Cavaliers (4-11) at Celtics (6-11) Game 18 11/29

[FLCeltsFan]

  at 
Cleveland Cavaliers (4-11) at Boston Celtics (6-11)
Friday, November 19, 2013
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #18, Home Game #8
TV: CSN-NE, FSOhio, NBA-LP 758(DTV)/754(xfinity)
Radio: WZLX, WTAM
TD Garden




Jordan Crawford...Avery Bradley...Jeff Green...Brandon Bass...Jared Sullinger

Celtics Reserves
MarShon Brooks
Kris Humphries
Vitor Faverani
Courtney Lee
Phil Pressey
Gerald Wallace

Injuries
Rajon Rondo (ACL)out
Keith Bogans (illness) day to day
Kelly Olynyk (ankle) day to day






Kyrie Irving...Matthew Dellavedova...Alonzo Gee...Tristan Thompson... Andrew Bynum

Cavaliers Reserves
Jarrett Jack
Anderson Varejao
Dion Waiters
Earl Clark
Sergey Karasev
Anthony Bennett
Carrick Felix
Tyler Zeller
Henry Sims

Injuries
CJ Miles (calf) day to day

Key Matchups 
vs
Jordan Crawford vs Kyrie Irving
Irving has been a thorn in the Celtics side since he came into the league.  He is averaging 21.0 points, 6.1 assists and 3.5 rebounds. Expect to see Avery guarding Irving while Crawford picks up Dellavedova. 

vs
Jared Sullinger vs Andrew Bynum
Bynum missed all of last year with various and sundry injuries, including one that he suffered while bowling.  He is averaging 6.6 points and 3.9 rebounds this season and isn't the dominant player that he was before the injuries.  He does have a height advantage on Sully that may give him an advantage. 

Honorable Mention
Celtics Bench vs Cavaliers Bench
The Cavs bench is averaging 53.5 points in their last 4 games. For the season, they are averaging 36.9 points per game, which ranks 6th in the league.  They have outscored their opponents in 12 of their last 15 games.  The Celtics will need a strong game from their reserves if they want to get a win in this game. 

Game Notes
The Celtics finish a brutal November with yet another back to back set beginning with the Cleveland Cavaliers at home.  This is the first of 3 meetings between these two teams this season.  They split the 4 game series last season. 

The Celtics have lost their last 4 games at home and are looking to get back in the win column.  The last time the Boston Celtics dropped five in a row at home was the season before Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined the team when they lost 13 straight at home.

Both the Celtics and Cavs have struggled on the offensive end.   The Celtics offense ranks 24th, posting just 92.9 points per game.  The Cavs rank just behind the Celtics at 25, averaging just 92.6 points per game.

The Cavs have had very good luck in the lottery in recent years.  Perhaps they have their eyes on another top pick in this year's draft.  With a 4 and 11 record,  they have a good head start. 

The Celtics are 2-5 at home while the Cavs are 1-8 on the road.  The Celtics head back out on the road after this game to face the Bucks in Milwaukee.  I'm sure that one of the things the Celtics were thankful for this Thanksgiving was that their month of November is finally coming to an end.

Keys to the game

Take Care of the Ball -  So far this season, the Celtics have lost when they turn the ball over a lot and they have won when they were able to keep their turnovers to a minimum.   They need to take care of the ball and try to limit those turnovers if they want to get a win.

Move the Ball and Run - The Celtics play best when they play uptempo and move the ball.  They need to beat the defense down the court before it gets set up.  When they slow the ball down and when they over dribble, they struggle to score. 

Start Strong and Finish Stronger - The Celtics need to come out strong and establish the tempo and get off to a good start.  Against the Grizzlies, they came out sluggish and never could overcome that.  They also need to play hard until the final buzzer. 

X-Factors
Focus and Home Court
The Celtics need to come out focused and they need to keep their focus until the end.  Brad Stevens mentioned that the atmosphere at the Garden has been great and hopefully it will give the Celtics a boost. 

[Vox_Populi]

Watch Irving bounce back from his poor game against Miami to torch us.

[clover]

Watch Irving bounce back from his poor game  against Miami to torch us.

That would be okay by me.

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

Ah, for my Bold Predictions: Sullinger earns his first triple double of the season, Crawford makes more 3s than Kyrie Irving, and Green notches his first 40 point game of the season.

[Surferdad]

A meaningless early season game between two possibly lottery-bound teams...that means something unique will happen like a Sully triple-double or a 40 point game from Green, as already suggested.

For those who think the C's are only a big man and a lottery pick away from contention, I give you the Cavs roster.  Irving, Bynum plus #1 pick Bennett. How do ya like dem apples?

[D.o.s.]

A meaningless early season game between two possibly lottery-bound teams...that means something unique will happen like a Sully triple-double or a 40 point game from Green, as already suggested.

For those who think the C's are only a big man and a lottery pick away from contention, I give you the Cavs roster.  Irving, Bynum plus #1 pick Bennett. How do ya like dem apples?

For my money, a healthy Bynum would almost assure that team of at least an appearance in the 2nd round.

[sofutomygaha]

Kyrie dominating the ball on offense and guarding Crawford on defense. Tristan Thompson defending Sullinger in the post and battling for offensive rebounds.

This game has more Jordan Crawford Show written all over it, though if aggressive Jeff Green shows up, he could definitely have a big day.

[cman88]

hopefully another big game by sullinger and another C's loss to put us closer to a top 5 pick!

[cman88]

A meaningless early season game between two possibly lottery-bound teams...that means something unique will happen like a Sully triple-double or a 40 point game from Green, as already suggested.

For those who think the C's are only a big man and a lottery pick away from contention, I give you the Cavs roster.  Irving, Bynum plus #1 pick Bennett. How do ya like dem apples?

outside of Irving, the cavs have drafted horrible IMO..trying to get all "cute" in picking guys above where they were ranked.

[hwangjini_1]

thanks for the thread flc, and tp for your great work.

celtics have a chance to win this one. if they are consistent defense they have a good shot at winning. on offense, the celtics really are poor unless green decides to play, which is never a sure thing.

but with sully pushing bynum around they might pull off the win. but the beauty of this season is that even if the celtics lose but try hard, i am happy. 

gooooooo celtics!!

[BudweiserCeltic]

I predict Sullinger destroying Bynum's knees.

[bello_man09]

lets gO!!!

[BudweiserCeltic]

Awesome passing from Sully to start the game, 2 assists.

[timobusa]

Away uniform at home!! so confusing!

[timobusa]

STEEZ IS STYLING ON THEM!