out off Cats. Celtics get it in to House who shots another air ball on the baseline. Cats come up with the ball. Mohammed misses a jumper but takes the rebound away from 3 Celtics fighting for the rebound and lays it in. House gets the ball inside to Posey who kicks it to Scal in the corner for a 3. Cats miss and Celtics rebound. House misses and Cats rebound. McInnis misses a jumper. House and Pollard fight for the rebound and tip it right to McInnis. Celtics with a steal. House hits a 3 on a feed from Scal inside. Time out with Celtics up 31-22 and 8:36 left in the half
|
|
|
|
Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 9, 2008 20:17:19 GMT -5
Cats inbound on the side. Cats miss inside and Pollard tips the rebound out and Posey comes up with it. House misses from the corner. Mohammed grabs the rebound. Tony called for a foul on Carroll. Pierce and Perk come back in. Cats inbound on the side. Perk with a block and Mohammed gets the rebound and lays it in. He draws the foul but misses the FT. PP rebounds. House hits a pull up jumper. Offensive foul on Mohammed as Pollard draws the charge. There is a big smile on Pollard's face as he is laid out on the floor and helped up by his teammates. KG misses a jumper and Richardson pulls down the rebound as Perk is being held by Wallace but no call. Cats miss a jumper and KG pulls down the rebound. House hits a jumper from the top of the key. Defensive 3 seconds on the Celtics. Time out with Celtics up 35-24 and 5:55 left in the half
|
|
|
|
Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 9, 2008 20:22:25 GMT -5
Cats hit the T and miss a jumper off the inbound pass. Perk rebounds. PP m isses a jumper and Wallace wins the race to the rebound. Okafor lays it in off the glass. Cats knock the ball into the back court. Tony tracks it down and misses at the SC. Wallace hits a jumper. House misses a jumper and Wallace rebounds. Okafor gets inside for a layup. The Cats went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 4 at 35-31 with 3:54 left in the half
|
|
|
|
Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 9, 2008 20:36:02 GMT -5
Celtics inbound on the side. KG misses a jumper. Perk keeps it alive but Wallace comes away with it. McInnis hits a jumper. Starters on the floor for the Celtics. KG called for his second foul. Posey comes in for Tony. Felton hits a 3 from the corner. Charlotte takes the lead after 12 straight points. Posey misses a deep 3 and Richardson takes the rebound in the corner. Wallace makes a strong move to the hoop and lays it in. Rondo hits a runner in the lane but foul called before the shot on McInnis. Tony comes back in for KG. Celtics inbound on the side. PP hits a pull up jumper from the FT line. Perk with a steal. PP misses a jumper and Okafor rebounds. Richardson is fouled by Tony, his third. Cats inbound on the side. Scal comes in for Tony. Rondo almost gets a steal but Carroll recovers. Richardson hits a 3 with Pierce in his face at the SC. Richardson called for a foul on PP. Pierce hits both FTs. Cats turn it over on a bad pass out of bounds. Rondo takes it to the hoop and lays it in but is called for an offensive foul. Terrible call as the defender was clearly moving and right in front of the official. Scal called for a blocking foul. Another questionable call by the same official. Wallace hits the first. Time out with 16.8 on the clock. Wallace hits the second. Rondo brings the ball up. He drives to the hoop and kicks out to Posey who draws the foul on Wallace. Posey at the line. Scal comes in for PP. He hits both FTs. Cats inbound with 3.2 in the hald. Richardson goes the length of the floor and lays it in with no defense to be seen. Score at the half is Charlotte 45 and Boston 41. After leading by 11, the Celtics totally lost their composure, offense and defense and allowed the Cats to come back and take a 4 point lead. I sure hope they can come out more focused in the third.
|
|
|
|
Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 9, 2008 20:58:29 GMT -5
Cats inbound to start the 3rd. Okafor misses inside. Rebound is tipped out of bounds off Cats. KG gets inside for a layup. KG with a block and he gets upcourt quickly to get the pass from Rondo and hit a jumper. Richardson hits a jumper off the catch. Perk gets the ball inside from KG and he lays it in. Tony strips the ball from McInnis. Pierce finds Tony inside and he is fouled. He hits both FTs to put the Celtics back on top by 2. Wallace misses deep and Felton tracks down the long rebound. Richardson hits a jumper. Tony misses a 3 and McInnis gets the rebound of the airball. Richardson gets inside and lays it in. Tony loses the handle in the paint and Richardson is fouled by Tony as he tries to get it back. POsey comes in for Tony as he picks up his 4th foul. 3 second violation on Okafor. PP steps into a 3 that rolls off the rim. Perk rebounds. Cats called for a foul. Celtics inbound on the side. Posey hits a 3 as Perk kicks it out of a crowd. Perk with a big block on Okafor. KG hits a jumper over Okafor. Time out with Celtics up 54-52 and 7:11 left in the 3rd.
|
|
|
|
Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 9, 2008 21:09:41 GMT -5
Cats inbound on the side. Richardson hits a jumper as he once again beats Pierce. Perk is blocked by Okafor. He misses a jumper. and KG rebounds. Rondo loses the handle out of bounds. Cats with a 24 second violation PP with a bounce pass into the paint that is too low and Perk scoops it up and passes out to KG who is fouled. KG hits both FTs. Mohammed gets the ball inside and lays it in and draws the foul. He misses the FT and KG grabs the rebound. KG is doubled and passes to PP who drives and kicks out to KG who is open as the double goes to PP and he hits a jumper. Mohammed gets inside and lays it in again and is fouled by Rondo. He hits the FT. Celtics doing a terrible job of defending the pick and roll. Posey hits a 3 from the corner. Felton misses a jumper. PP comes away with the rebound. Posey's 3 is partially blocked. Felton hits inside. KG misses in the lane and is fouled hard by Wallace. He hits both FTs to put the Celtics back up 2 at 63-61. Wallace missses from the corner and Felton is there for the rebound and put back. Wallace with a steal at half court and he takes it all the way in for a dunk while the Celtics all stand around and watch. Rondo misses and Cats rebound. PP with a steal and KG misses but gets his own rebound and is fouled. Time out with Cats up 65-63.
|
|
|
|
Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 9, 2008 21:16:47 GMT -5
KG hits both FTs. Cats miss and Perk rebounds. Celtics walk it up the court. PP misses and Wallace rebounds. Perk called for his first foul. House comes in for KG. Cats inbound on the side. Perk called for a foul as he falls for Mohammed's fake. He hits the first and misses the second. Mohammed gets his own miss and Richardson with a tip in of Mohammed's layup attempt. Perk is fouled and back rims the first FT. Richardson is holding his back. Perk misses the second and Cats rebound. Mike just said that Perk leads the Eastern conference in technical fouls. I guess that's because they started giving him T's for glaring.
Time out with Cats up 68-65 and 1:15 left in the third
|
|
|
|
Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 9, 2008 21:21:10 GMT -5
Wallace hits a jumper. Cats up by 5. PP drives to the hoop and is called for an offensive foul, his third personal. Carroll misses a runner and Posey with the rebound. House misses a jumper and Carroll rebounds. Felton hits a jumper. Celtics with an inbounding violation. Cats miss at the buzzer. Score at the end of 3 is Cats 72 and Celtics 65. The Celtics are playing terrible on both ends of the court. They can't hit a jumper. They aren't going inside and when they do, they are called for offensive fouls. They aren't defending and allowing the Cats open jumpers and to get to the basket at will. This is their worst performance of the season so far.
|
|
