Celtics (38-21) at Sixers (22-38) 3/5

[FLCeltsFan]

at
Boston Celtics (38-21) at Philadelphia 76ers (22-38)
Friday, March 5
7:00 PM ET
Game #60 Road Game #32
TV:  CSNP, CSN HD, LP 752
Wachovia Center



Coach: Doc Rivers
Average Age: 28.4
Average Height: 6-6
Average Weight: 228

Probable Starters

Rajon Rondo  PPG 14.0  9.9 APG   2.5 SPG


Ray Allen   16.3 PPG   2.7 APG   .346 3P%


Paul Pierce  17.9 PPG  4.4 RPG  3.2 APG


Kevin Garnett   14.4 PPG  7.4 RPG  0.9 BPG


Kendrick Perkins  10.9 PPG  7.8 RPG  1.8 BPG

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

Injuries
None (Never thought I'd get to put that this season)

New Guy coming Saturday
Michael Finley




Coach: Eddie Jordan
Average Age:26.0
Average Height: 6-6
Average Weight: 214

Probable Starters

Lou Williams   15.0  PPG  4.1 APG  1.4 SPG

 
Jrue Holiday    6.2 PPG  2.8 APG  .385 3P%
 

Andre Iguodala   17.2 PPG  6.7 RPG 5.8 APG

 
Thaddeus Young    13.9 PPG  5.3 RPG .2 BPG

 
Samuel Dalembert  7.6 PPG   9.6 RPG  2.1 BPG

Reserves 
Marreese Speights
Jason Kapono
Rodney Carney
Willie Green
Jason Smith
Jodie Meeks

Injuries
Elton Brand (Achilles) Game Time Decision
Francisco Elson (Hernia)  out
Allen Iverson (Personal)  out     

Team Connections
Tom Thibodeau was an assistant coach in Philadelphia from 1994-96
Elton Brand and Shelden Williams are former Duke Blue Devils
Shelden Williams and Rodney Carney were teammates in Minnesota during the 2008-09 season.
Allen Iverson and Rasheed Wallace were
teammates in Detroit during the 2008-09 season

Key Matchups
  vs 
Rajon Rondo vs Lou Williams
Lou Williams has been making the most of his time as a starter this season and has been playing very well.  If Rondo takes him for granted, Williams will make him pay.   

vs
Paul Pierce vs Andre Iguodala 
Pierce looked very good against the Bobcats and hopefully he will be even better for this one.   Pierce's defense will be needed in this game as much as his offense to try to control Iguodala who can be dangerous.   

Honorable Mention
Kendrick Perkins vs Samuel Dalembert   
Perk has been struggling somewhat lately.  This should be a good matchup for him to get his game back on track. 

Game Notes
 The C’s are currently 2-1 against the Sixers this season; the Celtics swept the season series 4-0 against Philadelphia in 2008-09
 Paul Pierce is leading the C’s with an average of 19.0 points per game against the Sixers
 Andre Iguodala is leading the Sixers with an average of 20.0 points per game against the C’s this year
 The 2008-09 season sweep marked the first time since the 1995-96 season that the Celtics swept the season series with the 76ers
 The Celtics are leading the all-time series 236-176 with the Celtics 138-49 at home

This is the 3rd meeting between these two division foes with the Celtics leading the series 2-1.   In December, the C’s had their 11 game winning streak snapped by the Sixers 98-97 in the Garden when Elton Brand tipped in the game-winning shot with 7.7 remaining in the game. 

The Celtics will try to win their sixth straight in Philadelphia and hand the 76ers a fifth consecutive loss Friday night.  The Celtics are 6-4 in their last 10 games while the Sixers are just 3-7 in their last 10.  The Sixers are 10-18 at home while the Celtics are 21-10 on the road. 

In their last meeting in Philly, the Celtics came away with a 105-74 victory. Pierce led the team with 21 points and Rasheed Wallace, who is a Philly native, hit a season-high six 3s and scored 20 in the Celtics' the most lopsided road win over the 76ers since a 32-point victory March 24, 1995.

Keys to the Game
Defense
As I have said before, defense is going to be the key to every game this season and to winning the championship.   We are seeing the team slowly getting back to their defensive roots and hopefully that will continue in this game. 

Rebound
The Sixers have a good rebounding team and the Celtics have to crash the boards to prevent the Sixers from getting second chance baskets and they also need to crash the offensive boards to keep the Sixers from running the break, which they do well.  Boston is last in the NBA with 38.8 rebounds per game and they need to commit more effort to getting the rebounds. 

Limit Turnovers
When the Celtics have lost games they should have won and when they have lost big leads, it has mostly been a lot of careless turnovers that turns the tide against them.   When they take care of the ball and limit turnovers,  they are very hard to beat.   

Play 48 Minutes 
The Celtics must come out strong and play for 48 minutes.  No more blown leads or sluggish starts.   

[Bahku]

Great set-up once again, Fl ... completely agree with your keys to the game. My Mom has a similar enamel pin to the Celtic one you pictured, but hers also has a 33 on it, (her old favorite). She wants another like it with "Her Boy" Rondo on it, but I haven't been able to find one ... I may have to have it made. (TP)

[barefacedmonk]

The Celtics are going to take this one too....oh yes, they will. CELTICS HOORAH..CELTICS HOORAH..1 2 3 Ubuntu.

[snively]

Here's hoping we aren't careless with the ball.  It would be great to have a sharp, focused performance and land a convincing win.  Blow-outs are very important for this team's swagger.

[lon3lytoaster]

Second game of the entire season we have a full roster. Let's win this one in 2008 fashion, please.

[ACF]

TP. Go Celtics!

[Tai]

If we're truly back, we'll blow these young timers sky high out of their own building.

Make it happen, guys!

And of course, TP.

[thirstyboots18]

Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here!!!!  And I love it.  Thanks, FL, tp.

[slamtheking]

I'll be happy if they just come out and play like this game means something and continue that effort throughout the game.  If they do that, should be a win going away.

[Celtic]

Three in a row, here we go!

[Drucci]

Three in a row, here we go!

Yep, I definitely feel good about this one! Let's hope the C's dont get back to their old ways of frustrating us once again.

Second game in a row with all our players healthy, hurrah, let's roll tonight in Philly!

TP FL and let's go C's.

[ACF]

[ACF]

Feel free to use any of these. I should give credit to some good folks at http://boards.sportslogos.net/ so I will.
Here ya go fellas.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I'm naked in the chat room.

[j804]

I'm naked in the chat room.

Not even with a Budweiser? lol

Go C's *pops beer open*