Blazers (8-9) at Celtics (13-4) 12/1

[FLCeltsFan]

 at  
Portland Trailblazers (8-9) at Boson Celtics (13-4)
Wednesday, December 1
7:30 PM ET
Game #18, Home Game #9
TV:  CSNNE, CSN-POR, NBA-TV
Radio:  WEEI, KXTG
TD Garden  



Probable Starters
Point Guard
 vs  
Rajon Rondo  10.6 PPG,  14.2 APG .2.5 SPG
Andre Miller  13.6 PPG, 7.4 APG, 0.1 SPG

Shooting Guard
 vs  
Ray Allen  16.7 PPG,  3.4 APG, .452 3P%
Brandon Roy    19.0 PPG,  2.8 APG,  .378 3P%

Small Forward
 vs  
Paul Pierce   19.7 PPG,  4.9 RPG, 2.9 APG
Nicolas Batum  12.6  PPG, 4.3 RPG,  1.5 APG

Power Forward
 vs  
Kevin Garnett   15.7 PPG,  9.3 RPG, 0.6 BPG
LaMarcus Aldridge   18.3 PPG,  8.1 RPG,  1.3 BPG

Center
  vs  
Shaquille O'Neal   12.3 PPG, 7.0 RPG,  0.6 BPG,  
Marcus Camby    6.6 PPG,  10.9 RPG,  1.7 BPG





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

Injured
Kendrick Perkins (knee) out
Jermaine O'Neal (knee)  out
Delonte West (wrist)  out



Trailblazers Bench
Dante Cunningham
Wesley Matthews
Rudy Fernandez
Armon Johnson
Luke Babbitt
Patrick Mills

Injuries
Sean Marks (ankle) questionable
Joel Przybilla (stomach flu) questionable
Greg Oden (knee) out
Elliot Williams (knee)  out

Team Connections
Joel Przybilla and Ray Allen were teammates in Milwaukee from 2000-03..
Jermaine O’Neal played for Portland from 1996‐2000
LaMarcus Aldridge and Avery Bradley both attended the University of Texas
Wesley Matthews and Celtics Coach  Doc Rivers both attended Marquette
Brandon Roy and Nate Robinson both attended the University of Washington
Ray Allen played for Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan in Seattle from 2003‐05
Von Wafer played for the Trail Blazers during the 2007‐08 season

Key Matchups
 vs  
Ray Allen vs Brandon Roy
Ray Allen needs to make Brandon Roy work on defense so as to limit his effectiveness on the offensive end.  

 vs  
Shaquille O'Neal vs Marcus Camby
The battle of the old centers in the league.  Shaq, at 38. vs Camby, at 36.  Shaq needs to limit Camby's contributions on the boards especially.  

Honorable Mention
Rajon Rondo vs Andre Miller
Rondo's hamstring is healed but he is still bothered by the plantar fasciitis.  Rondo is the engine that makes the Celtics run and he should be able to get the upper hand vs Miller.  

Game Notes
The Portland Trailblazers are making their only visit to the Garden. This is the first meeting between the two teams with the Celtics making their visit to Portland on January 27.  The Blazers are 4-5 on the road while the Celtics are 7-1 at home.  

Both teams are playing in the second of back to back games and both teams had to travel after their previous game.  Portland lost in Philly while the Celtics won in Cleveland on Tuesday night.  The Blazers have a youth advantage but the Celtics have an experience advantage.  

The Celtics have won 9 of the last 10 games between these two teams.  Last season, the Celtics won the series 2‐0 with Paul Pierce leading the Celtics with an average of 16.5 points while shooting  50.0% from three‐point range.  Rajon Rondo added a double‐double effort with 14.5 points and 10.0 assists to go along with 2.5 steals per game.  Andre Miller led the Blazers with 22.0 points and 5.0 assists per game.   LaMarcus Aldridge averaged 17.0 points and a team‐high 9.5 rebounds per game.

Portland’s .402 (39-58) all-time winning percentage against Boston is its lowest mark among all current NBA opponents. The Celtics are the NBA’s only active team with  a winning record in Portland (26-23).

Keys to the Game
Defense - The biggest key to every game will be defense.  The Celtics must make defense their number 1 priority

Rebound - When the Celtics put out the effort to out-rebound their opponents it usually results in a win.  When they don't make the effort to rebound, it affects the effort in the other areas as well.  In their two meetings last season, the Blazers out rebounded the Celtics 81-70, including a 26-11 edge in offensive rebounding.

Bench -    The Celtics' bench must give them quality minutes in order to keep the starters from being worn out by the end of the game. This is especially important in back to back games like this one.  

Focus -  The Celtics must focus on each and every game.  When they come out focused and play with energy and purpose for the entire game, they win.  

X-Factor
Home Court
The Celtics have said that they want to defend their home court this season and make it a tough place for opponents to play.  

[Megatron]

Going to be a tough-game. Blazers are one of the hardest working teams in the NBA.

Since its a back-to-back I can see us losing this game, but if the C's come to play, they should win a close game, just based off talent.

[ACF]

TP. Go Celts!

[Bahku]

Some really great one-on-one match-ups in this one ... could be very exciting, but we've got to be ruthless when it comes to our home court this year. Celtics win it going away by 13, after they quell an early 4th-quarter run by the Blazers. TP and thanks again, Fl!

[barefacedmonk]

TP and thanks again, Fl!

+1.

[fairweatherfan]

Really liked the athleticism of KG jumping around Aldridge for the tapaway and then taking it to the hole on the other end.

[barefacedmonk]

Wes Matthews has the hot hand so far...

[jimmehx]

Who is Wes Matthews ?!

Literally never heard of him.

[barefacedmonk]

Sloppy start...

[barefacedmonk]

Who is Wes Matthews ?!

Wesley Matthews.

[Who]

Good effort from the Blazers early.

Doubt they can keep this up though. They are only 7 deep at the moment. They'll slow down as the game goes on.

[Megatron]

Celtics look old.

Blazers will cool off later while the C's get hot. Hopefully.

Blazers lost to the Nets and the 76ers, but as soon as they face the celtics they look like a title contender.

[Adelaide Celt]

Turnovers 7 to 0 in the first quarter so far

[Tenacious D]

7 Boston TOs to 0 for Portland so far, hence the differential. Hopefully, this will correct itself.

[barefacedmonk]

Celtics look old.

A sloppy start does not mean they "look old".