Nets (4-44) at Celtics (31-16) 2/5

[FLCeltsFan]

   at 
New Jersey Nets (4-44) at Boston Celtics (31-16)
Friday, February 5
7:30 PM ET
Game #48  Home Game #23
TV:  CSN-NE, YES HD, NBA-LP 755, 756
TD Garden


ProbableStarting Matchups
Point Guard
  vs 
Rajon Rondo vs Devin Harris

Shooting Guard 
  vs 
Ray Allen vs Courtney Lee

Small Forward
  vs 
Tony Allen vs Jarvis Hayes   

Power Forward
  vs 
Kevin Garnett vs Yi Jianlian   

Center
  vs 
Kendrick Perkins vs Brook Lopez




Reserves
Eddie House
Shelden Williams
Glen Davis
Bill Walker
Rasheed Wallace 
Brian Scalabrine

Injuries:
Marquis Daniels (thumb)  out
Paul Pierce (foot)  out 
JR Giddens (knee)  out 


Reserves
Josh Boone
Bobby Simmons
Trenton Hassell
Keyon Dooling
Tony Battie 
Jarvis Hayes
Chris Douglas Roberts
Kris Humphries
Chris Quinn
Terrence Williams

Injuries
Keyon Dooling (hip) questionable
Bobby Simmons (not with the team)

Key Matchups
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Devin Harris
 Last season, Harris beat out Rondo for a spot on the All Star team and this year Rondo beat out Harris for the All Star spot.   This should be a good matchup of 2 very quick point guards.  Hopefully Rondo will continue to play aggressively as he has in the Celtics last two games. 

vs
Kendrick Perkins vs Brook Lopez
Lopez has been one of the bright spots for the Nets in an otherwise dismal season.   Lopez is the team's scoring leader at 18.9 ppg, in rebounds at 9.1 rpg and in blocks at 2.0 ppg.  If Perk can slow down Lopez, this should be a fairly easy win. 

Honorable Mention
Kevin Garnett vs Yi Jianlian
KG has been showing improvement with each game he plays.  He should be able to win this matchup if he continues on that path of improvement. 

Team Connections
Brian Scalabrine played for the Nets from 2001-05
Josh Boone and Ray Allen are former UConn Huskies
Eddie House played for the Nets during the 2006-07 season
Assistant Coaches Doug Overton (1999-2001) and Roy Rogers (1997-98) both played for the Celtics
Eddie House and Keyon Dooling were teammates with the Clippers during the 2003-04 season
Tony Battie played for the Celtics from1998-2004 and drove Paul Pierce to the hospital after he was stabbed in 2000
Trenton Hassell and Kevin Garnett were teammates in Minnesota from 2003-07
Marquis Daniels and Devin Harris were teammates in Dallas from 2004-06
Jarvis Hayes and Rasheed Wallace were teammates in Detroit during the 2007-08 season

Game Notes
• The C’s are leading the season series 2-0; Celtics swept the season series 4-0 against New Jersey in 2008-09
• Paul Pierce is leading the C’s with an average of 20.0 points per game against the Nets this season
• Brook Lopez is leading the Nets with an average of 20.5 points per game against the Celtics this season
• The Celtics are currently on a 10-game winning streak against the Nets which marks their longest winning streak against the Nets since an 11
game winning streak that spanned the 1980-81 and 1981-82 season
• The Celtics are leading the all-time series 105-54 with the Celtics 55-24 at home

The Nets have been suffering through a terrible season.  They have won just 4 games so far this season, beating only Charlotte, Chicago,  New York, and the Clippers.  Needless to say, now that they have proved to be so dismal, teams will be putting out extra effort so as not to join the limited club of teams that have lost to the woeful Nets. 

The Nets are 1-24 on the road and 1-9 in their last 10 games while the Celtics are 14-8 at home and 4-6 in their last 10.   The Nets are on a 4 game losing streak while the Celtics are on a modest 2 game win streak. 

The Celtics seem to be getting back on track as they get healthier.  They are expected to be without Paul Pierce again in this game but with the way Tony has been playing, he should be able to once again fill in for the injured Captain.    On the other hand, the Nets appear to have given up on the season and are looking forward to the John Wall sweepstakes. 

While posting the Nets' roster, I kept thinking:  "He's still in the league?"  They have a nice starting lineup, but their bench is mostly expiring contracts waiting for the big 2010 free agent class.  But, in spite of all this, the Celtics can't overlook this team.  There are 4 teams in the Nets loss column who prove this.  The Celtics should win this one easily as long as they come in focused and not take the Nets for granted.   

Keys to the Game
Limit Turnovers  The Celtics must take better care of the basketball.  They have been turning the ball over at an alarming rate and must make better passes and keep their focus so as to limit these turnovers.  They improved somewhat against the Heat and need to continue to make this a priority. 

Rebound  Rebounding shows the amount of effort and desire a team has.  The Celtics must bring both effort and desire and crash the boards on both ends.  They out rebounded an opponent for the first time in several games against Miami.  They need to continue to put out effort on the glass. 

Defense No explanation needed.   Defense is the key to winning.  Period.

Play 48 Minutes The Celtics seem to either be hot at the beginning and then let up at the end of games or they come out sluggish and have to play catch up the entire game.  They must come out focused and stay focused for the full 48 minutes.

X-Factor
Trap Game
As bad as the Nets have been, it would be easy to look past them to the Magic on Sunday.  But that would be a mistake because the Nets have played teams hard but just can't seem to finish.  If the Celtics let up, they might just be surprised by a team who decides to try a bit harder to beat a division rival. 

[celticinorlando]

blow out...i am calling it now

[Donoghus]

I can't remember, were they without Harris last time we played?  In that blowout?

[celticinorlando]

I can't remember, were they without Harris last time we played?  In that blowout?

no he played

[WeMadeIt17]

This better be a slaughter game.

[Donoghus]

I can't remember, were they without Harris last time we played?  In that blowout?

no he played

Ahh... just checked.  It was the first game this season that we played the Nets that he didn't play.   I knew I thought he was out.

[BASS_THUMPER]

i wont be here with ya fellas..big bertha gonna treat me to that flix "legion"..

i already told i wont kiss her even tho it's are 3rd date..

[Redz]

Time to show some muscle on the weaklings

[Rondo_is_better]

I can't remember, were they without Harris last time we played?  In that blowout?

no he played

Ahh... just checked.  It was the first game this season that we played the Nets that he didn't play.   I knew I thought he was out.

Doesn't matter....dude actually sucks.

[PosImpos]

Over / under on how soon Ray will be traded if we get blown out by the Nets?

Okay, most likely not going to happen (*knock on wood*), but it's almost funny to imagine what the reaction would be if we were.

[PosImpos]

i wont be here with ya fellas..big bertha gonna treat me to that flix "legion"..

i already told i wont kiss her even tho it's are 3rd date..

my condolences...awful movie

[BASS_THUMPER]

i wont be here with ya fellas..big bertha gonna treat me to that flix "legion"..

i already told i wont kiss her even tho it's are 3rd date..

my condolences...awful movie

im mo worried bout bertha...she payin my way so ill put up with her lickiin her fingers in her extra extra butta popcorn and diet dr pepper..sounds like fire crackers on the 4th

[thebat]

This should be a massacre! Quick and easy death for the Nets!

[Drucci]

This should be a massacre! Quick and easy death for the Nets!

Yep, let's get a good blowout to warmup for the Orlando game on Sunday!

TP FL and let's go C's!

[jadams5214]

Finally the C's have an easy game.  It will do them good to have a blowout win and get some confidence. They have an incredibly difficult West Coast road trip on the horizon and given how poorly they finished the last one, it will be tough.

Easy game tonight, the first Celtic blowout since the last time they played the Nets...