Hornets (46-34) at Celtics (47-33) Game #81 4/11/16

[FLCeltsFan]

at
Charlotte Hornets (46-34) at Boston Celtics (47-33)
Monday, April 11, 2016
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game [HASH]81 Home Game [HASH]40
TV: CSN-NE, FSSE, NBA-LP 753(DTV)/752(XFinity)
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub, WFNZ 610 AM
TD Garden



Probable Starters
PG SG SF PF C
Isaiah Thomas.....Avery Bradley....Jae Crowder....Amir Johnson....Jared Sullinger

Celtics Reserves
Evan Turner
Jonas Jerebko
Terry Rozier
James Young
Jordan Mickey
Tyler Zeller
RJ Hunter
Marcus Smart
Kelly Olynyk

Injuries
None

Head Coach
Brad Stevens




Probable Starters
PG SG SFPF C
Kemba Walker....Courtney Lee....Nicolas Batum....Marvin Williams....Cody Zeller

Hornets Reserves
Al Jefferson
Troy Daniels
Tyler Hansbrough
Jorge Gutierrez
Aaron Harrison
Spencer Hawes
Frank Kaminsky
Jeremy Lamb
Jeremy Lin

Injuries
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (shoulder) out


Head Coach
Steve Clifford

Game Notes
The Celtics host the Charlotte Hornets for the third and final meeting this season. The Celtics lead the series 2-0 after winning both games in Charlotte in December. The Celtics own the tie breaker between these two teams regardless of the results of this game.

Charlotte is playing in the second of back to back games after playing an early game in Washington on Sunday. Entering Monday night's game, the Hornets are 11-4 in the second game of back-to-backs. The Hornets have lost 4 of their last 5 games while the Celtics have won 4 of their last 5 games. The Celtics have won 4 straight against the Hornets.

The Celtics are getting healthy at a good time. Marcus Smart is playing with 4 stitches in his eye and Evan Turner playing with goggles due to an abrasion onhis eye, the Celtics are pretty much at full strength. Amir Johnson is playing his basketball of the season after suffering from plantar fasciitis early on. Jae Crowder is still working on getting his conditioning back after missing 8 games with an ankle sprain but is very close to 100%. The Hornets are missing Michael Kidd-Gilchrist who is out with a shoulder injury.

The Celtics started Sunday 1/2 game ahead of both Miami and Charlotte. But with a Miami win and a Charlotte loss, the standings are once again shifting. The Celtics are 4th, 1 game behind Atlanta after their loss to the Hawks. They are tied with Miami (5) but own the tie breaker between then. They are 1 game ahead of Charlotte. Game to watch: ATL@CLE.

Key Matchups
vs
Isaiah Thomas vs Kemba Walker
Walker is averaging 21.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.6 steals per game and is playing as well as just about any point guard in the league. This will be a fun matchup to watch of 2 quick point guards capable of having big games.

vs
Jae Crowder vs Nicolas Batum
Batum has also been playing very well and is averaging 15.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 0.9 steals a game. He scored 21 points on 9-21 shooting with 8 rebounds and 2 assists in the first game between these two teams.

Players to Watch
and
Frank Kaminsky is averaging 7.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists on the season. He had a big game against the Celtics in their last meeting with 23 points and 7 rebounds off the bench. Sunday, vs the Wizards he had 18 points and 11 rebounds. Big Al Jefferson is averaging 11.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists and just loves playing his former team.

Keys to the Game
Defense - Defense is always a key to getting a win. The Celtics have to get stops, especially down the stretch. The Celtics left their defense at home for the most part in the high scoring game vs the Hawks. They need to get back to the tough team defense that has made them so tough to play this season. Defense wins games.

Rebound - The Celtics can't run and they can't score if they don't have the ball. They must crash the boards as a team and put out the extra effort it takes to get the rebounds. Much of rebounding is effort and the Celtics must put out more effort than the Hornets on the boards if they want to win this game.

Be Aggressive - When the Celtics are aggressive going after loose balls, crashing the boards, defending and taking the ball hard to the hoop, they are very tough to beat. They have to be the more aggressive team and they have to be the team that plays harder and wants the win more. The Hornets commit the fewest turnovers in the league and the Celtics force the most turnovers. The Celtics need to be aggressive in going after the ball and forcing the Hornets to turn the ball over.

Move the Ball - The Celtics must move the ball and find the open man. They struggle to score when the ball stops moving. When the Celtics have fewer than 20 assists, they usually struggle and when they have more than 20 assists they play very well. It's not a coincidence that they win when their assist total is higher.

Limit Turnovers - At the same time, they have to limit turnovers. They give away way too many points by making careless passes and by losing focus. The Celtics have to take care of the ball and limit their turnovers to keep the Hornets from getting fast break and easy points.

X-Factors
Home Court Factor - The Celtics are playing at home and should get a boost from the home crowd. Also both of these teams are playing for that 4th spot and home court in the first round of the playoffs. This has to motivate the Celtics to play harder and get that 4th seed.

Officiating - The officiating is always an x-factor in every game. Will the refs let them play or will they call every little bit of contact. Will they call it evenly or will they favor one team or the other. The Celtics need to adapt to the way the game is called and not let the refs take them out of the game.

[jmost]

Curious to see if Marcus can keep up the improved shooting.

Oh, and Go Suns!

[mev17]

Apr 11, 2016 11:56:32 GMT -5 jmost said:

Curious to see if Marcus can keep up the improved shooting.

Oh, and Go Suns!

jmost! Long time no see, my friend.

Wish the circumstances were better; what alarms me the most is that for the second game in a row we give up 50+% shooting and well over 100 points. Combine that with our occasional horrible shooting stretches and that would be a recipe for an early playoff exit. Our boys needs to rediscover their mojo fast!

At least we own the tie-breaker vs Miami and Charlotte, so a win Wed. and we should have the #4 seed.

[eja117]

That was a painful game to watch. They're losing focus, and need more urgency.

[jmost]

Hi mev17!

What the heck happened in the first half? I tuned in at halftime we were down 22! At home! Very unlike this team. Maybe it's the kick in the (censored) they need. We all know that this team's success will be built more on effort and playing together than on sheer talent, so in a strange way maybe this beatdown could be a good thing.

Hunter showed a little something in the last quarter. He seems to have good offensive instincts and may be that additional playmaker that they need.

Edit: Really? The site censored a**? That's pretty amusing in this day and age.

[FLCeltsFan]

I think Mev hit the nail on the head. They have lost focus. Their defense in the last two games has been pretty much non-existent. For 8 minutes to end the 2nd quarter, they were horrible. They couldn't dribble and just handed the ball over to the Hornets time after time. I think Avery let the 4 quick fouls take him out of his game because he just didn't have the same intensity on his defense.

I read that Crowder has been dealing with an illness of some sort so that maybe took him out of his game somewhat. But the whole team just wasn't focused. I lost track of the number of layups they missed. Missing layups, turning the ball over time after time. Not defending. Taking quick shots instead of moving the ball. It all screams of lack of focus. Maybe after that debacle last night it will jerk them back to reality and get their focus back on playing the kind of basketball that they are capable of.

[freshnthehouse]

I actually got to see this game in person. It was my first Celtics home game, which was very cool. I just wish it couldve been a better game.