CelticsStrong
Celtics Basketball => Game Threads => Topic started by: FLCeltsFan on November 04, 2008, 11:29:47 PM
-
(http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/toc/nba/01-Celtics.gif) at (http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/toc/nba/01-Thunder.gif)
Boston Celtics (3-1) at Oklahoma City Thunder (1-2)
Wednesday, Nov 5
8:00 PM ET
Game #5, Road Game #3
TV: FS OK, CSN HD
Radio: WEEI
Ford Center
(http://www.insidearenas.com/future/pictures/ford902.jpg)
(http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/.element/img/2.0/sect/basketball/nba/teampages/toppers/celtics_514x96.jpg)
Probable Starters
(http://assets.espn.go.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/4149.jpg) (http://assets.espn.go.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/3080.jpg) (http://assets.espn.go.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/3253.jpg) (http://assets.espn.go.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/3007.jpg) (http://assets.espn.go.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/3730.jpg)
PG: Rajon Rondo PPG 14.0 RPG 5.00 APG 6.0 EFF + 21.00
SG: Ray Allen PPG 11.0 RPG 2.50 APG 0.5 EFF + 4.50
SF: Paul Pierce PPG 27.0 RPG 3.00 APG 4.0 EFF + 21.00
PF: Kevin Garnett PPG 14.5 RPG 8.00 APG 2.5 EFF + 16.50
C: Kendrick Perkins PPG 2.0 RPG 8.00 APG 0.0 EFF + 7.00
On the Bench
Leon Powe
Tony Allen
Glen Davis
Eddie House
Gabe Pruitt
Brian Scalabrine
Bill Walker
Sam Cassell
Injuries
None
Probable Inactive
Sam Cassell
Bill Walker
JR Giddens
(http://www.insidearenas.com/future/pictures/ford901.jpg)
(http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/.element/img/2.0/sect/basketball/nba/teampages/toppers/thunder_514x96.jpg)
Probable Starters
(http://assets.espn.go.com/i/headshots/nba/players/65/1027.jpg) (http://assets.espn.go.com/i/headshots/nba/players/65/3202.jpg) (http://assets.espn.go.com/i/headshots/nba/players/65/3209.jpg) (http://assets.espn.go.com/i/headshots/nba/players/65/1978.jpg) (http://assets.espn.go.com/i/headshots/nba/players/65/2780.jpg)
PG: Earl Watson PPG 8.0 RPG 2.00 APG 4.0 EFF + 9.00
SG:Kevin Durant PPG 12.0 RPG 3.00 APG 2.0 EFF + 4.00
SF: Jeff Green PPG 7.0 RPG 3.00 APG 2.0 EFF + 3.00
PF Nick Collison PPG 7.0 RPG 6.00 APG 1.0 EFF + 10.00
C: Johan Petro PPG 2.0 RPG 3.00 APG 0.0 EFF + 2.00
On the Bench
Chris Wilcox
Russell Westbrook
Joe Smith
Desmond Mason
Kyle Weaver
Robert Swift
Damien Wilkins
John Lucas
Injuries
Mouhamed Sene (knee) day to day
DJ White (jaw) out
Russell Westbrook (ankle) day to day
Probable inactive
John Lucas
DJ White
Mouhamed Sene
Key Matchups
(http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/boston/RAllenBos.jpg) vs (http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/seattle/DurantSea.jpg)
Ray Allen will have his hands full with last year's #2 draft pick. Durant can score and had 18 points in his last game against the Wolves. At 6'9", Durant has a height advantage over Ray but Ray has the experience advantage. Should be a good matchup.
(http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/boston/RondoBos.jpg) vs (http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/seattle/EWatsonSea.jpg)
Rondo and Watson are two very quick point guards. It will be fun watching these two speed up and down the court and Rondo will have his hands full trying to stay in front of Watson on defense. Watson is also quick to swipe the ball, averaging 2 steals per game and he takes good care of the ball with only 1 turnover per game.
Game Notes
The Celtics are playing in their second back to back game of this young season. They didn't fare well in their first back to back situation, falling to the Pacers by double digits. The Celtics were undefeated in the second of back to back games last season and hopefully will get back to that trend with this game.
This will be a bittersweet game for Ray Allen. This is the team that traded him, but their fans in Oklahoma City have no allegiance to the player who spent so many years as the face of this franchise.
These two teams are connected by several players and transactions. Jeff Green, their starting small forward was picked by the Celtics in the draft and promptly traded to Seattle to bring Ray Allen to Boston. Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak, the two players who came along with the draft pick are no longer with the team as they were traded to Cleveland in the middle of last season.
Another connection has been Robert Swift. There have been countless stories and rumors about Danny's infatuation with Swift. It was said that Danny very much wanted Swift but had to settle for Big Al when Seattle grabbed Swift ahead of him. Big Al was a key to bringing KG to Boston and is one of the most promising young big men in the league. Meanwhile, Swift has been plagued with injuries and has not played in games so far this season.
The Thunder got 39 points and 19 rebounds from their bench in their last game against the Wolves. The Celtics bench players have got to come to play or they may be embarrassed by the Thunder's bench. An interesting matchup here will be Leon Powe versus Chris Wilcox off the bench.
X-Factor
Celtics Fatigue vs Thunder's Young Legs
The Celtics are playing for the second night in a row while the Thunder has been off for 2 nights. They played a tough game against the Rockets the night before and have to travel as well. They will need to come out with energy as the Thunder have some young and athletic players who will look to take it right at the Celtics every chance they get. The key is whether they will have the energy after all the energy they had to expend to beat the Rockets and the travel after the game.
-
That Thunder logo looks ugly anywhere.
Not your fault, FL ;) TP for the thread.
-
Time to go down to Oklahoma and run over some chickens and some cows. ;D
Celtics should beat this team handily but judging by their putrid performance against Indiana Sat night, nothing should be taken for granted.
Get a fast start in both halves and quiet the crowd (except for the Celtics fans of the Great Plains).
Time to hit the road down to Oklahoma.
-
A win gets us back on a 65 win pace for the season. Such is the problem with panicking after a loss the 3rd game of the season.
Of course a loss makes us a border line playoff team again ::)
-
Good game to give some playing time to the rookies and O'Bryant.
The Thunder have some nice youngsters, but they are a pretty bad team.
-
4-1 should be a lock.
-
Man those jerseys are ugly.
-
Scrappy team they got in OKC.
-
Scrappy team they got in OKC.
They've got themselves some good role players. Their bigs have done a good job each time I've watched them this season.
They've got a desperate lack of top tier talent though.
-
This eerily resembles the Indiana game. :(
-
C's will begin the blowout in the 2nd, I predict a ten point lead at the half and a win of 15+.
-
Paul Pierce, last year's FINALS MVP, is has been nonexistent
-
Since I'm relying on the box score, how are we down 8?
-
Since I'm relying on the box score, how are we down 8?
OKC is playing some solid defense and getting some great looks at the hoop on the offensive end. C's are also experiencing some hiccups on offense.
-
Since I'm relying on the box score, how are we down 8?
Bad inside defense.
-
there out hustling us.
also, they are being hyper aggersive, and instead of punishing them for it with extra ball movement, its sticking to one guy.
-
Tony "tie em up" Allen
-
Nice rimrocker by Powe.
Now the C's are showing some intensity and emotion.
-
great defensive play by TA!
also, nice dish by paul, make the extra pass, the downside of the hyper aggressiveness there showing is plays like that for the bigs off an extra pass.
-
I can only be so down on them for the first half, the blowout is eminent.
-
Jeff Green looks a lot better than I thought. He might turn out to be a good pro.
-
No game is a given in the NBA, especially on the second night of a back to back, both on the road. I don't care who the team is. Let's not forget how the Bobcats played us last year. There are no easy night when you're the defending champs.
-
ball movement starting to look good.
Plus, the angry pickles are having problems keeping up that crazy pressure they were brining for the first 20 minutes.
-
WARNING!!! WARNING!!! BLOWOUT APPROACHING!!!
-
Thunder forfeit due to condensation.
-
This scene is familar.
I was a firsthand witness to that debacle in Worcester during last season's pre-season.
That game was called at halftime (and created some civil unrest).
-
I remember a Bird Celtic's game against the Hawks where this happened.
-
Am I the only one that wants to see some serious Robert Swift action?
-
Has anyone else noticed that for the second game in a row the shot clock in the arena is not synced up to the shot clock shown in the score on TV?
-
Looked like a charge, need a replay.
-
yea, looked like paul had time to order a hotdog.
Durant getting some respect early in his tenure.
-
Bleh, first half, but the third quarter is the power quarter, the 15-20 pt lead comes very quickly.
-
Celts are toying with them. Just don't let them stick around too long.
Pierce did a nice jobbing righting the ship at the start of the 2nd.
-
It'd be nice to put them away without letting them hang around much longer.
-
It's up to 10, the lead will rise, 15-20 points in this quarter.
-
Collison's having a rough quarter.
I don't think that was a goaltend, though.
-
It's up to 10, the lead will rise, 15-20 points in this quarter.
It's up to 15, 20 is coming shortly, this is a championship team folks.
-
Time to turn on the New Orleans game. Atlanta with a 9 point lead with 3 minutes to go. Impressive start of the season for the Hawks.
-
Foye with the inbounding pass of the year for Minny ;D
-
Foye with the inbounding pass of the year for Minny ;D
That was a terrible inbounds pass, and a terrible play to get Miller open.
I tuned in late in the third. It's been a very good game.
Spurs scored on 19 of 22 possessions ... had a big run of baskets after that one two. Minnesota keep finding ways to stay in this game.
-
Foye with the inbounding pass of the year for Minny ;D
That was a terrible inbounds pass, and a terrible play to get Miller open.
I tuned in late in the third. It's been a very good game.
Spurs scored on 19 of 22 possessions ... had a big run of baskets after that one two. Minnesota keep finding ways to stay in this game.
Very exciting game indeed. This Minnesota team is very scrappy, let's hope they use this last possession better.
-
52 for Parker!
-
I feel sad for the Wolves. I thought they had it, they certainly had their chances. Ah well.
Tony Parker was sensational. It's embarrassing how well himself and Duncan have to play just to give San Antonio a shot at beating a below average team. Roger Mason came up big, rest of their supporting cast needs to do a lot better.
-
49 & 11 for Amare tonight. Some big nights tonight.
-
I feel sad for the Wolves. I thought they had it, they certainly had their chances. Ah well.
Tony Parker was sensational. It's embarrassing how well himself and Duncan have to play just to give San Antonio a shot at beating a below average team. Roger Mason came up big, rest of their supporting cast needs to do a lot better.
Finley is finished, just like he looked last season. Thank God he didn't accept Ainge's contract offer, that would a big miscalculation.
Parker, Duncan and Mason scored 111 points, all the other 7 guys together scored... 18. Pop should get rid of half of that roster.
-
I feel sad for the Wolves. I thought they had it, they certainly had their chances. Ah well.
Tony Parker was sensational. It's embarrassing how well himself and Duncan have to play just to give San Antonio a shot at beating a below average team. Roger Mason came up big, rest of their supporting cast needs to do a lot better.
Spurs bench better play better because they will be seen as a below average team this year if they keep this up. I am pretty sure if Spurs have to have huge nights from their top 3 players every night it will be tough if not impossible to do.
-
I feel sad for the Wolves. I thought they had it, they certainly had their chances. Ah well.
Tony Parker was sensational. It's embarrassing how well himself and Duncan have to play just to give San Antonio a shot at beating a below average team. Roger Mason came up big, rest of their supporting cast needs to do a lot better.
Finley is finished, just like he looked last season. Thank God he didn't accept Ainge's contract offer, that would a big miscalculation.
Parker, Duncan and Mason scored 111 points, all the other 7 guys together scored... 18. Pop should get rid of half of that roster.
Reminds me of an old Celtics team haha.
-
Just want to vent about a couple things cuz I don't come on these game threads during the game, but a couple things that annoyed me.
#1 - That first foul call on Perkins was absolute crap. Perk always gets so much grief for getttin in early foul trouble, and a lot of times it's warranted. But that first foul call was horrible. I didn't see a good angle for his second foul, but judging by his reaction, as well as Mike and Donny's, I'd guess that one was crap too.
#2 - Bob Delaney ref'd a bad game. He's always seemed to be one of the better ref's in the league, but he was bad on both sides last night. First was the bogus foul call on Perk, and then, although it worked in our favor, I really didn't like what transpired at another point when Earl Watson tried to take a charge. He was called for the blocking foul, and he jumped up and was shaking his arms in disgust. The only thing the ref should be worrying about is walking to the scorers table and giving the info on the foul. But instead, he stops and stares at Watson as if to say, "go ahead, make me T you up". Instances like that show the ego's refs have at times, and it's not good for the game.
On an unrelated topic, it was driving me crazy for a bit because I couldn't figure out who the commentatot for the Thunder was that I could see in the background whenever they showed Carlisemo. Then it hit me. It was none other than former long-time Celtic ;) Grant Long. I didn't recognize him without the goggles.
-
Yeh, they really oughtta make Grant Long wear the goggles still! Good pick up, I hadn't noticed. Didn't he finish up his career as a Celtic?
-
Yeh, they really oughtta make Grant Long wear the goggles still! Good pick up, I hadn't noticed. Didn't he finish up his career as a Celtic?
Yeah. He was a mid-season pickup during the 02-03 season. We had some big pickups that year, like Bruno Sundov, Ruben Wolkowyski, Mikki Moore, etc. I use the term "etc." so as to not make anyone else nauseous by continuing the list. :-X
-
I do not like those Thunder commentators. Quite annoying.
-
No game is a given in the NBA, especially on the second night of a back to back, both on the road. I don't care who the team is. Let's not forget how the Bobcats played us last year. There are no easy night when you're the defending champs.
Truer words were never spoken. I was at the game last night and after one quarter, the Celtics looked like they were playing with a Vin Baker sized hangover. Then the defense showed up from the bench players - Powe (my choice for MVP for the game), TA (still irritates me on dumb drives to the goal that get stolen and result in transitions for the other guys), and Eddie House (known for shooting, but works hard on the defensive end). Pierce seemed to be the de facto PG out there supervising the play of the team. So this bench combo of Powe, BBD (contributed defense and rebounding against the physical Wilcox), TA, House, and Pierce seems to be the lockdown bunch.
Okie never quit last night, but I noticed the place filing out beginning at the 6:00 minute mark of the 4th qtr. So this college crowd I was expecting died out quickly and the NBA crowd (ahem the green shirts) took over. OK city is actually pretty nice city.