Wolves (4-22) at Celtics (20-5) 12/20

[FLCeltsFan]

  at 
Minnesota Timberwolves (4-22) at Boston Celtics (20-5)
Sunday, December 20
6:00 PM ET
Game 26,  Home Game 13
TV: CSN HD, FSNN-Min, NBA LP 753, 754
Radio: WEEI, KFAN
TD Garden



Coach: Doc Rivers
Average Age: 27.8
Average Height: 6-6
Average Weight: 224

Probable Starters

PG:  Rajon Rondo  PPG 12.0 APG 9.5 SPG 2.5
SG:  Ray Allen   PPG 15.5 APG 3.0 3P% .364
SF: Paul Pierce   PPG 18.0 RPG 4.4 APG 3.8
PF:  Kevin Garnett PPG 15.3 RPG 7.5 BPG 0.7
C:   Kendrick Perkins PPG 12.0 RPG 7.5 BPG 1.9

Reserves
Rasheed Wallace
Eddie House
Shelden Williams
JR Giddens
Brian Scalabrine
Tony Allen

Injuries
Glen Davis (thumb) out
Marquis Daniels (wrist) out

D-League
Bill Walker
Lester Hudson




Coach: Kurt Rambis
Average Age: 25.4
Average Height: 6-7
Average Weight: 227

Probable Starters
       
PG: Jonny Flynn   PPG 14.0 APG 4.2 SPG 1.1
SG:  Corey Brewer   PPG 11.4  APG 2.2  3P% .190
SF:   Damiel Wilkins   PPG 5.1 RPG 3.5 APG 1.6
PF:   Kevin Love    PPG 14.4  RPG 12.4 BPG .6
C:    Al Jefferson     PPG 16.8 RPG 9.1 BPG 0.9

Reserves
Mark Blount
Brian Cardinal
Wayne Ellington
Jason Hart
Ryan Hollins
Nathan Jawai
Sasha Pavlovic
Ramon Sessions
Oleksiy Pecherov

Injuries
Ryan Gomes (ankle)  questionable


Team Connections
Kevin Garnett played for the Timberwolves from 1995-2007
 Ryan Gomes and Al Jefferson are former Celtic draft picks and were included in the trade for Kevin Garnett
Ray Allen was originally drafted by the Timberwolves with the 5th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft
Dave Wohl was an Assistant Coach with the Celtics from 2004-07 and
Assistant GM from 2007-09
Damien Wilkins and Ray Allen were teammates in Seattle from 2004-07
Shelden Williams played for the Timberwolves during the 2008-09 season
Mark Blount played for the Celtics from 2000-06
Wayne Ellington and Rasheed Wallace are former North Carolina Tar Heels

Key Matchups
  vs 
Kendrick Perkins vs Al Jefferson
This is a match-up of good friends who know each others' games very well.  I can see them playing for bragging rights in this one.  Big Al's strength is in his offense where Perk's strength is in his defense.  Should be a good match-up. 

  vs 
Jonny Flynn is a very young and talented point guard who will be a good matchup for Rondo.  In their first meeting Rondo out played Flynn as he had 18 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals to 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists for Flynn. 

Honorable Mention
Kevin Garnett vs Kevin Love
The Wolves past vs their present and future.   Love is a talented young player.  In the first game between these two teams, Love was injured and so this will be the first matchup between these two players. 

Game Notes 
• The C’s are currently leading the season series 1-0; the Celtics won the season series 2-0 against the Timberwolves in 2008-09
• Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 24.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game last season
• Al Jefferson averaged 28.5 points and 7.5 rebounds against the team that drafted him
• The C’s are currently on a six game winning streak against Minnesota, the longest for either team in the history of the series
• The Celtics are leading the all-time series 24-16 with the Celtics 12-8 at home

The fortunes of the Wolves and Celtics have been joined more than probably any two teams in the league.   There are 3 former Celtics on the Wolves (Jefferson, Gomes and Blount) playing against their former team and KG playing against the team that drafted him and where he played for 10 seasons.   With Gomes questionable and Blount more than likely on the inactive list where he belongs, the ties aren't quite as strong. 

In the first meeting between these two teams, the Celtics pulled out a 2 point win.   This seems like it should be an easy win but the Celtics seem to have a problem focusing at home.  At least it's not on a Friday. 

Keys to the Game
Defense - The key to every game
Play 48 minutes - Start strong and no let downs
Aggressive PG - As goes Rondo so go the Celtics
Crash the boards - They must rebound better

X-Factor
Focus - The Celtics have had problems with focus at home and they need to somehow find a way to focus at home the way they have been on the road. 

[Drucci]

TP FL!

Definitely the perfect game to get back on track at home and play focused and dominant basketball in Boston once again... it has been a long time since we've seen that.

I sure hope to see a focused Celtics team and not the complacent one that showed up too often this season when playing at home.

With that said, I know that the Wolves always play well against us but I don't care, I want to see a blowout and a statement game. The Garden must be a scary place for opponents, and not a court where you play with confidence and feel like you can actually win.

Let's go C's!

[dark_lord]

minny always plays us tough.  but after fridays game, i expect a dominate performance by the celts

[Kiorrik]

Let's have it. Looking forward to the game.

[jackson_34]

C's have to be ruthless in this game. The team doesn't need go into a slump right before Christmas!

[Donoghus]

Should be a fun one to watch.

[JBcat]

The first home game back after a long road trip (7 out of the last is usually a tough one.   I expecting a dominant game tonight.

BTW I work with the guy that hit the half court shot for 50K.   However under the C's jersey he was wearing he is a Sixers fan.   I'm calling the jinx of the winning streak on him

[Bahku]

So ... any predictions? I'm thinking Celts by 16.

[Bahku]

So cool that we have two of the leading technical foul players on our team. 

[ManUp]

Looks like I'm missing this one.

[Donoghus]

Gorman and Heinsohn are right on.  The Perk/Big Al matchup is a fun one to watch.

[Kiorrik]

So ... any predictions? I'm thinking Celts by 16.

I'm not predicting anymore. Seems like I'm always wrong. I'll just sit back and enjoy (while they win by 24 lol)

[Drucci]

So ... any predictions? I'm thinking Celts by 16.

I'm not predicting anymore. Seems like I'm always wrong. I'll just sit back and enjoy (while they win by 24 lol)

I'm going to be bold and predict Celtics by 25. I can't see our team not winning in big fashion after the horrid effort of Friday.

[bello_man09]

We need a convincing win, at least by 15.

[Bahku]

So ... any predictions? I'm thinking Celts by 16.

I'm not predicting anymore. Seems like I'm always wrong. I'll just sit back and enjoy (while they win by 24 lol)

I'm going to be bold and predict Celtics by 25. I can't see our team not winning in big fashion after the horrid effort of Friday.

Hey, I hope you're right, Dru, I would love that ... T-Wolves always seem to give the C's trouble for whatever reasons, and Al LOVES to have big games against us. (Crosses fingers)