Celtics (2-1) at Bulls (1-2) Game 4 4/26

[FLCeltsFan]

  at 
Boston Celtics (2-1) at Chicago Bulls (1-2)
Postseason Game #4, Road Game #2
Sunday, April 26
1:00 PM ET
TV:  ABC
Pregame:  CSN HD, 12:00 PM
United Center


Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
  vs 
Rajon Rondo vs Derrick Rose 

Shooting Guard
  vs 
Ray Allen vs Ben Gordon

Small Forward
  vs 
Paul Pierce vs John Salmons

Power Forward
  vs 
Glen Davis vs Tyrus Thomas

Center
  vs 
Kendrick Perkins vs Joakim Noah


Coach: Doc Rivers
Average Age: 27.4
Average Height: 6-6
Average Weight: 222

Reserves
Mikki Moore 
Stephon Marbury 
Eddie House   
Tony Allen 
Brian Scalabrine   
Gabe Pruitt 
Bill Walker

Key Reserves
 
Mikki Moore
With both Leon Powe and Kevin Garnett out, the Celtics will depend even more on Mikki Moore.  He need to limit his fouls and give the team solid minutes off the bench. 
Stephon Marbury
Steph gave the Celtics solid minutes at the back up point in game 3 and even took a beating for it, ending the game with bandages over his eye.  The Celtics need Marbury to give them solid back up at the point. 

Injuries:
Kevin Garnett (knee)  out
Leon Powe (ACL)  out 
Rondo (ankle and feet)  will play


Coach: Vinny Del Negro
Average Age: 27.3
Average Height: 6-7
Average Weight: 219

Reserves
Kirk Hinrich   
Tim Thomas 
Brad Miller   
Lindsey Hunter 
Anthony Roberson 
Linton Johnson   
Aaron Gray   

Key Reserves
 
Brad Miller
Brad Miller is a key big man off the bench and has been playing a lot of minutes for the Bulls.  They will depend on him to help on the boards and to keep pressure on the Celtics big men.
Kirk Hinrich
Hinrich is a starting caliber point guard who comes off the bench.  He is a tough defender and can spread the floor with his range.   

Injuries
Luol Deng (shin) out
Jerome James (Achilles)  out   

Team Connections
Celtics assistant coach Clifford Ray played for the Bulls from 1971-74
Ben Gordon and Ray Allen are former UConn Huskies
Paul Pierce and Kirk Hinrich are former Kansas Jayhawks
Glen Davis and Tyrus Thomas were teammates at LSU
Mikki Moore, Brad Miller, and John Salmons were teammates in Sacramento

Key Matchups
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Derrick Rose
Rajon Rondo has been the most consistent and best player for the Celtics so far in this round.  Derrick Rose had a spectacular first game but then was inconsistent in the next two games.  This is still the key matchup between these two teams.  Rondo is key to setting the tempo and keeping the Celtics in their offense.  He must also defend Rose and keep him from having another big game. 

vs
Paul Pierce vs John Salmons
Paul Pierce came out with his game face in game 3 and the Celtics will need the same kind of production from Pierce in this game.  Without KG in the lineup to lead the team, it is up to Pierce to be the leader on the court.  Salmons is still somewhat limited by the groin injury and so Pierce needs to go at him early and often. 

Honorable Mention
  vs 
Glen Davis vs Tyrus Thomas
These two have been friends from way back and they were teammates at LSU.  But, as we saw in the last game, there is no love between them on the court.  Big Baby has been playing incredible ball and has been out playing Thomas in the series.  The Celtics will need Big Baby to continue his strong play if they want to pull out this win and this series. 

Coaching Matchup
vs
Doc Rivers vs Vinny Del Negro
So far, Doc's experience and Vinny's lack of it have been a factor. As the series goes on, the ability of the coaches to make adjustments will be more and more important. 

Keys to the Game
Defense - In game 3, the Celtics found their defensive intensity that was missing in the first two games.  They will need to keep that defensive focus and intensity in this game and throughout the playoffs if they want to continue to win.  Defense wins championships. 

Ball Movement  In the first two games there wasn't the ball movement that has made this team so tough to beat.  There were too many quick shots and too many iso's.   In game 3, the Celtics moved the ball and found the open man.  Hopefully we will see that same kind of ball movement in this game. 

Rebounding
The Celtics need to control the boards to limit the Bulls second chance points and fast breaks.  At the same time, they can give themselves an advantage with put backs and second chance points along with igniting their own fast breaks.  The team that leads in rebounding is usually the team that wants the game more and puts out the most effort. 

Focus 
The Celtics came out very focused in game 3 and never let up.  They need to give that same kind of effort in this game. 

X-Factor
Afternoon Game
The Celtics have not played will in afternoon games this season.  They were a step slow in the first game and gave up home court because of it. Now, they have a chance to gain a commanding 3-1 lead in the series going back home for game 5.  They need to come out with the same kind of focus they had on Thursday night and close this series out in 5 games.

[Cs09Champs]

TP for the preview!
We gotta win this one!
LETS GO CELTICS!

[tenn_smoothie]

what a treat to watch the Celts demolish chicago in game 3 - just forced their will on a mentally weaker team.

but the Celtics are still a very tired team - which all the injuries are a product of - and which all the injuries just aggravates. too many tough games in too short a time going back to last season.

that fatigue shows up in a glaring way when the ship gets off course and the wheels come off very quickly - as in the final regular season game @ cleveland. there is just not enough reserve strength, both mental and physical, to draw from when a game - or a streak of games - goes the wrong way.

the most exhausted Celtic is paul pierce and i think when he struggles badly and looks disinterested, it's the enormous toll of the past two seasons showing up, especially since he has had to carry this team through all the injuries this season.

wasn't it vince lombardi who said that fatigue makes a coward out of all of us ?

i just don't see how the Celtics can win this year - they will probably fight their guts out to get to the eastern finals and have a very tough time beating lebron butkus & co. a title this year would be a bigger miracle than '69.

if that's the way it goes, or even if they win another title ....... they need to add a couple of key backups over the off-season and get everyone healthy to make at least one more big run at another banner for this group. they deserve it.

Go Celtics !!

[Drucci]

Nice preview, as usual, TP!

I expect the C's to win this game and get a serious lead in the series but I can't help being worried about our team's performance because the game is at 1:00 pm, and the Celtics play badly on the afternoons... maybe because their routine is broken, I don't know but I hope they'll show up Sunday because a win would almost guarantee a ticket to the second round.

[lon3lytoaster]

Nice preview, as usual, TP!

I expect the C's to win this game and get a serious lead in the series but I can't help being worried about our team's performance because the game is at 1:00 pm, and the Celtics play badly on the afternoons... maybe because their routine is broken, I don't know but I hope they'll show up Sunday because a win would almost guarantee a ticket to the second round.

This is a valid point. I don't remember the last time we won a game on an early afternoon game. I suppose we could have Baby pull a Shaq and rip down the rim in the first quarter, though. Then hopefully the game will be delayed for around five or so hours. That plan makes enough sense to me.

[Cman]

Thanks for the preview!
Go Cs!

[BigAlTheFuture]

Game 4 is crucial. We win this and we could very well win the series.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Hopefully we play well despite it being an early game.

[Cman]

Hopefully we play well despite it being an early game.

The last good afternoon game we played was against the Thunder, if memory still serves me....  Let's hope to break the afternoon game curse tomorrow.

[Scalablob990]

Nice preview, as usual, TP!

I expect the C's to win this game and get a serious lead in the series but I can't help being worried about our team's performance because the game is at 1:00 pm, and the Celtics play badly on the afternoons... maybe because their routine is broken, I don't know but I hope they'll show up Sunday because a win would almost guarantee a ticket to the second round.

This is a valid point. I don't remember the last time we won a game on an early afternoon game. I suppose we could have Baby pull a Shaq and rip down the rim in the first quarter, though. Then hopefully the game will be delayed for around five or so hours. That plan makes enough sense to me.

That was before my time of watching ball (I was like 7 when that happened), but wouldn't an event such as that lead to a technical fould at least?

[Atzar]

Nice preview, as usual, TP!

I expect the C's to win this game and get a serious lead in the series but I can't help being worried about our team's performance because the game is at 1:00 pm, and the Celtics play badly on the afternoons... maybe because their routine is broken, I don't know but I hope they'll show up Sunday because a win would almost guarantee a ticket to the second round.

This is a valid point. I don't remember the last time we won a game on an early afternoon game. I suppose we could have Baby pull a Shaq and rip down the rim in the first quarter, though. Then hopefully the game will be delayed for around five or so hours. That plan makes enough sense to me.

That was before my time of watching ball (I was like 7 when that happened), but wouldn't an event such as that lead to a technical fould at least?

I don't know - people hang on the rim all the time, so as long as Baby didn't make it blatantly obvious what he was doing I don't think it'd be possible to punish him for it.

[Cs09Champs]

I got this from the Globe:

Captain Paul Pierce is urging the Celtics to set the tone against the Chicago Bulls in Sunday's game.

"Personally, I don't want to come back to Chicago," Pierce said after a 1 1/2-hour practice at DePaul University Saturday. "We had a good day of practice.

"I'm treating this game like we lost Game 3. So, it's going to be my mindset to go out here and win Game 4 and, hopefully, put it away at home."

The Celtics took a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series with a 107-86 victory over the Bulls Thursday.

I like it! 

[BigAlTheFuture]

I got this from the Globe:

Captain Paul Pierce is urging the Celtics to set the tone against the Chicago Bulls in Sunday's game.

"Personally, I don't want to come back to Chicago," Pierce said after a 1 1/2-hour practice at DePaul University Saturday. "We had a good day of practice.

"I'm treating this game like we lost Game 3. So, it's going to be my mindset to go out here and win Game 4 and, hopefully, put it away at home."

The Celtics took a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series with a 107-86 victory over the Bulls Thursday.

I like it! 

Great. I'm expecting them to come out harder game 4 then. Lets put this team away.

[4THQTR]

TP for the preview!

Not sure if i'm supposed to be happy about it being and afternoon game or not.
On one hand it's perfect for me, it'll be seven p.m in switzerland when it starts, so i won't have to stay up until 4 in the morning...
On the other hand the celtics haven't been playing well in these early games and i really want them to take care of business today and finish the series in boston...

This team needs all the rest it can get!

[mjohnson]

Nice preview, as usual, TP!

I expect the C's to win this game and get a serious lead in the series but I can't help being worried about our team's performance because the game is at 1:00 pm, and the Celtics play badly on the afternoons... maybe because their routine is broken, I don't know but I hope they'll show up Sunday because a win would almost guarantee a ticket to the second round.

This is a valid point. I don't remember the last time we won a game on an early afternoon game. I suppose we could have Baby pull a Shaq and rip down the rim in the first quarter, though. Then hopefully the game will be delayed for around five or so hours. That plan makes enough sense to me.

there's a 1:00PM game against CLE on a regular season in 2007-08. The score is like on 80s. The Celtics won even though the big 3 obtain a worst field goal percentage. LBJ also got a worst percentage too.