Post by FLCeltsFan on Oct 24, 2016 21:12:50 GMT -5
vs 
Brooklyn Nets (0-0) at Boston Celtics (0-0)
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game [HASH]1 Home Game [HASH]1
TV: CSNNE, NBA-LP (xfinity 754)
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub
TD Garden
Probable Starters
PG: Isaiah Thomas ........................................ SG: Avery Bradley
C: Amir Johnson
SF: Jae Crowder ............................................ PF: Al Horford
Celtics Reserves
Jaylen Brown
Gerald Green
Demetrius Jackson
Jonas Jerebko
Jordan Mickey
Terry Rozier
James Young
Tyler Zeller
Injuries
Kelly Olynyk (shoulder) out
Marcus Smart (ankle) game time decision
Head Coach
Brad Stevens
Probable Starters
PG: Jeremy Lin ...................................... SG: Randy Foye
C: Brook Lopez
SF: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson .................................... PF: Trevor Booker
Nets Reserves
Anthony Bennett
Bojan Bogdanovic
Joe Harris
Justin Hamilton
Sean Kilpatrick
Chris McCullough
Luuis Scola
Greivis Vasquez
Isaiah Whitehead
Injuries
Caris LeVert (foot) game time decision
Head Coach
Kenny Atkinson
Game Notes
It's only fitting that the Celtics open the season against the Brooklyn Nets as these two teams are intertwined. With every Nets loss this season, Celtics fans will cheer and with every Celtics win, the Nets fans will be cringing.
In the trade for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, the Nets surrendered their first-round picks in 2014, 2016, and 2018, and they gave Boston the right to swap first-round picks in 2017. The Celtics have already cashed in the 2014 pick for James Young, who survived the roster cuts to remain with the Celtics for the start of the season. They also cashed in the 2016 pick for Jaylen Brown.
They will most certainly swap picks with the Nets this season as the Nets are predicted to be in competition for the worst record in the league once again. The Nets do seem to be improved somewhat over last season's 21 win team. They brought in Jeremy Lin, Trevor Booker, Randy Foye, and Luis Scola, who are good veterans but not great. They have Rondae Hollis-Jefferson who is a good young prospect and a new coach who has the team playing hard and with energy.
Regardless of the changes and the newfound energy, the Celtics are the better team from top to bottom. The Celtics won two games over the Nets in the preseason already. They won in Brooklyn 100-97 and then, they won in Boston 120-99. The Celtics played mostly their reserves in both games. But the Celtics can't get too confident because as bad as the Nets were last season, one of their 21 wins came against the Celtics.
The Celtics will still be without Kelly Olynyk, who has begun full contact practices but isn't expected back until mid-November. Marcus Smart left the Celtics' final preseason game with an ankle sprain and is a game time decision for this game. For the Nets, their rookie, Caris LeVert, is also a game time decision with a foot injury.
Key Matchups
vs 
Isaiah Thomas vs Jeremy Lin
Linsanity is back in the Big Apple with Jeremy Lin joining the Nets this season. He is averaging 17.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. In their first meeting Lin was able to limit Isaiah's production but Smart and Rozier were able to limit Lin. In the second meeting, Isaiah sat out and Lin was held to 13 points. This should be a good matchup.
vs 
Amir Johnson vs Brook Lopez
Lopez is averaging 8.0 points and 2.8 rebounds and seemed to be trying to find his way in the Nets new system. He is capable of putting up big numbers and the Celtics need to work to keep him off the boards and to keep him from getting good looks on offense.
Honorable Mention
Jonas Jerebko vs Luis Scola
Scola gave the Celtics all they could handle in the first meeting scoring 14 points to go with 11 rebounds and 5 assists. The Celtics did better defending him in the second game, holding him to just 4 points 1 rebound and 3 assists. Hopefully the Celtics can do the same in this one.
Keys to the Game
Defense - Defense wins games. The Celtics have the players to be a top defensive team and they need to work together to play tough team defense. They especially need to play tough perimeter defense since the Nets shot at least 30 three pointers per game in the preseason and the Celtics need to keep them from hitting a high percentage of them. The Celtics defense will take a hit if Marcus Smart can't play but the others have to play a bit harder on defense if he can't go.
Rebound - The Celtics can't score if they don't have the ball. They need to crash the boards to give themselves extra possessions and to keep the Nets from getting second chance points. Rebounding takes extra effort and when the Celtics put out that extra effort on the boards, it usually carries over to other parts of their games. In the first meeting between these two teams, the Celtics won the rebounding battle by just 1 and won the game by just 3 points. In the 2nd meeting, the Celtics out-rebounded the Nets 55-34 and they won the game convincingly by 21 points. As the rebounding battle goes, so goes the game.
Smart Offense - The Celtics need to move the ball and find the open man in order to get easy shots. They need to also take the shots when they are open and not be too unselfish and not pass up good shots. They need to realize that if the 3's aren't falling they have to go to the hoop instead of continuing to shoot bricks from the perimeter.
Teamwork - The Celtics need to continue to build chemistry and to play as a team. They need to keep their motto of "We are One Superstar" and continue to play for each other and the team. Hero ball rarely ends well.
X-Factors
Home Opener
It's the Celtics home opener and the crowd is going to be loud and excited to see Celtics basketball again. The team needs to feed off of their energy. They also can't get too tightly wound and let jitters spoil what should be a big win over the Nets.
