at
New York Knicks (24-43) at Boston Celtics (42-24)
Wednesday, March 17
7:30 PM ET
TV: CSN-NE, MSG, NBA LP 757, 758
Radio: WEEI, WEPN
TD Garden 
Probable Starting Matchups 
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Toney Douglas
vs
Ray Allen vs Tracy McGrady
vs
Paul Pierce vs Wilson Chandler
vs
Kevin Garnett vs Danilo Gallinari
vs
Kendrick Perkins vs David Lee
Reserves Rasheed Wallace
Marquis Daniels
Nate Robinson
Shelden Williams
Brian Scalabrine
Glen Davis
Tony Allen
Michael Finley
Injuries None
D League Marcus Landry
Reserves Bill Walker
Eddie House
Al Harrington
Jonathan Bender
Sergio Rodriguez
Chris Duhon
Injuries Eddy Curry (calf) questionable
JR Giddens (knee) out
Key Matchups 
vs
Paul Pierce vs Wilson Chandler
When Paul Pierce comes out aggressively and plays well, the Celtics play well. Chandler has been playing well for the Knicks and has had big games against the Celtics. Holding Chandler in check and making him work on the defensive end will be important in beating the Knicks. The Celtics need another strong game from their Captain.
vs
Kendrick Perkins vs David Lee
David Lee has been playing very well and has been the Knicks high scorer, averaging 25 points per game against the Celtics. Perk has to return to his defensive mindset and limit Lee's production.
Honorable Mention Rajon Rondo vs Toney Douglas
The point guard matchup is always key for the Celtics as Rondo is so important for the Celtics on both ends of the court. Rondo should be able to get the best of the matchup with the Knicks talented rookie point guard.
Nate Robinson vs Eddie House
It will be interesting to see how these two players produce now that they both have had a chance to settle in with their new teams. Both will want to impress their former teams but hopefully Nate won't force shots in order to do so.
Team Connections Doc Rivers played for the Knicks from 1992-95..
Tom Thibodeau was an assistant coach with New York from 1996-2002
Eddie House played for the Celtics from 2007-10 and was a part of the 2008 championship team
J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker also played for the Celtics
from 2008-10
Nate Robinson was a member of the Knicks from 2005-10
Al Harrington and Marquis Daniels were teammates in Indiana during the 2006-07 season.
Game Notes The Celtics are currently leading the season series, 2-0; Celtics won the season series 3-1 against New York in 2008-09
Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 24.0 points per game last season
Al Harrington led the Knicks with 22.3 points per game last season against the Celtics
The C’s are 18-4 against the Knicks since the 2004-05 season
The Celtics are leading the all-time series 268-169 with the Celtics 145-59 at home
The Celtics are facing the Knicks for the second time since the trade that swapped Nate Robinson for Eddie House, JR Giddens and Bill Walker. This is the 3rd meeting between these two teams. The Celtics are 2-0 vs the Knicks but the two wins were by a combined 6 points.
The Knicks are on a 2 game win streak and the Celtics have won 2 of their last 3. In their last 10 games, the Knicks are 4-6 and the Celtics are 6-4. The Knicks are 10-22 on the road while the Celtics are 20-12 at home.
The Celtics shouldn't take the Knicks for granted because they are capable of big games. They beat the Mavericks in Dallas by 34 points to end their 13 game win streak. And, since the Celtics first two wins came by 2 points and 4 points, the Knicks still feel that they can beat the Celtics.
After torching the Mavs in Dallas, the Knicks rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit for a 94-84 win over the Sixers in Philly. The Celtics need to come out strong as they did against the Pistons and put this team away early. Letting them hang around could end in a loss for the home team. The Celtics need to start showing some consistency as they prepare for the playoffs and a big win over the Knicks would be a good start.
Keys to the GameDefense We saw the team talking on defense and playing the defense they are capable of in their last game vs Detroit. They need to continue to play team defense.
Rebound The Celtics need to make a concerted effort to grab rebounds on both the offensive and defensive ends. David Lee is very good at tip ins and put backs and the Knicks will be looking to run on defensive rebounds so the Celtics must crash the boards to limit both of those options for the Knicks. We saw more effort on the boards against the Pistons and that must continue in this game.
Rondo's Aggression As goes Rondo, so goes the team. Rondo must be aggressive and set the pace of the game and take the ball inside. He can't be tentative because that makes the whole team tentative.
Focus When the Celtics are focused on team play, they are very hard to beat. But, they seem to lose focus in some games and just don't play like they are capable of playing. They have to make a statement over the last part of the season and so they have to come out focused in each and every game and they have to re-establish home dominance.
X-Factor It's the Knicks.
The Celtics need to take every game and every opponent seriously. They can't come into this game thinking that it's just the Knicks because. as the Mavs found out, the Knicks can surprise you.
Topic: Knicks (24-43) at Celtics (42-24) 3/17 (Read 28768 times)