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Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20
« on: November 19, 2009, 03:28:36 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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at

Orlando Magic (9-3)  at  Boston Celtics (9-3)
Friday, November 20
8:00 PM ET
Game #13,  Home Game #7
TV: ESPN, SunSpO, CSN HD, RTV
Radio:  WDBO,  WEEI 
TD Garden





Probable Starters

PG:  Rajon Rondo PPG 10.3 RPG 3.5 APG 8.7
SG:  Ray Allen    PPG 15.2 RPG 2.7 APG 3.4


C:  Kendrick Perkins  PPG 10.1 RPG 7.1 BPG 2.0


SF:  Paul Pierce  PPG PPG 18.4 RPG 4.8 APG 4.1
PF:  Kevin Garnett   PPG 13.6 RPG 7.5 APG 2.4

Reserves
Eddie House
Rasheed Wallace
Marquis Daniels
Shelden Williams
Brian Scalabrine
Lester Hudson
Bill Walker
JR Giddens

Injured
Tony Allen (ankle) questionable
Big Baby Davis (thumb) out

Key Player
Rajon Rondo  When Rondo is aggressive and setting the pace for the game, the Celtics are a completely different team than when he is tentative.  As goes Rondo, so go the Celtics.  We saw this in the Warriors game.  In the first half, Rondo played tentatively and so did the Celtics but in the second half, Rondo was aggressive, taking the ball to the basket and pushing the pace of the game and the Celtics took over the game. 



Probable Starters


PG:  Jason Williams   PPG 5.3  RPG 1.3  APG 4.1
SG:  Vince Carter     PPG 17.1  RPG 3.9 APG 1.8


C:  Dwight Howard  PPG 18.1 RPG 10.7 BPG 1.8


SF:  Mickael Pietrus   PPG 10.0  RPG 3.2  APG  0.8
PF:  Rashard Lewis   PPG 13.5 RPG 6.0 APG 5.0 

Reserves
Marcin Gortat
JJ Redick
Ryan Anderson
Anthony Johnson
Matt Barnes
Brandon Bass

Injuries
Jameer Nelson (knee) out
Adonal Foyle  (knee)  out

Key Player
Dwight Howard   Howard leads the team in points, rebounds, and blocks. Rashard Lewis has played well since his return from his suspension and Vince Carter is playing well, but Howard is the leader on this team on both ends of the court.



Key Matchups
  vs
Kendrick Perkins vs Dwight Howard 
Perk did a great job of slowing Howard down in the playoffs last year and the Celtics will need him to once again defend Howard with single coverage.   His extra quickness from the weight loss should help Perk to stay with him.  Hopefully he hasn't lost the strength needed to keep Howard away from the basket. 

vs
Kevin Garnett vs Rashard Lewis
KG has his lift back but still doesn't look 100%, especially on defense.  But, his defense will be needed in this game as Rashard Lewis is well rested from his 10 game suspension and is raring to go.  He missed a triple double by one assist in his last game (17 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists) and that was in just three quarters.   

Honorable Mention
Bench vs Bench
The Celtics bench is much stronger than when these two teams met in the playoffs, and the Magic have a deep bench as well.   The Celtics will need Sheed, Quisy, House and Shelden to contribute and hold their own against the Magic bench.  The points scored by the benches may be the difference in this game. 

Team Connections
Doc Rivers coached the Magic from 1999-2004, winning the NBA’s Coach of the Year award in his first season
Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen were teammates in Seattle from 2003-07
Anthony Johnson and Brian Scalabrine were teammates in New Jersey from 2001-03
Anthony Johnson played for Doc Rivers in Orlando during the 1999-2000 season
Vince Carter and Brian Scalabrine were teammates in New Jersey during the 2004-05
season
Vince Carter and Rasheed Wallace are former North Carolina Tar Heels
Anthony Johnson and Shelden Williams were teammates in Atlanta and
Sacramento from 2006-08

Game Notes
• Celtics split the season series 2-2 with Orlando during the 2008-09 season
• Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 23.3 points per game last season
• Dwight Howard averaged 16.8 points, 15.5 rebounds and 4.00 blocks per game against the Celtics last season
• The Celtics are 8-10 against the Magic since the 2004-05 season
• The Celtics are leading the all-time series 42-37 with the Celtics 29-10 at home

This is the first meeting of these two teams since the Celtics were eliminated by the Magic in 7 games in last year's playoff semi-finals.   I am sure the Celtics would like to get even for that loss and show that they are top dog this season.  And I am also sure that the Magic are still smarting from Pierce's comment about them being poodles and will want to show that their win last season wasn't a fluke. 

The Magic have been playing very well, but are once again without their starting point guard who is again out with a knee injury.   The Celtics haven't been playing very well and their trademark defense has been missing for the most part in their last 4 games.  If they play like they did against the Warriors on Wednesday,  they will probably lose this one.  They have to get back their commitment to defense and keep their focus for 48 minutes as the Magic are not going to lie down and let the Celtics win this one.

Keys to the Game
Defense
The most important key to this game is for the Celtics to get back to their defense first mentality.  They have to clamp down on defense because they won't be able to out-shoot the Magic.  Their defense has been very lax over the last stretch of games and it will take a concerted effort from every player for the defense to get back to where it should be. 

Rebound
The Celtics have been out rebounded in a few games already this season.   Crashing the boards is very important in this game because of how dominant Howard is with put backs once he gets the rebounds.  The Celtics must limit Magic second chance baskets by boxing out and crashing the boards.   Effort, energy, and desire will show up in the rebounding stats.  The team that wants the game more will win the rebounding battle.  Hopefully, it will be the Celtics that want it more. 

Run the Offense
The Celtics must run their offense.  They have to move the ball and find the open man.  They have to run their set plays  and make their shots when they are open.   They have been relying on quick 3's way too much this season and need to get back to taking the ball inside and making the extra pass.   

Focus 

The Celtics need to come out focused from the start.  If they come out sluggish as they have in most of their games, they will find themselves in a hole that they may not be able to dig out of.  They have to maintain their focus for 4 quarters because if the Celtics lose focus at all during the game, the Magic will take advantage. 

Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2009, 03:29:16 PM »

Offline Fafnir

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This game worries me.

Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20
« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2009, 03:39:24 PM »

Offline angryguy77

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I think this game will tell if we are in fact playing down to our opponets or if we really do have a minor problem with the team.
Still don't believe in Joe.

Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20
« Reply #3 on: November 19, 2009, 04:59:02 PM »

Offline Thruthelookingglass

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I think this game will tell if we are in fact playing down to our opponets or if we really do have a minor problem with the team.

Yeah, I agree.  I'd hoped that our opening game against the Cavs was the answer we were looking for, but obviously those aren't the Celtics we've been watching since the first week.

Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2009, 05:08:04 PM »

Offline xmuscularghandix

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I think we are going to come out with a fire for this game.


Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20
« Reply #5 on: November 19, 2009, 05:19:49 PM »

Kiorrik

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This game worries me.
I assure you, all will be well.

Rondo will turn on "teh pwn" early and we'll cruise it. Honestly.

I'll be watching this game after a long day of work, and afterwards I'll have played my own game of basketball. I'm in a team of people under the age of 20, that had to play as 21+ because two of them are too old to play under20. Also, what used to be our first time (lots of old guys) won in their division and got promoted to what they call "Rajon" (harhar) over here. That's like three or four divisions into that age group. But since they're old, they don't want to play at that lvl anymore so now I'm up there, with the under20 kids. poo. U20 playing 1 age group and 3 divisions above their lvl!

Needless to say, we're bottom of the league, losing every match, and tomorrow I'm going to make my comeback after an 8 week recovery from a back injury I sustained while playing ball.

(yes, it's going to get to the point real soon, I realize the lvl of offtopicness is increasing :P)

... and we're playing against the no.1 in the league :]]

So, in short: I'm going to be a wreck. Afterwards I'll have to survive for 4 hours before the game starts, so I'll hang around and drink with my friends (aka teammates, friends first, teammates second ;D) and after that try to watch the game without falling asleep :)

I'm looking forward to it because I really want to play basketball again, and topping it off with Magic vs Boston is just absolutely AWESOME.

Again, sorry for the offtopicness but hey, had to get it off my chest :P

.edit; ps.: did I mention that the game will start at 2:00am and will last until about 4 or 4:30am? And that I have to get up at 8 to drive for 2 hours to go to my parents place? Just saying, I'm as much a die-hard fan as anyone here :P

I DEMAND RESPECT!

*stamps feet*

.. alright, I'll go and shut up now :D

Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20
« Reply #6 on: November 19, 2009, 05:28:41 PM »

Offline USG

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Celtics are ALWAYS playing the Magic when I'm on an airplane.

Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20
« Reply #7 on: November 19, 2009, 05:43:24 PM »

Offline KCattheStripe

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Celtics are ALWAYS playing the Magic when I'm on an airplane.


You flew a LOT last May...

Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20
« Reply #8 on: November 20, 2009, 05:22:57 AM »

Offline Drucci

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TP FL!

This game will be a great "test game". I'm expecting the Celtics to come out aggressive and excellent on defense, fueled by the desire of revenge against the Magic.

If they play flat and uninspired like the past few games... then I will be mad and worried.

But I'm confident that this game will put us back on track. Let's go C's!


Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20
« Reply #9 on: November 20, 2009, 05:31:58 AM »

Kiorrik

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TP FL!

This game will be a great "test game". I'm expecting the Celtics to come out aggressive and excellent on defense, fueled by the desire of revenge against the Magic.

If they play flat and uninspired like the past few games... then I will be mad and worried.

But I'm confident that this game will put us back on track. Let's go C's!


I'm asuming you'll be around these here parts tonight as well, my southern neighbour?

Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20
« Reply #10 on: November 20, 2009, 05:40:14 AM »

Offline Drucci

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TP FL!

This game will be a great "test game". I'm expecting the Celtics to come out aggressive and excellent on defense, fueled by the desire of revenge against the Magic.

If they play flat and uninspired like the past few games... then I will be mad and worried.

But I'm confident that this game will put us back on track. Let's go C's!


I'm asuming you'll be around these here parts tonight as well, my southern neighbour?

Unfortunately I probably won't! The game will not be broadcasted on my League Pass since it's broadcasted by a French TV (Canal +). But I will catch the replay tomorrow, even though I'd rather follow the game live (for the live fact and the game thread on CB which is always a lot of shared fun - or frustration -).

Enjoy the game, and I hope I will watch a Celtics victory tomorrow. :)

Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20
« Reply #11 on: November 20, 2009, 05:51:30 AM »

Kiorrik

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TP FL!

This game will be a great "test game". I'm expecting the Celtics to come out aggressive and excellent on defense, fueled by the desire of revenge against the Magic.

If they play flat and uninspired like the past few games... then I will be mad and worried.

But I'm confident that this game will put us back on track. Let's go C's!


I'm asuming you'll be around these here parts tonight as well, my southern neighbour?

Unfortunately I probably won't! The game will not be broadcasted on my League Pass since it's broadcasted by a French TV (Canal +). But I will catch the replay tomorrow, even though I'd rather follow the game live (for the live fact and the game thread on CB which is always a lot of shared fun - or frustration -).

Enjoy the game, and I hope I will watch a Celtics victory tomorrow. :)
Ah crap man. You shall be missed! :) Then again, I'm jealous (just a little bit) because you'll get a good night's sleep! That's worth something too, as an overseas Celtic fan, isn't it?

Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20
« Reply #12 on: November 20, 2009, 06:15:40 AM »

Offline ACF

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TP. Come on, Celts!

Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20
« Reply #13 on: November 20, 2009, 01:20:58 PM »

Offline QuinielaBox

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This is another one of those take it possestion by possestion kind of games. Keep Orlando to 0.8 points per possestion (PPP) and as long as we get .81 points per possestion (PPP) or better we win the game. The Celtics defensive PPP was down around .72 points the 1st 5 games and up around .98 since (or maybe worse). At Indiana was simply horrible for the Celtics in the 2nd half especially being over 1.

A lousy defensive PPP can be attributed to lack of defensive rebounding and playing passively on defense. The Celtics were guilty of both last Friday against Atlanta and were guilty again in the 1st half of the Golden State game Wednesday night. This cannot happen tonight. We better find our A game real quick.

Oh, and I will be reviewing the NBA game tape and put up a posesstion by posesstion cycle analysis post game. A possestion cycle is defined as 1 possestion by each team. There are an average of 96 possestion cycles (each lasting 30 seconds) in a typical NBA game. You always want your offensive PPP to be better than your defensive PPP in a given game. 
Wins are few, times are hard. Here is your bleeping St Patricks Day Card.

Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20
« Reply #14 on: November 20, 2009, 01:24:55 PM »

Offline jdpapa3

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7 point favorites...looks like a trap bet for Orlando backers.