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Celtics (38-35) at Wolves (26-46) 4/1
« on: March 31, 2013, 10:47:01 PM »

Online FLCeltsFan

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Boston Celtics (38-35)  at  Minnesota Timberwolves (26-46) 
Monday, April 1, 2013
8:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #74,  Road Game #38
TV:  CSN-NE, WFTC, NBA-LP 758(BOS)/759 (MIN)
Radio: WEEI, WCCO-AM
Target Center 




Probable Starters
PG SGSF PF C
Avery Bradley..... Paul Pierce ..... Jeff Green...... Brandon Bass ..... Chris Wilcox

Celtics Reserves
Courtney Lee
Terrence Williams
Shavlik Randolph
DJ White
Jordan Crawford
Jason Terry

Injuries
Rajon Rondo (knee) out
Jared Sullinger (back) out
Kevin Garnett (foot/ankle) day to day

Red Claws
Fab Melo




Probable Starters
PG SG SF PF C 
Ricky Rubio.....Luke Ridnour..... Andre Kirilenko ..... Derrick Williams.....  Greg Stiemsma

Wolves Reserves
Alexy Shved
JJ Barea
Dante Cunningham
Chase Buddinger
Chris Johnson
Mickael Gelabale



Injuries

Brandon Roy (knee) out
Kevin Love (hand) out
Nikola Pekovik (ankle) questionable
Malcolm Lee (knee)  out 


Game Notes

The Celtics visit the Timberwolves for the 2nd and final meeting this season.  They won the first game 104-94 in Boston back in December, before Kevin Love was injured.     Even though the Wolves have won just 26 games, they are capable of beating you on any given night as they beat the Thunder just last week. 

The Celtics are coming off a terrible effort against the Knicks.  They settled for way too many outside shots that just weren't falling, shooting just 7 of 25 from beyond the arc.  At the same time, they allowed the Knicks to shoot 49% from the field and 52% on 3 pointers.   

The Celtics must some way find their focus on the road.  They continue to lose games they should win on the road and playing very poorly in the process.   They won't have home court in any of their series in the playoffs and if they can't find a way to win on the road, their playoff run may be very short. 

Paul Pierce had ice on his ankle after the loss to the Knicks and although he said he was fine,  he played 32 minutes and Doc may choose to sit him in this game.   The Celtics simply must get more out of every player if they expect to make it out of the first round. 
 
Key Matchups
  vs 
Avery Bradley vs Ricky Rubio
Rubio is back from his ACL tear and is playing well.   He's a very good PG who can shoot the ball as well as find the open man.  He's also very fast and Avery will need to slow him down to keep the Wolves from getting into their offense and slow them down.   

  vs 
Jeff Green vs Andrei Kirilenko
Kirilenko got off to a slow start due to injuries but he has been playing very well lately.  I remember a few years ago, Paul Pierce frustrated him to tears in a game.  Hopefully Green can frustrate him in this game. 

Honorable Mention
Chris Wilcox vs Greg Stiemsma
Chris will face his former teammate at the center spot.  Stiemsma has not played as well this year as he did last season, but he's still capable of grabbing rebounds and blocking shots if you don't box him out. 

Keys to the Game
Defense - The Celtics must defend.   The offense feeds off of the defense and if the Celtics can't get stops they struggle on the other end as well.   They have to make defense their priority, especially as the playoffs approach.   Allowing a team to shoot 52% from beyond the arc isn't going to get it done. 

Rebound - The Celtics must get rebounds to prevent second chance points and fast breaks.   Rebounding takes effort and desire and the Celtics have got to show both and crash the boards as a team.  Pekovic is questionable, but if he plays, this becomes even more important because he is a beast around the basket. 

  Be Aggressive - The Celtics have to be aggressive in going after loose balls and rebounds and in taking the ball to the basket.  They also have to be aggressive on defense.  When they are aggressive in going to the hoop good things happen.   They must be the more aggressive team and they have to stop depending on jumpers, especially when the jumpers aren't falling. 

Bench Play -  The Wolves have a couple of players off the bench that are tough for teams to match up with in Alexy Shved and JJ Barea.  The Celtics bench players must be ready to defend these deceptively quick players. Especially in back to back games, the Celtics need to get production from their bench players and they have to be more consistent. 

X-Factors
Road Game and Back to Back
Once again the Celtics are on the road and they have struggled on the road, even against the bottom teams in the league. Or, maybe it is especially against the bottom teams in the league.  They have to keep their focus and find a way to win on the road because they will have to win on the road in the playoffs.  Also, the Celtics are playing in back to back games against a young team with fresh legs.   The Celtics are 2-4 in the second game of road/road back to back games. 
« Last Edit: April 01, 2013, 06:11:13 AM by FLCeltsFan »

Re: Celtics (38-35) at Wolves (26-46) 4/1
« Reply #1 on: March 31, 2013, 11:27:13 PM »

Offline dinome18

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Doc says Pierce probably won't play in this one. Chalk up another loss

Re: Celtics (38-35) at Wolves (26-46) 4/1
« Reply #2 on: April 01, 2013, 12:06:59 PM »

Offline zimbo

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Looking forward to Bradley on Rubio.

Re: Celtics (38-35) at Wolves (26-46) 4/1
« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2013, 12:08:56 PM »

Offline zimbo

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Doc says Pierce probably won't play in this one. Chalk up another loss

It will be interesting to see how Jeff plays w/o Pierce or KG. Or has this already happened? I can't seem to remember.
« Last Edit: April 01, 2013, 12:32:52 PM by zimbo »

Re: Celtics (38-35) at Wolves (26-46) 4/1
« Reply #4 on: April 01, 2013, 12:26:57 PM »

Offline SHAQATTACK

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here goes a VERY COLD dose of one possible future ,  as it could be be one day without Pierce and KG

This could be scary bad with all these new players .... :-\

OMG ....I can't watch

wake me up after its over... :(



Re: Celtics (38-35) at Wolves (26-46) 4/1
« Reply #5 on: April 01, 2013, 12:49:08 PM »

Offline hwangjini_1

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here goes a VERY COLD dose of one possible future ,  as it could be be one day without Pierce and KG

This could be scary bad with all these new players .... :-\

OMG ....I can't watch

wake me up after its over... :(

well, this may be why they have teams actually play games. perhaps this is a glimpse of one possible future for the celtics....minus rondo.

against the timberwolves right now, i still think the celtics will win. just put on those green tinted glasses, grab a glass of green kool-aid, and away we go!!!!

go celtics!!! another win tonight.  ;D
I believe Gandhi is the only person who knew about real democracy — not democracy as the right to go and buy what you want, but democracy as the responsibility to be accountable to everyone around you. Democracy begins with freedom from hunger, freedom from unemployment, freedom from fear, and freedom from hatred.
- Vandana Shiva

Re: Celtics (38-35) at Wolves (26-46) 4/1
« Reply #6 on: April 01, 2013, 02:14:55 PM »

Offline Celtics18

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here goes a VERY COLD dose of one possible future ,  as it could be be one day without Pierce and KG



Minus our all star point guard and our power forward. 
DKC Seventy-Sixers:

PG: G. Hill/D. Schroder
SG: C. Lee/B. Hield/T. Luwawu
SF:  Giannis/J. Lamb/M. Kuzminskas
PF:  E. Ilyasova/J. Jerebko/R. Christmas
C:    N. Vucevic/K. Olynyk/E. Davis/C. Jefferson

Re: Celtics (38-35) at Wolves (26-46) 4/1
« Reply #7 on: April 01, 2013, 02:20:11 PM »

Offline CelticsFan9

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I miss Steamboat.   :'(

Re: Celtics (38-35) at Wolves (26-46) 4/1
« Reply #8 on: April 01, 2013, 02:27:48 PM »

Offline kgainez

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here goes a VERY COLD dose of one possible future ,  as it could be be one day without Pierce and KG



Minus our all star point guard and our power forward.

right? lol

I understand chalking up the L, but the gloom and doom is nuts.
I think Rondo and Green could be magic. Sprinkle in some Sully. And a real big? Come on.

Also, if we play right today, I think we can win.
If, for example, Crawford starts and he get shot early, this could be great.

Re: Celtics (38-35) at Wolves (26-46) 4/1
« Reply #9 on: April 01, 2013, 04:24:41 PM »

Offline AshyLarry

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I miss Steamboat.   :'(

Don't start man, or else ima start... :'( awww god. :'( :'(
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Re: Celtics (38-35) at Wolves (26-46) 4/1
« Reply #10 on: April 01, 2013, 05:27:27 PM »

Offline CelticConcourse

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Just get closer to the sixth seed, but if we don't want to play whoever the third seed is, we'll just intentionally lose a few at the end and play the second seed! All depends who gets a better record, IND or NYK (but we have to get close to ATL so that we can chose the option of whether to win or to lose)
Jeff Green - Top 5 SF

[Kevin Garnett]
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Re: Celtics (38-35) at Wolves (26-46) 4/1
« Reply #11 on: April 01, 2013, 05:50:09 PM »

Offline Lightskinsmurf

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The celtics are officially in cruise control mode. They aren't intentionally going to lose any game but they aren't going balls to the wall either to win. Whatever happens happens and health is the number one priority right now. We're guaranteed at least a first round exit vs miami lol.

Re: Celtics (38-35) at Wolves (26-46) 4/1
« Reply #12 on: April 01, 2013, 06:55:13 PM »

Offline CelticSooner

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The celtics are officially in cruise control mode. They aren't intentionally going to lose any game but they aren't going balls to the wall either to win. Whatever happens happens and health is the number one priority right now. We're guaranteed at least a first round exit vs miami lol.

Pretty much, once KG went out this is their M.O. Doc talks a big game but I don't think he cares too much where they land in either 6th or 7th.

Re: Celtics (38-35) at Wolves (26-46) 4/1
« Reply #13 on: April 01, 2013, 07:17:38 PM »

Online FLCeltsFan

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Pierce out for personal reasons - not with the team.  KG with the team but not playing.

Starters - Bradley, Lee, Green, Bass, Wilcox

Re: Celtics (38-35) at Wolves (26-46) 4/1
« Reply #14 on: April 01, 2013, 07:29:17 PM »

Offline timobusa

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Jeff Green out tonight too.
Food poisoning.

"@unclejeffgreen What did I eat? Ugh"
"@ESPN Jeff Green out, Paul Pierce out, KG out for the game against the Wolves tonight"




























april fools?