Author Topic: Wizards (13-5) at Celtics (6-11) Game #18 12/7/14  (Read 33968 times)

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Wizards (13-5) at Celtics (6-11) Game #18 12/7/14
« on: December 06, 2014, 09:40:33 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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at
Washington Wizards (13-5) at Boston Celtics (6-11)
Sunday, December 7, 2014
1:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #18 Home Game #12
TV: CSN-NE, Comcast Sportsnet,NBA-LP 751(DTV) /751, 753(xfinity)
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub, WNEW 99.1 FM
TD Garden




Probable Starters

PG: Rajon Rondo
SG: Avery Bradley
SF: Jeff Green
PF: Jared Sullinger
C: Tyler Zeller

Celtics Reserves

Phil Pressey
Evan Turner
Marcus Thornton
Brandon Bass
Dwight Powell
Kelly Olynyk
James Young
Gerald Wallace
Marcus Smart

Injuries

Vitor Faverani (knee) out




Probable Starters

PG: John Wall
SG: Bradley Beal
SF: Paul Pierce
PF:  Kris Humphries
C: Marcin Gortat

Wizards Reserves
Rasual Butler
Otto Porter
Nene Hilario
Kevin Seraphin
Andre Miller
DeJuan Blair
Garrett Temple
Drew Gooden
Glen Rice Jr

Injuries
Martell Webster (back) out

Game Notes
Paul Pierce returns to Boston for the first time as a Washington Wizard.  Kris Humphries also returns to Boston for the first time after his year with the Celtics.  Both are playing very well for the Wizards and have been among the reason that they are off to their best start since 1974. 

The Wizards won the series last season 3 games to 1.   This is the first of three meetings this season.  These two teams will meet again on Monday night in Washington in a home and home series.  Their third and final meeting will be on December 27. 

After losing 5 games in a row, the Celtics have their first 2 game win streak going.  The Wizards come into this game on a 4 game win streak. 

Key Matchups 

vs
Rajon Rondo vs John Wall
Wall is playing very well, averaging 17.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 9.8 assists. Rondo leads the league in assists, but Wall is in the top 5.  After being slighted for the All Star Game in favor of Rondo,  Wall always takes this matchup personally.   Rondo is coming off a very strong game vs the Lakers and hopefully he will pick up where he left off in that game. 

vs
Jeff Green vs Paul Pierce
Paul Pierce is one of the reasons that the Wizards are off to a strong start.  He is playing very well and averaging 12.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists a game.  Green did a very good job containing Kobe in the last game and the Celtics will look to him to contain Pierce in this one.

Keys to the Game
Defense - The Celtics need to especially defend the 3 point line, an area that they have struggled this season. Washington is 4th in the league in 3 point percentage at 37.7%. But the Celtics can't ignore the paint either as Gortat can go strong to the basket as can their guards. The Celtics need to play team defense as the Wizards have a balanced attack and so the Celtics have to play good defense across the board. 

Pace and Space - The Celtics play their best when they move the ball and find the open man. They play their worst when they over dribble and each player tries to do too much. They need to keep the ball moving, including getting up the floor quickly before the defense gets set.

Rebound - The Celtics must crash the boards and put out extra effort to grab rebounds. The Wizards are good at getting out on the break when they can get defensive rebounds and they are also good at getting put backs and second chance points when they get offensive rebounds.

Be Aggressive
- The Celtics must be the more aggressive team in going to the basket, in diving for loose balls, in grabbing rebounds and just in playing harder. They have to be the team that wants it more and plays harder.  They have been aggressive in their last two games, both wins, and they must remain aggressive if they want to have a chance to win this one.

X-Factors
Home and Paul Pierce
The Celtics are at home and should get a boost from playing in front of the home crowd.  Paul Pierce always puts out extra effort against his former team and a big game from him could be the difference in this game. 

Re: Wizards (13-5) at Celtics (6-11) Game #18 12/7/14
« Reply #1 on: December 06, 2014, 09:43:35 PM »

Offline Eddie20

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Good job...as always!

Pierce saying he's going to get 30. Should be interesting.

Re: Wizards (13-5) at Celtics (6-11) Game #18 12/7/14
« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2014, 09:46:46 PM »

Offline Eddie20

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Pierce is also just a few points away from moving past Miller in career points:

16.   Reggie Miller   25279
17.   Paul Pierce   25256

Re: Wizards (13-5) at Celtics (6-11) Game #18 12/7/14
« Reply #3 on: December 06, 2014, 09:48:09 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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Thanks Eddie20!  And a TP for being the first to post in the game thread. 

Re: Wizards (13-5) at Celtics (6-11) Game #18 12/7/14
« Reply #4 on: December 07, 2014, 08:37:06 AM »

Offline Chris22

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The Wizards are a much better team than we are, but we have won two in a row.

Re: Wizards (13-5) at Celtics (6-11) Game #18 12/7/14
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2014, 09:35:21 AM »

Offline Ogaju

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would be nice for pierce to go to 16 at the Garden!!!

Re: Wizards (13-5) at Celtics (6-11) Game #18 12/7/14
« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2014, 11:36:41 AM »

Offline mgent

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Pierce is also just a few points away from moving past Miller in career points:

16.   Reggie Miller   25279
17.   Paul Pierce   25256


Go Pierce!
Philly:

Anderson Varejao    Tiago Splitter    Matt Bonner
David West    Kenyon Martin    Brad Miller
Andre Iguodala    Josh Childress    Marquis Daniels
Dwyane Wade    Leandro Barbosa
Kirk Hinrich    Toney Douglas   + the legendary Kevin McHale

Re: Wizards (13-5) at Celtics (6-11) Game #18 12/7/14
« Reply #7 on: December 07, 2014, 11:37:44 AM »

Offline mgent

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would be nice for pierce to go to 16 at the Garden!!!

I think so too, though if Pierce drops 24 that would start to maybe hurt my other agenda (which is watching a Celtics win).
Philly:

Anderson Varejao    Tiago Splitter    Matt Bonner
David West    Kenyon Martin    Brad Miller
Andre Iguodala    Josh Childress    Marquis Daniels
Dwyane Wade    Leandro Barbosa
Kirk Hinrich    Toney Douglas   + the legendary Kevin McHale

Re: Wizards (13-5) at Celtics (6-11) Game #18 12/7/14
« Reply #8 on: December 07, 2014, 11:41:56 AM »

Offline SHAQATTACK

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Celtics have to play way above their heads to even have a slight chance of winning this game .

Need help from refs and a lot of hot shooting from AB , Green , KO and Sully to make this happen.

I can see Thornton or  Turner having a good offense game ....as the Wiz will forget about them .

Re: Wizards (13-5) at Celtics (6-11) Game #18 12/7/14
« Reply #9 on: December 07, 2014, 11:47:57 AM »

Offline hwangjini_1

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celtics win big. pierce makes 0 points. bradley owns wall.  ;D

gooooo celtics!!!!

p.s. thanks flc once more!
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: Wizards (13-5) at Celtics (6-11) Game #18 12/7/14
« Reply #10 on: December 07, 2014, 12:53:48 PM »

Offline timobusa

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Lets go!!!!

Re: Wizards (13-5) at Celtics (6-11) Game #18 12/7/14
« Reply #11 on: December 07, 2014, 01:09:45 PM »

Online jpotter33

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So Hump is starting for the Wiz now? Wow.

Re: Wizards (13-5) at Celtics (6-11) Game #18 12/7/14
« Reply #12 on: December 07, 2014, 01:10:30 PM »

Offline Nerf DPOY

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celtics win big. pierce makes 0 points. bradley owns wall.  ;D


I'm feeling bold today. Wall and Pierce both suck today and we win by double digits.

Re: Wizards (13-5) at Celtics (6-11) Game #18 12/7/14
« Reply #13 on: December 07, 2014, 01:15:36 PM »

Offline KeepRondo

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Gortat looks like a parrot.

Re: Wizards (13-5) at Celtics (6-11) Game #18 12/7/14
« Reply #14 on: December 07, 2014, 01:17:05 PM »

Offline timobusa

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Great start boys!