Post by FLCeltsFan on Mar 27, 2016 20:39:50 GMT -5
at 
Boston Celtics (43-30) at Los Angeles Clippers (45-27)
Monday, March 28,2016
10:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game [HASH]74, Road Game [HASH]37
TV: NBA-TV, CSNNE, Prime Ticket, SportsnetOne
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, KWKW 980 AM
Staples Center
Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs 
Isaiah Thomas vs Chris Paul
Shooting Guard
vs 
Avery Bradley vs JJ Redick
Small Forward
vs 
Evan Turner vs Luc Mbah a Moute
Power Forward
vs 
Amir Johnson vs Paul Pierce
Center
vs 
Jared Sullinger vs DeAndre Jordan
Celtics Reserves
RJ Hunter
Jordan Mickey
Jonas Jerebko
Terry Rozier
James Young
Kelly Olynyk
Tyler Zeller
Marcus Smart
Head Coach
Brad Stevens
Injuries
Jae Crowder (high ankle sprain) out
Clippers Reserves
Cole Aldrich
Jeff Ayres
Jamal Crawford
Brandon Dawson
Wesley Johnson
Pablo Prigioni
Jeff Green
CJ Wilcox
Austin Rivers
Head Coach
Doc Rivers
Injuries
Blake Griffin (hand/quad) out
Game Notes
The Celtics continue their West Coast road trip with a visit to Paul Pierce, Jeff Green, Doc Rivers and the Los Angeles Clippers. The Celtics beat the Clippers 139-134 in OT in Februart when these two teams met for the first time. The Clippers are 24-12 at home while the Celtics are 18-18 on the road.
The Celtics won their first game on the trip by just over the Suns after leading by as many as 21. The Suns are fighting with the Nets for lottery position. The Celtics will certainly have to play better against the Clippers than they did against the Suns if they expect to get a win. The Clippers are playing in back to back games after beating the Nuggets at home on Sunday.
The Clippers are still without Blake Griffin, who has been out with a quad/hand injury. He was activated on Sunday and is serving a 4 game suspension for the altercation that resulted in his broken hand. Jae Crowder will miss this game as well but could return at some time during the final 3 games of the trip. Avery Bradley played on Saturday after spending the day before in the hospital and rushing out to Phoenix in time for the game. He should be good to go in this game.
The Celtics are 4th in the East, 1/2 game behind Atlanta (3rd) and 1/2 game ahead of Miami (5th). They are 1 game ahead of Charlotte (6th). The Clippers clinched a playoff spot on Sunday and are pretty much set in the 4 spot in the West. They are 5.5 games behind OKC (3rd) and 4.5 ahead of Memphis (5th). Games to keep an eye on are BKN @ MIA and ATL @ CHI.
Key Matchups
vs Isaiah Thomas vs Chris Paul
Paul is considered to be one of the top PG's in the NBA and will be a tough cover for Isaiah on defense. If Paul starts to have a big game, expect to see Marcus Smart on him. Avery will have his hands full with JJ Redick. Paul is averaging 20.0 points, 9.8 assists, and 2.1 steals per game.
vs Avery Bradley vs JJ Redick
Redick is shooting the ball very well and is averaging 16.6 points and is shooting a league best 48% from beyond the arc and 47% from the field. Avery will need to play tough defense on him to keep him from having a big game.
Honorable Mention
Jared Sullinger vs DeAndre Jordan
Jordan is tough inside on the boards and on defense. He is averaging 12.8 points, 14.0 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game. He is also shooting a league best 70% from the field. He pulled down 16 rebounds when these two teams played in Boston. Jordan had 16 points, 16 rebounds, and six blocked shots in Sunday's game vs Denver. Jared will need to work very hard to keep Jordan off the boards and out of the paint.
Brad Stevens vs Doc Rivers
The new coach vs the previous coach. Doc won the first four meetings with his former team and Brad got the last one. Which coach will get the upper hand in this one?
Keys to the Game
Defense - Defense wins games and the Celtics need to continue to play tough team defense. The Clippers average 104.4 points per game and so the Celtics will need to slow them down and not get into a shoot out with them since they have players who can put up lots of points in a hurry.
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 Celtics are 6th in the league with 45.1 rebounds per game while the Clippers are 24th at 42.1 rebounds per game. Doc never did put a priority on rebounding.
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. They are capable of playing well enough to beat the Clippers, but they can't come out with less than their best effort. They have to be the more aggressive team and be the team that wants it more. They have to play better than they did in the second half against the Suns if they want to get a win in this one.
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. They had 19 turnovers against the Suns and that was a big reason they let a 21 point lead disappear to win by only 3. They can't turn the ball over that many times and hope to win against the Clippers.
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 and can't seem to do anything right. They have to make an effort to play hard and keep their focus from the starting tip until the final buzzer. They lost their focus in the 3rd quarter vs the Suns and that almost cost them the game. They have to keep their focus and make their shots and keep the ball moving.
X-Factors
Revenge and Focus on the Road - The Celtics are on the road and that comes with distractions and discomforts that sometimes take away from their focus. The Celtics have to keep their focus and not let the distractions keep them from playing their best team basketball. Also, the Clippers will be focused on avenging the earlier loss in Boston and the Celtics have to match that focus.
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. Regardless of how the game is called, the Celtics need to play through it and keep their focus.
