Lakers (35-16) at Celtics (38-13) 2/10

[Fafnir]

loss tonight pretty much assures boston of being behind miami in the standings..they play detroit...which would make sunday a battle for first place going into the all star break...only good thing is boston's toughest month was Feb. and miami's toughest month is by far march.

i don't mind a 2 seed but would like to avoid the bulls in round 2 of the playoffs...give me orlando or the hawks....i don't really think boston gets anything the rest of the year out of JO and daniels. i think those guys are finished. west will be big and they need to get shaq back...add a SF and sign Sheed for the playoffs

I don't think getting caught staring at the standings is worth it. There are still a lot of games to go, especially given that we play the Heat two more times.

[celticinorlando]

loss tonight pretty much assures boston of being behind miami in the standings..they play detroit...which would make sunday a battle for first place going into the all star break...only good thing is boston's toughest month was Feb. and miami's toughest month is by far march.

i don't mind a 2 seed but would like to avoid the bulls in round 2 of the playoffs...give me orlando or the hawks....i don't really think boston gets anything the rest of the year out of JO and daniels. i think those guys are finished. west will be big and they need to get shaq back...add a SF and sign Sheed for the playoffs

I don't think getting caught staring at the standings is worth it. There are still a lot of games to go, especially given that we play the Heat two more times.

i agree. i just don't want to stomach all star weekend listening to all the love for the first place heat...boston has got to get guys back for more than a few games at a time...to me these are 2 statement games for boston. if they can go undefeated vs LA and stay undefeated vs miami...i think it bodes well for their confidence..esp being shorthanded

[FLCeltsFan]

Official Report 

Scott Foster
Foster has officiated over 720+ regular season games and 25+ play-off games. Foster has 2 years officiating experience in the CBA. Prior to becoming an official, Foster modeled for department store mannequin mold makers. He came into the public eye as the best friend of former referee Tim Donaghy. In his book, Donaghy describes Foster as a very honest and good guy who knew nothing of his gambling. However, recently Donaghy described Foster as a company man who will do what is asked of him to keep his seniority among refs. Foster was also part of the Finals game 7 officiating crew that called the final quarter so one sided so hopefully he's not back to do the same in this one. The Celtics are 1-1 this season and 4-6 in their last 10 games with Foster on the court. The win this season was an 84-81 win over the Sixers at home where the Sixers shot 10 more free throws than the Celtics. The Lakers are 9-1 with Foster in their last 10 games. His home W/L record this season is 24-20

Derrick Collins
Collins has been an official in the league for 9 years. He has experience in the CBA five years and in the WNBA three years. He has also officiated 7 years on the collegiate level and seven years on the high school level in California and Louisiana. The Celtics are 2-0 with Collins this season and 7-3 in their last 10 games. The Lakers are also 7-3 with Collins in their last 10 games. His home W/L record this season is 23-18.

Scott Wall
Scott Wall has been an NBA ref for 14 years. He has 4 years of officiating USA basketball, 6 years experience at the college level and 5 years experience at the high school level. The Celtics are 3-0 this season with Wall as an official. He was also on the crew that called the Philly game where the officiating was suspect. Both teams are 6-4 in their last 10 games with Wall. His home W/L record this season is 25-11.

[Fafnir]

loss tonight pretty much assures boston of being behind miami in the standings..they play detroit...which would make sunday a battle for first place going into the all star break...only good thing is boston's toughest month was Feb. and miami's toughest month is by far march.

i don't mind a 2 seed but would like to avoid the bulls in round 2 of the playoffs...give me orlando or the hawks....i don't really think boston gets anything the rest of the year out of JO and daniels. i think those guys are finished. west will be big and they need to get shaq back...add a SF and sign Sheed for the playoffs

I don't think getting caught staring at the standings is worth it. There are still a lot of games to go, especially given that we play the Heat two more times.

i agree. i just don't want to stomach all star weekend listening to all the love for the first place heat...boston has got to get guys back for more than a few games at a time...to me these are 2 statement games for boston. if they can go undefeated vs LA and stay undefeated vs miami...i think it bodes well for their confidence..esp being shorthanded

Miami is a much bigger game for the C's, they've played a lot better since we've last played. So its a much more telling contest.

It also would put a loss on the other team, and will help determine the tiebreakers. Miami is likely to have a better conference record than the C's if we're tied in the standings. That means that we need to win one of the two to secure the tiebreaker.

[FLCeltsFan]

loss tonight pretty much assures boston of being behind miami in the standings..they play detroit...which would make sunday a battle for first place going into the all star break...only good thing is boston's toughest month was Feb. and miami's toughest month is by far march.

i don't mind a 2 seed but would like to avoid the bulls in round 2 of the playoffs...give me orlando or the hawks....i don't really think boston gets anything the rest of the year out of JO and daniels. i think those guys are finished. west will be big and they need to get shaq back...add a SF and sign Sheed for the playoffs

I don't think getting caught staring at the standings is worth it. There are still a lot of games to go, especially given that we play the Heat two more times.

i agree. i just don't want to stomach all star weekend listening to all the love for the first place heat...boston has got to get guys back for more than a few games at a time...to me these are 2 statement games for boston. if they can go undefeated vs LA and stay undefeated vs miami...i think it bodes well for their confidence..esp being shorthanded

I agree.  If the Heat are in first place for the A/S break, we'll all have to listen to the blathering and slobbering all over the Heat all weekend.  The Celtics have to beat the Fakers and the Heat... The players who are left standing on the Celtics have got to step up their games knowing that they are so short handed.  They had 2 days off before this one.  And have 2 days off before the Heat.  They can do this.  I know they can.  I don't even want to hear the words 1st place cHeat.   

[ACF]

Join me in changing avatar today.

Come on, folks, it went pretty well last time 

[JerseyKid.]

Anyone else concerned that artest might actually show up this time?

These are two tough games, and i would love to win both of them to silence the media but i wouldn't be surprised given our lack of players if we slipped up these next 2.

Its a back and forth arguement, i can't wait to see the game actually started so i can stop see-sawing.

[Tai]

I can't lie, at all. Our only legitimate center tonight is Perkins? Really? Not even Erden can backup Perkins tonight? HARANGODY will have to play significant minutes? No Daniels? Even Pierce is sick. Where's our bench, man?!

I won't say we won't win, cause of course we have a chance. We just need to come out STRONG, I mean possibly a 10 point lead at the end of the 1st quarter, cause I don't know if we even HAVE a bench that can bring us back if we fall too far behind. But, we do have our starters, so the chance to get out to a big lead are great.

If we can do that, we have more than a chance of winning at home. Maybe being at home will help guys like Wafer and Gody, and maybe...MAYBE Nate.

I confess I'll be at a Dipset concert and won't be seeing the game...yeah I know, some hardcore Celtic fan I am, huh? 

[vinnie]

I think LA should be the slight favourite to win this game due to the absences of Shaquille O'Neal, Jermaine O'Neal, Marquis Daniels and Semih Erden.

The Celtics will still have a decent chance of winning but I think LA have the slight edge.

i agree..but i just get a sneaky feeling boston will play well.

I definitely agree that the Celts will play well. However, the lack of bodies will be the difference at the end of the game. I fear Odom is going to have a huge game tomorrow.

not really seeing why the lack of bodies will make much difference. only one we are missing will be daniels from the first game...honestly shaq didn't do anything vs the lakers...not much of a loss there...and baby was on the floor in crunch time vs bynum and did a great job. i think von will have to step up.

Not having Daniels is big against the Lakers. Shaq had six rebounds and 2-3 blocks in the short time he played against the Lakers.

[celticinorlando]

baby can hold his own....wafer is going to have to play some SF...i expect we see a rondo, nate, ray, baby and perk line up at times..lakers bench isn't that strong other than odom. he is the toughest match up...and boston has had 2 days off before and after this game...guys can burn a little longer if needed...

in the first game, erden, shaq and daniels were near invisible...and boston won by 13...i think wafer can get boston some looks..and he has been driving..so not worried about that...

boston will be fine tonight. they know what this means...even if it is regular season. honestly..who gets the lakers points other than kobe? gasol? maybe..but KG is fine vs him..Bynum? artest? fisher? i still honestly don't think LA can stop Rondo when he pushes and drive the ball like he did vs orlando

[angryguy77]

Rondo will take this game over and finish just shy of a triple double.

And I'm calling a solid game from nate.

[j804]

baby can hold his own....wafer is going to have to play some SF...i expect we see a rondo, nate, ray, baby and perk line up at times..lakers bench isn't that strong other than odom. he is the toughest match up...and boston has had 2 days off before and after this game...guys can burn a little longer if needed...

in the first game, erden, shaq and daniels were near invisible...and boston won by 13...i think wafer can get boston some looks..and he has been driving..so not worried about that...

boston will be fine tonight. they know what this means...even if it is regular season. honestly..who gets the lakers points other than kobe? gasol? maybe..but KG is fine vs him..Bynum? artest? fisher? i still honestly don't think LA can stop Rondo when he pushes and drive the ball like he did vs orlando

Thing is will he do that against the length of LA he didn't do it much last time we beat them or in the finals much but well need some of it today for sure

[celticinorlando]

Rondo will take this game over and finish just shy of a triple double.

And I'm calling a solid game from nate.

yeah...i think nate and von will step up tonight...

[nba is the worst]

Since the C's are already 1-0 vs the Lakers, this one isn't as important as Sunday's game vs the heatles.

And it's irritating that one of the Game 7 ref gets assigned again (although Joey didn't affect the game in LA, the 40% winning percentage that FlCeltsFan mentioned is clearly not representative of the C's winning percentage the last 2 years - but combined with the 9-1 the Lakers have with him, well)...

Pretty reasonable to predict a C's loss tonight, given the injury list, Foster, and the Lakers being desperate.

[j804]

Anybody that cares to watch......NBATV is replaying Game 6 of 2008 finals right now