vs
Boston Celtics (0-1) vs Cleveland Cavaliers (0-1)
Friday, October 10
Dunkin' Donuts Center
Providence, Rhode Island
7:30 PM
TV: CSN
Radio: WEEI
Probable Starters Rajon Rondo/Ray Allen/Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett/Patrick O'Bryant
The Bench Tony Allen
Glen Davis
JR Giddens
Eddie House
Darius Miles
Leon Powe
Gabe Pruitt
Brian Scalabrine
Bill Walker
Sam Cassell
Not Playing Kendrick Perkins (Shoulder)
Probable Starters Mo Williams/Wally Szczerbiak/LeBron James/Ben Wallace/Zydrunas Ilgauskas
The BenchDaniel Gibson
Tarence Kinsey
JJ Hickson
Sasha Pavlovic
Anderson Varejao
Ronald Dupree
Darnell Jackson
Jawad Williams
Vernon Hamilton
Michael Dickerson
Delonte West
Lorenzen Wright
Not Playing
Eric Snow (Knee)
The Cavs lost their first game 104-84 to the Raptors. LeBron James played only 8 minutes. After his Olympic experience, I am sure they will try to rest him as much as possible in the preseason. Ilgauskas carried the scoring load with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Mo Williams paid dividends in his first game with 12 points and Daniel Gibson was a spark off the bench with 12 points. They have a 3 way battle going for the starting shooting guard. Pavlovic started the first game, Wally is expected to start this game, and Delonte West will also get a chance at the position. Delonte missed the first game due to personal reasons.
The Celtics also lost their first game, although much closer than the Raptors' loss. The play of the young celtics was encouraging, especially Bill Walker, Patrick O'Bryant and Darius Miles. Now, to see if they can build on that first performance and improve in this game. The Celtics turned the ball over 26 times and that was definitely a factor in their first loss and hopefully they will take better care of the ball in this one. Once again, expect about 8 minutes in each half from the Big 3 and for the bench to once again see the majority of minutes. Both coaches will be experimenting with different lineups and looking for which combinations work and which ones don't.
One thing is for certain, even in the pre-season, every team that plays the Celtics are going to give it their best shot to beat them. The champs have a target on their backs and every team wants to beat them.