Celtics (6-2) at Heat (5-3) 11/11

[FLCeltsFan]

at  
Boston Celtics (6-2) at Miami Heat (5-3)
Thursday, November 11
8:00 PM ET
Game #9  Road Game #5
TV:  TNT
Radio:  WEEI, WAXY
American Airlines Arena  


Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Rajon Rondo   11.1 PPG, 14.8 RPG, 3.1 SPG
Carlos Arroyo   5.7 PPG,  2.0 APG,  0.4 SPG

Shooting Guard
vs
Ray Allen 17.3 PPG,  2.4 APG,  .383 3P%
Dwyane Wade  24.1 PPG, 3.7 APG,  .381 3P%

Small Forward
vs
Paul Pierce 19.6 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 2.9 APG
LeBron James  20.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 7.9 APG

Power Forward
vs
Kevin Garnett  15.0 PPG,  10.3 RPG,  .6 BPG
Chris Bosh  14.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG,  1.0 BPG  

Center
vs
Shaquille O'Neal  8.7 PPG,  5.3 RPG,  0.3 BPG  
Joel Anthony  1.6 PPG,  4.1 RPG,  1.4 BPG  



Boston Bench Mob
Marquis Daniels
Glen Davis
Luke Harangody
Nate Robinson
Von Wafer
Semih Erden

Injured
Kendrick Perkins (knee) out
Avery Bradley (ankle) out
Delonte West Suspended
Shaquille O'Neal (knee) day to day
Jermaine O'Neal (knee) day to day





Miami's Reserves
Udonis Haslem
Mario Chalmers
Juwan Howard
Eddie House
Jamaal Magloire
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Dexter Pittman
Jerry Stackhouse

Injuries
Mike Miller (thumb)  out
James Jones (back) questionable

Team Connections
Mario Chalmers and Paul Pierce both attended the University of Kansas
Jamaal Magloire and Rajon Rondo both attended the University of Kentucky
Celtics Head Coach Doc Rivers and Dwyane Wade both attended Marquette Univesity
Shaquille O’Neal played for the Miami Heat from 2004‐08 and was a member of their 2006 NBA Championship team
Jermaine O’Neal played for the Heat during the end of the 2008‐09 season and all of the 2009‐10 season
Eddie House played for the Celtics from 2008‐10 and was a member of the Celtics 2008 NBA Championship team
Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal were teammates in Toronto during the 2008‐09 season
Shaquille O’Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Delonte West and LeBron
James were teammates in Cleveland during the 2009‐10 season
James, Ilgauskas and West were teammates in Cleveland from 2008‐10
Dexter Pittman and Avery Bradley were teammates at the University of Texas.

Key Matchups
 vs  
Paul Pierce  vs  LeBron James
This is one of the better matchups in the league and these two have gone at each other in a lot of big games over their careers.  In their first meeting this season, Lebron finished with 31 points while Pierce had 19, but most importantly, the Celtics got the win.  Hero ball can't beat team ball.  LeBron has been playing point forward and Pierce will have to guard him as he brings the ball up and tries to set up the offense.  

 vs  
Kevin Garnett vs Chris Bosh
Chris Bosh always seems to be intimidated by KG.  I can't say as I blame him.  Hopefully that trend continues in this game and KG has another big game and can also keep Bosh in check.  

 vs  
Ray Allen vs Dwyane Wade
In the first meeting between these two teams, DWade was just coming coming back from an injury and he didn't play well.   We should see the real Dwyane Wade in this one and Ray is going to need to keep him running after him as he moves without the ball and he also must keep Wade from having a big game offensively.  

 vs  
Glen Davis vs Udonis Haslem  
This is the battle of the 6th men.  Haslem is the Heat's best player off the bench.   Big Baby has to play well and lead the Bench Mob.

Game Notes
The Celtics are playing in their 3rd game of a 4 game road trip.  They played 5 games in 7 nights, winning 4 of the 5 games.   They have had the past 2 days off.   Miami is playing in the 3rd game of a 6 game home stand.  Both teams are coming off of a 2 point loss, the Heat having lost to the Jazz at home on Tuesday.  

The Celtics have been a bit thin up front with both O'Neals struggling with knee injuries.  Jermaine sat out the second half of the Mavs game with knee pain, after a very ineffective first half.   Shaq traveled with the team on the road trip but did not play in either game so far.  As of now, it's not clear whether either of them will be available for this game but I have penciled Shaq in for the start.  If neither can play,  Semih and Baby both will have to come up big in the middle.  

Keys to the Game
Take Care of the Ball - The Celtics must limit their turnovers as the Heat will turn them into fast break points.  

Rebound - The Celtics have to limit the Heat's second chance baskets and fast breaks by crashing the boards.  

Defense -  The Heat are trying to make defense their calling card this season and have been doing a good job of it.  The Celtics have to make defense a priority as well.

Go to the Hoop -  The Celtics settled for jumper after jumper against the Mavericks and it cost them in the end.  When you go to the basket, good things happen.  The Celtics have got to be aggressive in getting to the basket and not settle for jumpers all game.  

Odd Fact
They were named the  Miami Heat following a contest, with the Heat beating out Flamingos and Waves among 20,000 entries.

X-Factor
Injuries
Injuries can derail the Celtics in this game before they even start.  Hopefully at least one of the O'Neals will be available and healthy enough to play well.  Also hopefully Rondo's feet will be ok after a couple of days of rest.  

[lal]

already can't wait...

[CelticG1]

Should Shaq and Anthony's stats be reversed? That looked really bad for a second

[barefacedmonk]

This one is going to be tough...but I think we'll still win. I have a feeling that the crowd is going to be hostile...I mean the few hundred that show up for Miami games.

TP FL.

[Eddie20]

"The Heat won't lose two in a row all year"- Jeff Van Gundy

How great is it that not only do we have a chance to prove him wrong, but to do so while he's there calling the game! 

[dpaps]

Should Shaq and Anthony's stats be reversed? That looked really bad for a second

Yeah you're right, it's Shaq who's averaging the 8.7 and 5.3. Can't wait for this game. I bet Rondo has a huge game.

[greenpride32]

I'm a little concerned if we don't have SON or JON available.  The center position is MIA's weakest spot, so in that sense we won't get dominated in the paint without our guys.  But at the same time we lose one of our biggest advantages over them.

[Kiorrik]

Let's go Celtics! Looking forward to this one nearly as much as I did to our last match-up at the start of the season. C'mon Celtics, show them how we roll

[Who]

This game should play out similar to Game One. Miami won't be as raggedy but they'll still struggle with their offense. They haven't come far enough since to make too large a leap.

The C's could be vulnerable if Shaq and Jermaine sit out though. I don't like the idea of BBD and Erden playing a big portion of the available big man minutes. If that happens, the game is up for grabs.

[FLCeltsFan]

Should Shaq and Anthony's stats be reversed? That looked really bad for a second

TP for catching that.   Yeah they should be reversed.  I fixed it.
Thanks

[KGs Knee]

I think you may want to re-think your top matchup to look for in this game.  It should be Rajon Rondo vs The Invisible Man, becuase that is basically who the Heat have at PG.

Everyone, including myself, seems to be focusing on Miami's froncourt issues, particularly Bosh.  I think the bigger issue for Miami may be their PG play.  Just look at the three teams who have beaten Miami so far.  Boston, New Orleans, and Utah.  What do these three teams have in common?  The answer would be that each has one of the top three PG's in the game.

Miami has no one capable of stopping elite PG's from penetrating into the lane and breaking down the defense.  Sure, the bigs are getting pushed around too easily, but, part of that is due to the fact the defense is getting exposed by good ball penetration.

[Jon Niednagel]

I think Miami is going adopt the LA strategy and defend Rondo with Wade this time instead of having him chase Allen around. I know I would if I were Spolstra.

[Eddie20]

I think Miami is going adopt the LA strategy and defend Rondo with Wade this time instead of having him chase Allen around. I know I would if I were Spolstra.

Ray Allen would love to have Arroyo defending him!

[GreenEnvy]

I think Miami is going adopt the LA strategy and defend Rondo with Wade this time instead of having him chase Allen around. I know I would if I were Spolstra.

But who will assume the duty of chasing Ray around? Fisher did it better than Kobe, so it made sense for LA to do it.

Wade could probably defend Rondo as well as any PG could, but I don't see anyone on Miami's roster capable of staying with Ray all game long.

Plugging up one hole opens another when you play 3 vs 5 in the NBA.

[Fafnir]

I think Miami is going adopt the LA strategy and defend Rondo with Wade this time instead of having him chase Allen around. I know I would if I were Spolstra.

But who will assume the duty of chasing Ray around? Fisher did it better than Kobe, so it made sense for LA to do it.

Wade could probably defend Rondo as well as any PG could, but I don't see anyone on Miami's roster capable of staying with Ray all game long.

Plugging up one hole opens another when you play 3 vs 5 in the NBA.

Kobe actually did a much better job defensively than Fisher did, that's why they switched him onto Ray after his hot Game 2 first half.

Once Ray stopped hitting shots after that game they were able to get away with Fisher on Ray.

Either way James Jones or Mike Miller can chase Ray around. Ray is much less of  a threat to the Heat's defense than Rondo.