Grizzlies (16-47) at Celtics (49-16) 3/13

[FLCeltsFan]

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Memphis Grizzlies (16-47) at Boston Celtics (49-16)
Friday, March 13
7:30 PM
Game #66, Home Game #33
TV:  CSN HD, Fox Sports Tennessee,  NBA LP 755
TD Banknorth Garden



Coach: Doc Rivers
Average Age: 26.4
Average Height: 6-6
Average Weight: 223

Probable Starters

Rajon Rondo/Ray Allen/Paul Pierce Pierce/LeonPowe/Kendrick  Perkins


Reserves
Mikki Moore
Stephon Marbury
JR Giddens
Eddie House
Leon Powe
Gabe Pruitt
Bill Walker
 
Injuries:
Tony Allen (thumb) out
Kevin Garnett (knee)  out
Brian Scalabrine (head)  out
Rajon Rondo (ankle) probable
Glen Davis (ankle)  day to day




Coach: Lionel Hollins
Average Age: 25.2
Average Height: 6-7
Average Weight: 225

Probable Starters

Mike Conley/OJ Mayo/ Rudy Gay/ Darrell Arthur/ Marc Gasol

Reserves
Darko Milicic
Hakim Warrick
Darius Miles
Quinton Ross
Greg Buckner
Marko Jaric

Injuries
Chris Mihm (ankle) out
Mike Wilks (ACL) out

D-League
Hamad Haddadi

Key Matchups
vs
Paul Pierce vs Rudy Gay
Rudy Gay has been one of the bright spots for the Grizzlies this season and should provide a good matchup with Paul Pierce. 

vs
Ray Allen vs OJ Mayo
Mayo has been on the national radar since high school and is a very promising young player and very athletic.  Ray needs to use his veteran wiles to get the better of this matchup. 

Honorable Mention
Kendrick Perkins vs Marc Gasol
Gasol has been playing well and Perk needs to be physical inside to keep him from getting easy baskets.  Gasol has a height advantage, but Perk has a strength advantage. 

Team Connections 
Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace was the Celtics GM from 1997-2007 (and made some of the worst deals in Celtics' history)
Rudy Gay and Ray Allen are former UConn Huskies
Darrell Arthur and Paul Pierce are former Kansas Jayhawks
OJ Mayo, Gabe Pruitt, and Brian Scalabrine are all former USC Trojans
OJ Mayo and Bill Walker were teammates at Huntington High School
Kendrick Perkins was drafted by the Grizzlies in the 2003 draft and then traded to the Celtics in a draft day deal.
Kendrick Perkins would have attended the University of Memphis if he didn't enter the draft directly from high school
Darius Miles played for the Celtics during the preseason
Chris Mihm played for the Celtics in the '03-04 season

Game Notes
The Grizzlies are 1-9 in their last 10 games with the Celtics going a slightly better 5-5 in spite of all of the injuries.  The Celtics are 26-6 at home whild the Grizzlies are 4-26 on the road.  The Grizzlies are a young team with 7 of their 14 players  23 or younger at the start of the season and young players tend to struggle more on the road than veteran players.  Memphis has lost 7 of their last 8 road games.  They are coming off a 104-79 loss to the Timberwolves who had lost their previous 10 games.  Hopefully, even as depleted as they are, the Celtics should be able to win this game. 

X-Factor
Focus and the New Guys
Stephon Marbury and Mikki Moore should be starting to get the Celtics' system and hopefully in a game like this one, they may finally pull it all together.  If the Celtics focus and come to play like they want to win it, they should be able to pull it out as even with everyone still out, this game is very winnable. 

[4THQTR]

TP for the preview!

Always enjoying those...


The celtics have to win that one and i'm hoping to see ray and paul getting some rest.

[Celtic]

The winning streak starts Friday.

[greenwise]

We need a win! Let's get #50!!

Is Leon playing tonight?

[FLCeltsFan]

I haven't seen anything either way about Leon in the Boston papers.  They haven't even mentioned an injury.  I hope he plays or Perk and Mikki will have to play 48 minutes unless Bill Walker can give us some more PF minutes.  We are running out of bigs....   But, since we haven't seen anything about it, hopefully Leon will be able to play. 

[Brickowski]

This is probably another loss.  The Grizz have been playing well and the undermanned Celtics are just terrible right now (and not improving, either).

[crownsy]

This is probably another loss.  The Grizz have been playing well and the undermanned Celtics are just terrible right now (and not improving, either).

and if leon isn't at full strength, were down to 2 big men.

Just gotta battle and hope for the best.

[greenwise]

I think we will beat the Grizz at home tonight. This team is hungry for a win, and no way Ray and Paul let this game slip. Plus, Marbury and Moore will be very motivated tonight

[Jon Niednagel]

This is probably another loss.  The Grizz have been playing well and the undermanned Celtics are just terrible right now (and not improving, either).

The Grizz have been playing well?

[CelticsWhat35]

This is probably another loss.  The Grizz have been playing well and the undermanned Celtics are just terrible right now (and not improving, either).

Step 1 - Think
Step 2 - Think again
Step 3 - Type
Step 4 - Post

[papa shuttlesworth]

This should be a fun game.

I wonder how many people in the world have a Memphis Grizzlies chandelier.  Six? Fifteen?

[Jon Niednagel]

I don't want to jinx anything, but I think the Celtics win tonight. Living in Memphis, I see my fair share of the Grizz. They have trouble getting stops (especially when it counts) and they just don't know how to close out winnable games. I've seen Memphis struggle against good defensive teams and, in general, they seem to lack scoring consistency despite having several high scoring games. They seem to get their buckets in bunches and then disappear for a while. When they are on, the Grizz are a pretty good team and fun to watch because of their nice young talent. They can win a game here and there, but a veteran team like the Celtics (at home no less) should be able to win this one undermanned or not. In a way, these Grizz remind me of the Celtics 2-3 years ago sans Paul Pierce.

[TatteredOnMySleeve]

This is probably another loss.  The Grizz have been playing well and the undermanned Celtics are just terrible right now (and not improving, either).

Step 1 - Think
Step 2 - Think again
Step 3 - Type
Step 4 - Post

Bricks got a point actually...the celtics are terrible right now, and without rondo, KG and a chunk of the bench...we're in the grizzlies league (ouch)

[CelticsWhat35]

This is probably another loss.  The Grizz have been playing well and the undermanned Celtics are just terrible right now (and not improving, either).

Step 1 - Think
Step 2 - Think again
Step 3 - Type
Step 4 - Post

Bricks got a point actually...the celtics are terrible right now, and without rondo, KG and a chunk of the bench...we're in the grizzlies league (ouch)

What "point" did he make?  The only thing he was right about was that we're undermanned, which isn't so much a point as it is a fact.  If I tell you the sky is blue, are you gonna say, "Good point"??

And losing two close games to the Magic and Heat isn't "terrible".  Losing by 25 to a Big Al-less Wolves team is terrible.

[ManUp]

  at 

Wow...

No way I could not give you a TP, lol.