Cavs (44-14) at Celtics (36-19) 2/25

[FLCeltsFan]

   at 
Cleveland Cavaliers  (44-14) at Boston Celtics (36-19)
Thursday, February 25
8:00 PM ET
Game #56, Home Game #26
TV: TNT, TSN2
Radio:  WEEI, WTAM 
TD Garden


Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
  vs 
Rajon Rondo vs Mo Williams

Shooting Guard
  vs 
Ray Allen vs Anthony Parker

Small Forward   
  vs 
Marquis Daniels vs LeBron James

Power Forward 
  vs 
Kevin Garnett vs Anderson Varejao

Center
  vs 
Kendrick Perkins vs Shaquille O'Neal 



Reserves
Rasheed Wallace
Glen Davis
Tony Allen
Nate Robinson
Shelden Williams
Brian Scalabrine
Marcus Landry

Injuries
Paul Pierce (thumb)  out
Marquis Daniels  (flu like symptoms)  questionable

Reserves
Daniel Gibson
Delonte West
Darnell Jackson
Jamario Moon
Jawad Williams
Anderson Varejao
Daniel Green
Leon Powe 

Injuries
Sebastian Telfair (groin) out
JJ Hickson (stomach)  questionable

Temporarily on Loan to Wizards While Bogus Trade is Completed
Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Key Matchups
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Mo Williams 
Mo Williams is capable of putting up big numbers and Rondo will need to keep his defensive focus to keep Mo in check.  He also needs to keep up his aggressiveness on offense if the Celtics have any chance of winning this.   

vs
Kevin Garnett vs Antawn Jamison
After a very rocky start on his new team, Jamison has settled down and is playing well.  However, if there is a weak spot in their starting 5 it would have to be Jamison who is still learning the plays and rotations for his new team.  Hopefully KG will continue his strong play of the last few games and he will be able to get the best of this matchup.   
             
Honorable Mention
Kendrick Perkins vs Shaquille O'Neal
Perk is one of the few players in the league who has been able to stand his ground vs Shaq.   Perk recently said that Shaq is very physical to play with the way he throws elbows.  Hopefully Perk will be up to the task of defending him without catching one of those elbows to the face or shoulder.   

Team Connections
Leon Powe and Delonte West are former Celtics
West was drafted by the Celtics with the 24th overall pick in the 2004 Draft
Powe played for the Celtics from 2006-09
Paul Pierce and Darnell Jackson are former KansasJayhawks
Daniel Green, Jawad Williams and Rasheed Wallace are former North Carolina Tar Heels
Shaquille O’Neal and Glen Davis both attended Louisiana State where Glen Davis was also known as Baby Shaq.   

Game Notes
 The Celtics are currently leading the season series, 1-0; Celtics and Cavaliers split season series 2-2 during 2008-09 season
 Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 20.3 points per game
 LeBron James averaged 27.5 points per game against the Celtics
 Celtics are 7-12 against Cleveland since the 2004-05 season
 The Celtics are leading the all-time series 110-65 with the Celtics 67-19 at home

This is the second of 4 meetings between these two rival teams.  The Cavs are healthy while the Celtics are still battling injuries and trying to get back to being healthy.   Paul Pierce will probably miss his second game with the thumb injury, while his replacement, Marquis Daniels,  is also questionable because of flu like symptoms.   One thing we do know is that no matter who is guarding him, LeBron James will likely get his points, especially since he never fouls in spite of barreling into the lane, knocking players out of the way like bowling pins on every play.   The key will be for the Celtics to stop his teammates from getting their points. 

Cleveland is in first place and 6.5 games ahead of Boston.  Since they face each other 3 more times, including this one, these games are big in terms of the standings.  The Celtics could make a move toward closing the gap between the two teams or they could lose ground quickly in these head to head matches.  Both teams are 7-3 in their last 10 games and Cleveland is 19-10 on the road while the Celtics are 16-9 at home. 

The Cavs are in the midst of playing 6 of 9 games on the road and will play 4 of their next 6 games away from home.  The Celtics are in the middle of a 3 game home stand.  The Celtics won the first meeting between these two teams on opening night as they beat them in Cleveland 95-89 so the Cavs will be looking to make a statement and to pay them back for that opening night loss. 

Leon Powe is expected to make his first appearance of the season in this game.  Most Celtics fans will be cheering for Leon while rooting against his team. 

Keys to the Game
1 Defense, Defense, Defense -Defense wins games and it wins championships.  The Cavs are tied with the Lakers for the biggest point differential (+6.6).  But, the Celtics are lead the league in points allowed (93. while the Cavs are tied with the Heat at 3rd (95.0).   The team that plays the stingiest defense will take home the win. 

 2. Take care of the basketball -  The Celtics have been going through periods in games recently where they have a flurry of turnovers.  They have to keep their focus and avoid turning the ball over. 
 
3. Play 48 Minutes -  This goes along with the second key.  The Celtics have to be focused from the tip off until the end of the game.  They can't afford to come out flat or lose their focus for any period against a team like the Cavs or they will take full advantage of it to put the Celtics away. 

4.  Rebound - The Celtics have to improve their rebounding.  When opponents get offensive rebounds, the Celtics give up second chance points and Shaq, Lebron and Varejao are all very good at getting tip ins and put backs.   When opponents get defensive rebounds it keys their fast break for easy baskets at the other end.  The Celtics have got to box out and to fight for rebounds and not allow the Cavs to beat them to them. 

Emotional X Factor
Leon Powe's return to the court for the first time this season. 

[FLCeltsFan]

Referees for tonight:  Scott Foster, David Jones, Sean Wright

[4THQTR]

TP FL, greatly done as usual!

This will be really tough if they are indeed without pierce and quisy...
If the celts don't come out on fire and play the entire 48 minutes for once this might get rather ugly.

Still, this team always has a shot and i'll be rooting for the c's even if it means staying up til 4.30 am... Darn time-difference 

[WeMadeIt17]

Well we are going to need big game outta Nate and Sheed tonight. And I feel that we are going to get big games out of those two! C's win 96-91

[Mr October]

Go celtics!!!

[Drucci]

It's going to be a tough, tough game!

I would hate to see the Cavaliers win in Boston (they haven't done it since 2007) but they clearly have good chances of winning tonight since we won't have Pierce. If Marquis plays, our chances improve a lot, if he doesn't... it will be hard but we can still win.

Like I said in the other thread, you can survive big games from LeBron as long as you shut down his teammates or let them choke by themselves under pressure.

We still have a big matchup advantage with Rondo vs Mo and Ray vs Parker, and the Cavs' defense hasn't been very good since the All-Star Break so we can still outscore them without much difficulty I think.

I expect both teams to bring their A+ game, and I would give the edge to Boston who really does want to make a statement, especially without Pierce.

We will need big contributions from the bench, especially from Sheed and Nate. I'm expecting a big game from Nate, the X Factor in this game!

Won't watch the game live unfortunately but I will catch a replay tomorrow... it looks like we're headed for a loss but the C's can surprise us, that's for sure.

TP FL and let's go C's!!

[MMacOH]

The Celtic guards can definitely out quick the Cavs.  The Cavs interior defense is very strong, but quick guards have been giving the Cavs fits since the all star break.

Putting Rondo and Nate on the floor together could really mess with the Cavs defense

[celticinorlando]

nate needs a lot of run in this game...he can do damage...only worried about slowing LBJ...but to me i think i would rather just let him go into hero mode and try to do it all himself

[jr_3421]

Sheed definitely needs to have a big night for us to win. I hope someone can light a fire under his butt tonight

[Evantime34]

Sheed definitely needs to have a big night for us to win. I hope someone can light a fire under his butt tonight

He has the ability to take Shaq out of the game by putting moves on him in the post or drawing Shaq out of the paint.

[PPTheZodiac]

Today is my birthday and the Celtics beating the Cavs will be my best present

[Kiorrik]

TP FL and:

LETS GO CELTICS!!!

[arctic 3.0]

I think we may see a lot of rondo, nate and ray playing together tonight.

small and fast.

[celticinorlando]

sounds like Q will play and PP might give it a go....PP's defense really is neded mire than his O tonight...agree...would like to see a lineup of Rondo, Nate, Ray, KG and Sheed

[celticinorlando]

PP is out per doc...next few games also....really don't need him until at cleveland march 14th...sked is pretty good until then