Hornets (0-2) at Celtics (1-1) Preseason Game #3 10/9/16

[FLCeltsFan]

at
Charlotte Hornets (0-2) at Boston Celtics (1-1)
Saturday, October 8, 2016
3:30 PM ET
Preseason Game [HASH]3
TV: NBA-TV, CSNNE
Mohecan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT



Possible Starters

PG: Isaiah Thomas 4
SG: Avery Bradley 0
SF: Jae Crowder 99
PF: Al Horford 42
C: Amir Johnson 90

Probable Reserves
Ben Bentil 50
Jaylen Brown 7
Marcus Georges-Hunt 45
RJ Hunter 28
Demetrius Jackson 9
Jonas Jerebko 8
Jalen Jones 52
Damion Lee 56
Jordan Mickey 55
Terry Rozier 12
Marcus Smart 36
James Young 13
Tyler Zeller 44

Injuries
Gerald Green (hip flexor) expected to play
Isaiah Thomas (wrist) expected to play
Kelly Olynyk (shoulder) out

Head Coach: Brad Stevens




Possible Starters

PG: Kemba Walker
SG: Nicolas Batum
SF: Michael Kidd Gilchrist
PF: Marvin Williams
C: Roy Hibbert

Probable Reserves
Ramon Sessions
Frank Kaminsky
Spencer Hawes
Marco Belinelli
Andrew Andrews
Jeremy Lamb
Aaron Harrison
Christian Wood
Rasheed Sulaimon
Treveon Graham

Injuries
Brian Roberts (hamstring) day to day
Mike Tobey (hamstring) day to day
Cody Zeller (knee) out
Perry Ellis (hernia) out

Head Coach
Steve Clifford

Game Notes
The Celtics and Hornets meet once again with the Hornets still looking for their first preseason win after an 0-2 start. These two teams meet for the second time in 3 days with the Hornets hoping to get even for the loss at the hands of the Celtics on Thursday.

The Celtics expect Gerald Green to make his Celtics debut for his second stint in Boston after missing most of training camp so far with a hip flexor. Isaiah Thomas injured his wrist in Thursday's game vs the Hornets when he ran into Roy Hibbert but insists that he is fine and will play in this game. Brad Stevens may have other thoughts on it, however.

Kemba Walker returned on Thursday from a knee injury and played just 9 minutes. He is expected to play a bit more in this game. Cody Zeller is out indefinitely with a knee injury and the Hornets miss his production. It will be interesting to see what adjustments both teams make after playing each other just two days ago.

For those who haven't been able to watch the games so far,  the good news is that this one is going to be on NBA-TV along with CSNNE. 

Players to Watch


Jaylen Brown has been impressing with his play on both ends of the court. The rookie is fun to watch and so far has shown veteran poise on the court.

Terry Rozier has been making fans and impressing people who once doubted him after last season's draft.

Gerald Green is expected to make his return to the court as a Celtic in this game. It will be interesting to see how he fits with this group of players.



Jeremy Lamb played well against the Celtics on Thursday with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Frank Kaminsky was the Hornets most effective center, despite the 7'2" Hibbert starting. Kaminsky finished with 10 points and 6 rebounds.

Kemba Walker returned from a knee injury in the first meeting between these two teams and played just 9 minutes. He is always a player to keep an eye on though because he can put up big numbers when healthy.

Keys to the Game
Move the Ball - The Celtics have been moving the ball very well and that has resulted in open shots. The Celtics need to continue to move the ball and find the open man.

Rebound the Ball - The Celtics can't score if they don't have the ball. They need to crash the boards as a team, including the guards. Rebounding takes effort and when they put out the extra effort on the boards, it translates to the rest of their game.

Defense - Defense wins games. The Celtics have the players to be a top defensive team and they have to work together to play lock down defense as a team.

X Factors
Reserve Play
The Celtics lost when the reserves struggled in the game against the Sixers and they won when the reserves played well against the Hornets. Especially in the preseason, when the starters play limited minutes, the reserves need to come through and play well.

[FLCeltsFan]

Starting today are
Smart, Green, Brown, Crowder, and Zeller.

The usual starters will rest.

[oldtimeball]

Blacked out on NBA .. Sigh

[FLCeltsFan]

Great game. They played well from top to bottom pretty much. Terry Rozier got 7 stitches in his lip after a flagrant foul and so missed the second half. Mickey played the best he has yet. On one play Mickey got the rebound and brought the ball up the court himself and made a pin point pass into Jackson right in front of the basket.

Hunter and Young played better but still not sure which is better. Jackson looked pretty good. All in all it was a good game for the Celtics. Gerald Green looked very rusty at first which is expected because he hasn't played yet in the preseason but he loosened up and did pretty good after he was in there for awhile.

I liked what I saw.

[jmost]

oldtimeball, every Celtic game is live-streamed on csnne.com

I watched the second half and saw the same things as FLCeltsFan. Mickey was very good, as was Jackson. Hunter continued to miss wide open shots that we know he can make, before finally hitting one after some fancy dribbling to free himself. He continues to show good passing ability. Young shot poorly today. It seems they alternate playing well. Green (and remember I only saw the second half) looked really good. He'll get minutes for sure.

[FLCeltsFan]

jmost, the games are streamed on CSNNE, but here in Florida and for most out of market people, they are blacked out on the website. I also pay to have the sportspack so I have CSNNE on the TV but they black that out as well.   Yesterday's was on NBA-TV so it would have even been blacked out on League Pass for those lucky enough to have it already.    I hate black out rules. 

[jmost]

Oh, didn't know that. I've been trying to use the web browser on my "smart TV" to watch on the big screen instead of my laptop, but without any success. But the laptop is better than nothing so I can't complain given that it's free.

[oldtimeball]

I have DISH. They don't even have cssne . I got to watch the game on league pass the next day..

Charlotte that bad or we are good?

[FLCeltsFan]

I think it's a little of both oldtimeball. The Celtics are good but still working on chemistry and working players into the rotation and looking at the fringe players. Charlotte didn't look all that great. They have talent, but didn't seem to mesh all that well.

I used to have DirectTV and they were very good as far as sports. I got all the preseason games on League Pass and for the most part, they didn't even black them out on CSNNE so I got to watch Mike and Tommy for every game (when the rain didn't mess up the signal, that is).

Now I have X-Finity and they don't even offer League Pass until Oct 11. Hopefully since I am on auto renew they will start mine then and maybe I can watch the preseason on League Pass. I got to watch the last game on NBA-TV because they black out all the games on CSNNE on Comcast. I caught the first two on First Row on the computer. It's a pain with all the popups but at least I got to watch it.