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Celtics (55-24) at Heat (55-24) 4/10
« on: April 09, 2011, 03:56:04 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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Boston Celtics (55-24) at Miami Heat (55-24)
Sunday, April 10
3:30 PM ET
Game #80  Road Game #40
TV:  ABC, CHCH TV
Radio:  WEEI, WAXY
American Airlines Arena  



Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Rajon Rondo   10.7 PPG, 11.3 APG, 2.3 SPG
Mike Bibby   8.6 PPG,  3.3 APG,  0.6 SPG

Shooting Guard
vs
Ray Allen 16.6 PPG,  2.7 APG,  .445 3P%
Dwyane Wade  25.8 PPG, 4.5 APG,  .310 3P%

Small Forward
vs
Paul Pierce 18.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 3.3 APG
LeBron James  26.6 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 7.0 APG

Power Forward
vs
Kevin Garnett  14.8 PPG,  9.0 RPG,  0.8 BPG
Chris Bosh  18.8 PPG, 8.3 RPG,  0.6 BPG  

Center
vs
Jermaine O'Neal   5.2 PPG,  3.4 RPG,  1.1 BPG
Zydrunas Ilgauskas  4.9 PPG,  4.0RPG,  0.8 BPG  



Boston Bench Mob
Jeff Green
Glen Davis
Delonte West
Nenad Krstic
Carlos Arroyo
Avery Bradley
Sasha Pavlovic  
Troy Murphy
Von Wafer

Injured
Shaquille O'Neal (calf/old age)  out  





Miami's Reserves
Mario Chalmers
Juwan Howard
Eddie House
Jamaal Magloire
Dexter Pittman
Mike Miller
James Jones
Eric Dampier
Joel Anthony

Injuries
Udonis Haslem (foot)  ouit

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 University
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
Nenad Krstic and Eddie House were teammates in New Jersey during the 2006‐07 season
Krstic and Magloire were teammates on the Nets for the 2007‐08
season
Troy Murphy and Erick Dampier were teammates in Golden State from 2001‐04
Sasha Pavlovic, James and Ilgauskas were teammates in Cleveland from 2004‐09
Carlos Arroyo played in 49 games including 42 starts for Miami during the 2010‐11 season.

Game Notes
This is the 4th and final meeting between these two teams this season.  The Celtics have won all 3 of the previous games.  All 3 games were fairly close and got closer as the year went on with wins of 8 points, 5 points, and 3 points.   The Heat would desperately love to get a win in this game, not only for the second seed, but for pride.

These two teams are tied for the second seed in the East.  With the top spot all sewed up by the Bulls, both of these teams would like to nail down the second seed and a win in this game would pretty much do that for the Celtics and put them a game up on Miami.  The second seed would give the Celtics home court in at least the first 2 rounds and would also give them the easier path to the conference finals so this will be a very important game.  The Celtics need to play focused and play with energy.  

Shaq has been ruled out of this game and Jermaine will probably get the start.   The Celtics had Shaq in the middle for their first two games against the Heat and Perk was there for the 3rd game.  Hopefully JO is sufficiently motivated by his day of rest and playing against his old team to give the Celtics a big game, especially on the boards and on defense.  

The Celtics need to get off to a fast start.  The Heat are 41-8 when they lead after the first quarter and are just 12-13 when trailing after the first quarter.  The Celtics can't afford to come out sluggish and hope to turn it on later.   They have to play with energy from start to finish.  

The Celtics are just 5-5 in their last 10 games while the Heat are playing much better and are 8-2 in their last 10.  The Celtics are 23-16 on the road while the Heat are 29-11 at home.  Both teams are looking for their second straight win.  

The Celtics have proved that they can beat the Heat both in Boston and in Miami.  They have done a lot of talking about wanting the second seed and wanting to go into the playoffs playing well.  Hopefully they come out and back up their words with strong team play.      

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.  In their last meeting,  Paul Pierce had one of the worst shooting nights of his career as he would go 0‐for‐10 and would convert just one free throw.  Paul will need to once again expend a lot of energy defending LeBron, but hopefully he can be more effective offensively in this game.    

 vs  
Kevin Garnett vs Chris Bosh
Chris Bosh always seems to be intimidated by KG.  I can't say as I blame him. As one of the comments from the other side stated,  Bosh gets mentalled by KG.  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
Ray Allen hasn't been as involved in the Celtics offense as he should be.  Hopefully the Celtics get their ball movement right and can get Ray more open looks as they need him to spread the floor.  Ray will need to expend energy defending Wade, who is always very active. Hopefully Ray will have Wade chasing him off of screens and wear down Wade's legs to limit his offense as well.  

 vs  
Rajon Rondo vs Mike Bibby
This may be the most key matchup.   We have seen over and over again this year.  If Rondo has a strong game, the Celtics play well.  If Rondo has a poor game, the Celtics play poorly.   As Rondo goes, so go the Celtics.  Bibby is not known for his defense and so if Rondo is aggressive, he should be able to get past Bibby at will.   The Celtics need an aggressive and effective Rondo to win this game.  

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. Wade in particular is good at making teams pay for their turnovers.  

Rebound - The Celtics have to limit the Heat's second chance baskets and fast breaks by crashing the boards.  The amount of effort put into winning the rebound battle often follows through to the other areas of the game.  The Celtics must be aggressive in beating the Heat to rebounds.    

Defense -  The Heat are trying to make defense their calling card this season.  The Celtics have to make defense a priority as well. Defense wins games and defense wins championships.  If the Celtics can't get stops, they won't win the game.  The Heat have won 21 straight games when they score 100 or more points.  The Celtics must play defense and limit their scoring.  

Be Aggressive
-  The Celtics have got to be aggressive in getting to the basket and not settle for jumpers all game.  They also have to be aggressive in diving for loose balls and winning the 50-50 battles.  

Team Ball -  The Celtics need to play team ball.  When they move the ball and make the extra pass and find the open man and play as a team,  they are tough to beat.  When they revert to hero ball and there is little ball movement and they settle for quick shots, they rarely win.   They need team play to beat a team with 2.5 superstars on it.    

X-Factor
Desire and Effort
The Celtics talked about wanting to win and send a message against the Bulls, but then they came out and played with very little effort.  This is a big game and hopefully the Celtics won't just talk about wanting to win, but will put out the effort needed to do so.  
« Last Edit: April 10, 2011, 12:55:28 PM by FLCeltsFan »

Re: Celtics (55-24) at Heat (55-24) 4/10
« Reply #1 on: April 09, 2011, 05:00:28 PM »

Offline celticinorlando

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ok. time to send a message. forget the last month and a half and just get further in the heat's heads with another win

Re: Celtics (55-24) at Heat (55-24) 4/10
« Reply #2 on: April 09, 2011, 05:36:31 PM »

Offline j804

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ok. time to send a message. forget the last month and a half and just get further in the heat's heads with another win
+1

afterall it's them who well go through to reach at least the EC finals it looks like
"7ft PG. Rondo leaves and GUESS WHAT? We got a BIGGER point guard!"-Tommy on Olynyk


Re: Celtics (55-24) at Heat (55-24) 4/10
« Reply #3 on: April 10, 2011, 12:14:31 AM »

Offline j804

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"7ft PG. Rondo leaves and GUESS WHAT? We got a BIGGER point guard!"-Tommy on Olynyk


Re: Celtics (55-24) at Heat (55-24) 4/10
« Reply #4 on: April 10, 2011, 06:28:51 AM »

Offline aporel#18

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TP FL, great great job.

I predict the Heat will play a great game, moving the ball in an unselfish fashion. Lebron and Wade will not look for their shoots, they'll look for their teammates to be involved in the game.

Also, Bibby will deliver 15+ assists and Bosh will collect 20 rebounds.

We better accept the Heat are starting their dinasty of 10 titles in a row because they are the ultimate team.

By the way, Megatron, sorry for beating you to write all these things...

Go Celtics, crush the Miami Hype Machine!!!

Re: Celtics (55-24) at Heat (55-24) 4/10
« Reply #5 on: April 10, 2011, 06:51:06 AM »

Offline Ray3Allen

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Re: Celtics (55-24) at Heat (55-24) 4/10
« Reply #6 on: April 10, 2011, 07:41:51 AM »

Offline Drucci

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It's kind of crazy to think that a few weeks back this game would have been meaningless but that right now it will be huge to determine if Boston or Miami will get the #2 seed! Still a meaningless game in the sense that we've already won the series and that a win won't change much to Miami's hopes of beating us in the playoffs but I hope that the C's show up and (almost) secure the 2nd seed.

TP FL and go Celtics!

Re: Celtics (55-24) at Heat (55-24) 4/10
« Reply #7 on: April 10, 2011, 09:34:07 AM »

Offline PosImpos

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Rondo averages 11.2 assists per game, not rebounds per game.
Never forget the Champs of '08, or the gutsy warriors of '10.

"I know you all wanna win, but you gotta do it TOGETHER!"
- Doc Rivers

Re: Celtics (55-24) at Heat (55-24) 4/10
« Reply #8 on: April 10, 2011, 10:16:35 AM »

Offline celticinorlando

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is today the day we see some life out of boston? some spark? some digging in on defense and energy on offense? i hope so.

honestly i am hoping for  win but really don't know what to expect from them today.

Re: Celtics (55-24) at Heat (55-24) 4/10
« Reply #9 on: April 10, 2011, 11:02:46 AM »

Offline GrandTheftRondo

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Am I the only one really nervous about this game? I honestly don't even know if I can watch it. Would love to just hop on the internet around 6pm and see great news.

Re: Celtics (55-24) at Heat (55-24) 4/10
« Reply #10 on: April 10, 2011, 11:06:36 AM »

Offline hpantazo

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is today the day we see some life out of boston? some spark? some digging in on defense and energy on offense? i hope so.

honestly i am hoping for  win but really don't know what to expect from them today.

well, they can't say that today's game doesn't mean anything, homecourt in round 2 is on the line, so we should see what this team's got today.

Re: Celtics (55-24) at Heat (55-24) 4/10
« Reply #11 on: April 10, 2011, 11:26:19 AM »

Offline lovely_20

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TP for a wonderful job as always, and go Celtics!!  ;)
"Basketball is like poetry in motion, cross the guy to the left, take him back to the right, he's fallin' back, then just J right in his face. Then you look at him and say, "What?""

Jesus Shuttlesworth, "He Got Game"

Re: Celtics (55-24) at Heat (55-24) 4/10
« Reply #12 on: April 10, 2011, 11:26:47 AM »

Offline ACF

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TP. Go Celtics!

Re: Celtics (55-24) at Heat (55-24) 4/10
« Reply #13 on: April 10, 2011, 12:44:57 PM »

Offline celticinorlando

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Am I the only one really nervous about this game? I honestly don't even know if I can watch it. Would love to just hop on the internet around 6pm and see great news.

no. I am right there with you. Trying to find something to do while it is on

Re: Celtics (55-24) at Heat (55-24) 4/10
« Reply #14 on: April 10, 2011, 12:57:44 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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Rondo averages 11.2 assists per game, not rebounds per game.

Fixed it.  After 80 game threads and the fact that I seem to be putting more effort into my game threads than the Celtics are putting into playing the games, I figure that a mistake here or there is understandable.