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New York Knicks (0-1) at Boston Celtics (2-1)
Saturday, October 11, 2014
7:30 PM ET
Preseason Game #4, Home Game #3
TV: CSNNE, MSG2
Mohegan Sun Arena 
Possible Starters 
Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley, Evan Turner, Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk
Off the Bench
Phil Pressey
Marcus Thornton, Rodney McGruder, Tim Frazier
Gerald Wallace, James Young
Brandon Bass, Erik Murphy, Dwight Powell, Christian Watford
Tyler Zeller, Joel Anthony
Injuries Rajon Rondo (hand) out
Vitor Faverani (knee) out
Jeff Green (calf) out
James Young (calf) out
Possible Starters 
Jose Calderon, JR Smith, Carmelo Anthony, Andrea Bargnani, Samuel Dalembert
Off the Bench 
Pablo Prigioni, Shane Larkin
Tim Hardaway Jr, Langston Galloway
Travis Outlaw, Cleanthony Early
Amare Stoudemire, Quincy Acy, Orlando Sanchez, Travis Wear
Jason Smith, Cole Aldrich
InjuriesIman Shumpert (hamstring) day to day
Game Notes The Celtics face the Knicks for the second time this week. The first "home" game was at the XL center in Hartford CT while this "home" game is at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncaville, CT. The Celtics won the first meeting between these two teams 106-86. Last season, the series was tied 2-2 with each team winning once at home and once on the road.
The Knicks should be plenty rested and ready to play since they have only played one game this preseason, on Wednesday against the Celtics. The Celtics, on the other hand are playing in the second of back to back games and in their 4th game in 6 nights and may be getting a bit weary.
In Wednesday's game between these two teams, The Celtics shot 48.8% while holding the Knicks to 40.6% from the field. The Celtics were also 11-22 from beyond the arc and so expect the Knicks game plan to be to run the Celtics off of the 3 point line. The Celtics shot 25 free throws to 27 for the Knicks but the Celtics made 92.6% of their freebies to just 68% for the Knicks.
Players to Watch
Jared Sullinger scored 23 points and pulled down 5 rebounds in the last meeting between these two teams. Sully's ability to get inside and post up along with stretch the floor with his outside shooting are going to be very important to the Celtics success this season.
Marcus Thornton scored 12 points off the bench in Wednesday's game. He also got 3 steals and did a good job of disrupting the Knicks' offense. He will be key off the bench and will be a microwave type player to jump start the Celtics offense if it lags.
Tim Hardaway Jr was the Knicks best player in these two teams' last meeting, scoring 18 points and pulling down 6 rebounds. The Celtics would be smart to guard him in this game.
Carmelo Anthony scored just 10 points in his first game and will be looking to redeem himself with a better showing in this game. The Celtics need to be ready for Melo to be aggressive on offense in this game.
Keys to the Game Pace - After their last meeting, Brad Stevens talked about how the Celtics overcame the strengths of the Knicks by pushing the pace and with ball movement and effort. They will need to do that again, in spite of being tired after playing and traveling the night before.
Defense - There has been talk of the Celtics developing into a top 10 defensive team this season. So far, they have played an aggressive and scrappy defense. They will need to keep that up in order to get a second won over these Knicks.
Spread the Wealth - The Celtics don't have a dominant star player on the team to score a lot of points and so they are going to need to play as a team and feed the hot hand, whoever that may be, with everyone contributing.
X-FactorFatigue As I stated before, the Celtics are playing in their 4th game in 6 days and in the second of back to back games. They also traveled from Toronto overnight and so fatigue may be a factor for them in this game as they face a well rested Knicks team that has played just 1 game so far.
Topic: Knicks (0-1) at Celtics (2-1) Preseason Game #4 10/11/14 (Read 11312 times)