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Celtics (12-10) at Spurs (18-6) 12/15
« on: December 15, 2012, 12:29:01 AM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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Boston Celtics (12-10)  at  San Antonio Spurs (18-6)
Saturday, December 15, 2012
8:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #23  Road Game #11
TV:  NBA-TV,  NBAC, CSN-NE, KENS
Radio: WOAI, WEEI
AT&T Center





Probable Starters
PG SG SF PF C
Probable Starters
PG:   Rajon Rondo
SG:   Jason Terry 
SF:    Paul Pierce
PF:    Brandon Bass 
C:     Kevin Garnett

Celtics Reserves
Jared Sullinger
Jason Collins
Jeff Green
Courtney Lee
Leandro Barbosa
Chris Wilcox

Injured
Avery Bradley (shoulders) out

Red Claws
Fab Melo
Kris Joseph





Probable Starters
PG SG SF PF C
PG:  Tony Parker 
SG:  Gary Neal
SF:  Danny Green
PF:  Tim Duncan   
C:   Dejuan Blair 

Reserves
Matt Bonner
Nando De Colo
Boris Diaw
Manu Ginobili
Kawhi Leonard
Patrick Mills
Tiago Splitter
Cory Joseph

Injuries
Kawhi Leonard (knee)  out
Stephen Jackson (finger)  out

Team Connections
Doc Rivers played for San Antonio during the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons
Avery Bradley and Cory Joseph both attended Texas
Kris Joseph and Cory Joseph were both born in Canada
Fab Melo, Leandro Barbosa and Tiago Splitter were born in Brazil
Rajon Rondo and Stephen Jackson both attended Oak Hill Academy
Jason Terry was teammates with Boris Diaw and Stephen Jackson in Atlanta during the 2003-04 season
Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa were teammates in Phoenix from 2005-09.

Key Matchups
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Tony Parker
 When Rondo is aggressive and focused, he can pretty much take on any point guard in the league, including Parker.  Rondo usually gets up for big games and this is a big one.  Hopefully aggressive Rondo shows up for this one. 

vs
Brandon Bass vs Tim Duncan
Brandon will have his hands full in this matchup. Duncan still brings a lot to the table, especially defensively.  He is great at getting position for rebounds and tip ins and Bass and the other Celtics bigs need to concentrate on keeping him away from the basket. 

Honorable Mention
Kevin Garnett vs Dejuan Blair
I expect KG and Bass to switch on assignments from time to time and so we will see KG on Duncan, at least part of the time.  Duncan is having a very good year so far and the Celtics need to try to slow him down. 

Game Notes
The Celtics continue their road trip with a stop in San Antonio to face the ageless Tim Duncan and the Spurs.  The Spurs are a very good home team with a 7-2 record at the AT&T Center.  The Celtics are 4-6 on the road. 

The Spurs have lost their last 2 games and so will come out strong  in this one looking to get back on track.  The Celtics are coming off a loss to the Rockets in their first game of the road trip.  They also need to get back on track but in the second of back to back games on the road, it's hard to say if they will have the focus or the energy to do so.

Doc started Courtney Lee against the Rockets and moved Jason Terry back into his 6th man role.   The results of the move weren't all that positive as the Celtics got off to a very slow start.  I'm thinking that Doc may go back to JET in the starting lineup but he may also stick with Lee. 

Keys to the Game 
Defense - The Celtics must make defense a priority in this game.
The Spurs are  a good offensive team, ranking 2nd in the league and averaging 104.8 points per game  The Celtics are 12th in scoring, averaging 98.3 points per game.   Both teams have slipped a bit on defense with the Spurs allowing and 44% FG%.  The Celtics have slipped even more,  allowing teams to shoot 45% against them.  The Celtics must lock down the Spurs on defense because chances are, they won't win a shoot out against them.

Focus - On the road against a team like the Spurs, the Celtics must keep their focus from the opening tip to the final buzzer.   The Spurs are very capable of taking advantage of any lack of focus on the Celtics part.   The Celtics need to put in a strong effort for 48 minutes in spite of playing in a hostile environment.    The Spurs won't let up and neither can the Celtics if they want to win this one. 

Rebound
  The Spurs are 10th in the league in rebounding with 42.9 rebounds per game.   The Celtics are still last with 38.5 rebounds per game.  Rebounding is all about effort and desire.  The Celtics need to crash the boards as a team and if they put out the effort in this area, it will translate to the rest of their game.   The Spurs will translate rebounds into points and so the Celtics must beat them to the boards. 

Be Aggressive  When the Celtics are aggressive in going after loose balls, taking the ball to the hoop and playing in your face defense, they are very tough to beat.    When they get lazy and allow teams to beat them to loose balls and rebounds and when they settle for jumpers and don't go to the basket, they are very beatable.  They must stay aggressive and that starts with Rondo.  Hopefully he comes out aggressively in this game. 

Bench Play
-  The second unit must come through for the Celtics.   They need quality minutes from everyone in the second unit.  The Celtics are playing in the second of back to back games on the road and in this situation, bench play is even more important than usual.   

X-Factor

On the Road and Fatigue
The Celtics need to keep their focus playing on the road even though it's easy to loose focus in a hostile arena and with the travel and all that goes with it.  Also, playing in the second of back to back games on the road isn't usually a strong point for the Celtics.  Fatigue could be a factor down the stretch.   


Re: Celtics (12-10) at Spurs (18-6) 12/15
« Reply #1 on: December 15, 2012, 12:35:19 AM »

Offline Who

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Kawhi and Jacks are still out.

I think Pierce and Green are again keys to beating this San Antonio team. The Spurs have no wings with enough size/bulk to handle Pierce and/or Green. They have to exploit that. They didn't do enough last time round. They must correct that this time.

Re: Celtics (12-10) at Spurs (18-6) 12/15
« Reply #2 on: December 15, 2012, 12:38:57 AM »

Offline Who

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I like Jason Terry to start against Gary Neal. No point in using Courtney Lee here. It doesn't gain Boston anything but Terry gives Boston a matchup advantage over Neal.

I also like having Courtney Lee come off the bench to play against Manu Ginobili. C-Lee is Boston's defensive choice against Manu.

Re: Celtics (12-10) at Spurs (18-6) 12/15
« Reply #3 on: December 15, 2012, 01:09:23 AM »

Offline cman88

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I have a feeling that we win this game...Celtics are usually good in san antonio

Re: Celtics (12-10) at Spurs (18-6) 12/15
« Reply #4 on: December 15, 2012, 07:35:23 PM »

Offline ScottHow

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I wish SA sat their stars for this game.

Re: Celtics (12-10) at Spurs (18-6) 12/15
« Reply #5 on: December 15, 2012, 07:43:26 PM »

Offline Who

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I have a feeling that we win this game...Celtics are usually good in san antonio
Ever since Rondo came. He turned everything around.

Rondo has had some brilliant games against the Spurs. They have been completely unable to handle Rondo's ability to control a game with his non-scoring contributions (rebounding, defense, playmaking).

Re: Celtics (12-10) at Spurs (18-6) 12/15
« Reply #6 on: December 15, 2012, 08:33:19 PM »

Offline albas89

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I don't have a good feeling for this game. Last night's performance didn't help at all as well...
"Life has so many hurdles. Some of them I've hopped over, some of them I've tripped over. The key is to get back up and finish the race."- Paul Pierce

And he did finish...

Re: Celtics (12-10) at Spurs (18-6) 12/15
« Reply #7 on: December 15, 2012, 08:34:21 PM »

Offline BudweiserCeltic

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I like Jason Terry to start against Gary Neal. No point in using Courtney Lee here. It doesn't gain Boston anything but Terry gives Boston a matchup advantage over Neal.

I also like having Courtney Lee come off the bench to play against Manu Ginobili. C-Lee is Boston's defensive choice against Manu.

Hmm, I wanted to see Lee starting once again, but hadn't considered Manu off the bench. I'm reconsidering.

Re: Celtics (12-10) at Spurs (18-6) 12/15
« Reply #8 on: December 15, 2012, 08:35:45 PM »

Offline Celts Fan 92

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spurs aint playin their best ball at da moment i think we win dis one i expect a big game from Pierce since Leonard nd Captain Jack aint playin

Re: Celtics (12-10) at Spurs (18-6) 12/15
« Reply #9 on: December 15, 2012, 08:38:23 PM »

Offline Scottie

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Difficult to see this one being even close.

Re: Celtics (12-10) at Spurs (18-6) 12/15
« Reply #10 on: December 15, 2012, 08:38:47 PM »

Offline ScottHow

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I'll guess a big game for Rondo and Terry. Solid game from KG and Sully, Pierce struggles, Celtics lose by 4.

Re: Celtics (12-10) at Spurs (18-6) 12/15
« Reply #11 on: December 15, 2012, 08:39:42 PM »

Offline hpantazo

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Difficult to see this one being even close.

these are the type of games our team shows up for and loses in a close battle after playing like garbage against mediocre teams

Re: Celtics (12-10) at Spurs (18-6) 12/15
« Reply #12 on: December 15, 2012, 08:43:36 PM »

Offline BudweiserCeltic

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KG will be a wall today for Duncan..

Re: Celtics (12-10) at Spurs (18-6) 12/15
« Reply #13 on: December 15, 2012, 08:46:00 PM »

Offline Meadowlark_Scal

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Scal & Mike G work good together...scal is pretty good..!

Re: Celtics (12-10) at Spurs (18-6) 12/15
« Reply #14 on: December 15, 2012, 08:46:35 PM »

Offline BudweiserCeltic

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Two defensive lapses on the same player in a row.