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Celtics (10-14) at Heat (12-15) Game #25 12/21/14
« on: December 20, 2014, 11:46:54 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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at
Boston Celtics (10-14) at Miami Heat (12-15)
Sunday, December 21, 2014
6:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #25, Road Game #10
TV: CSNNE, SunSports, NBA-LP 758(DTV), 755/756(xfinity)
Radio: 1030 WBZ, 104.3 The Ticket
American Airlines Arena



Probable Starting Matchups 

Point Guard
vs
Evan Turner vs Mario Chalmers 

Shooting Guard

vs
Avery Bradley vs Dwyane Wade

Small Forward

vs
Jeff Green vs Luol Deng

Power Forward 

vs
Jared Sullinger vs Shawne Williams

Center

vs
Tyler Zeller vs Chris Andersen

Celtics Reserves

Brandon Bass
Tyler Zeller
Gerald Wallace
Jae Crowder
Brandan Wright
Jameer Nelson
Marcus Smart

Injuries
Marcus Thornton (calf) out
James Young (shoulder)  out



Heat Reserves
Norris Cole
Justin Hamilton
Udonis Haslem
James Ennis
Hassan Whiteside
Danny Granger
Shabazz Napier
Andre Dawkins

Injuries
Chris Bosh  (calf)  out
Josh McRoberts (meniscus)  out

Game Notes

The Celtics try to win their fourth straight game as they make a visit to the Miami Heat.  This is the first of 4 games between these two teams this season.  They will meet in Boston on February 1 and March 25 and again in Miami on March 9.   The Celtics have won their last 3 while the Heat have lost their last 2 games.

The Celtics won the season series last year 2-1 but much has changed for both teams since those meetings.   LeBron is no longer in Miami and it is once again Dwyane Wade's team.  And Rajon Rondo, who always had big games against the Heat,  is in Dallas.

The Heat are 4-9 at home while the Celtics are 3-6 on the road.  The Heat have lost their last 5 home games and desperately want to end that streak.   Strangely, the Celtics are in the 8th playoff spot in the East while the Heat are just above them in the 7th spot.   This rivalry may be far from what it once was but it's always good to beat the Heat.   

Key Matchups
  at 
Avery Bradley vs Dwyane Wade
Avery Bradley does as good a job as anyone of hounding Wade and frustrating him.  Wade is leading the Heat with 22.8 points and 5.5 assists a game.  Avery will need to play him tough to keep him from having a big game.

vs
Jeff Green vs Luol Deng
Deng is long and has always been a tough defender.  Jeff will have to work to get his points against Deng.  On the other end, Deng is averaging 14.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists and Jeff will need to play some defense himself to slow him down. 

Keys to the Game
Defense
Defense wins games.  The Celtics have been playing some pretty good defense in the past 3 games.  They need to continue to play tough team defense.   They need to especially defend the 3 point line where Miami is shooting 36% from beyond the arc.  The Heat are allowing just 98.6 points per game while the Celtics are allowing 104.7 points per game.  Defense will be a big key to getting a win.

Rebound
The Heat are dead last in the league in rebounding, pulling down just 35.6 rebounds per game. They are also last in offensive rebounding with 8 per game.  Crashing the boards will give the Celtics extra possessions as well as keeping the Heat from getting fast breaks and second chance points.  They lost one of their better rebounders when Rondo was traded and so the rest of the team must step up to fill in that gap. 

Be Aggressive

The Celtics have to be aggressive in going to the basket and not settle for jumpers, especially if the jumpers aren't falling. They have to dive for loose balls and be aggressive in crashing the boards. The starters need to come out and play aggressively from the beginning and the second unit needs to come in and pick up where they leave off. They have to attack the basket and be aggressive on defense for the whole 48 minutes. No letting up.

Run and Take it to the Hoop
The Celtics need to run on every possession. They have the legs to keep it up and not let up and to tire the Heat out.   The Celtics also have to go to the basket and not settle for jumpers. Every game they have offensive droughts when their shots just won't go. When that happens, they have to go inside and not continue to hoist up jumpers.

X-Factors
Road Game and New Guys
Playing on the road,  young teams often struggle on the road.  Hopefully the Celtics can focus and get the win here.  The 3 new players will more than likely be available and play in this game.  How they fit with the team may give them a boost or may hold them back. 

Re: Celtics (10-14) at Heat (12-15) Game #25 12/21/14
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2014, 11:47:46 PM »

Offline Rondo9

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Bradley vs Wade once again!

Re: Celtics (10-14) at Heat (12-15) Game #25 12/21/14
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2014, 11:49:26 PM »

Offline LarBrd33

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Bradley vs Wade once again!
Now that we have both Turner and Smart available to us, do we actually want Bradley covering the bigger guard?  IT seems like whether it's Turner/Bradley or Smart/Bradley,  Bradley should be covering the little guy.

Re: Celtics (10-14) at Heat (12-15) Game #25 12/21/14
« Reply #3 on: December 20, 2014, 11:50:04 PM »

Offline Rondo9

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Bradley vs Wade once again!
Now that we have both Turner and Smart available to us, do we actually want Bradley covering the bigger guard?  IT seems like whether it's Turner/Bradley or Smart/Bradley,  Bradley should be covering the little guy.

Nah put Bradley on Wade first! Then Smart or Turner.

Re: Celtics (10-14) at Heat (12-15) Game #25 12/21/14
« Reply #4 on: December 20, 2014, 11:52:27 PM »

Offline sed522002

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I'm laughing so hard at the Zeller/Birdman pics. They are POLAR opposites..lol. Zeller with his big happy smile and Birdman with his "I want to murder you" mean mug.

Re: Celtics (10-14) at Heat (12-15) Game #25 12/21/14
« Reply #5 on: December 20, 2014, 11:54:54 PM »

Offline jpotter33

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I want to see Smart D up DWade. I can see Wade getting incredibly frustrated by his defense.

For old time's sake:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ1xz-7OVh4

Still my favorite Bradley play of all time!

Re: Celtics (10-14) at Heat (12-15) Game #25 12/21/14
« Reply #6 on: December 20, 2014, 11:58:51 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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TP Rondo9 for being first to post in the game thread.

And TP to jpotter33 for that great video.  I love that play!!

Re: Celtics (10-14) at Heat (12-15) Game #25 12/21/14
« Reply #7 on: December 21, 2014, 12:02:11 AM »

Offline Tr1boy

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We will win tomorrow.  Dwade has to score 40 in order to give his Heat a chance against us

KO will have another big game

Re: Celtics (10-14) at Heat (12-15) Game #25 12/21/14
« Reply #8 on: December 21, 2014, 12:17:06 AM »

Offline Csfan1984

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Wow so no Bosh. Not good if C's win they move past the Heat on standings.

Re: Celtics (10-14) at Heat (12-15) Game #25 12/21/14
« Reply #9 on: December 21, 2014, 12:25:30 AM »

Offline hwangjini_1

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celtics are on a roll. another win on the way!

gooooo celtics...and a tp for flc.  :)
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.
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Re: Celtics (10-14) at Heat (12-15) Game #25 12/21/14
« Reply #10 on: December 21, 2014, 01:18:49 AM »

Offline Who

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Miami need both Bosh and Wade in the lineup to be a good team.

With only one of them on the floor, they are a 26-30 win caliber team. Roughly the same as Boston currently is after trading Rondo. They are more reliant on a single player than Boston is though so if the Celtics defense can key in on D-Wade, they stand a very good chance of winning this game.

Wade has looked vulnerable to stronger defenders this season. I am not sure Boston has the team defense to bother him but they do have the guard defense with Bradley and Smart. Good test for Boston's team defense. Hopefully Brandan Wright can help the team D.

Re: Celtics (10-14) at Heat (12-15) Game #25 12/21/14
« Reply #11 on: December 21, 2014, 01:33:17 AM »

Offline Csfan1984

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So Heat might join the tank club?

Re: Celtics (10-14) at Heat (12-15) Game #25 12/21/14
« Reply #12 on: December 21, 2014, 10:55:08 AM »

Offline letsgoblue86

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Let's get this money, C's.

Re: Celtics (10-14) at Heat (12-15) Game #25 12/21/14
« Reply #13 on: December 21, 2014, 11:11:31 AM »

Offline Clench123

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I'm laughing so hard at the Zeller/Birdman pics. They are POLAR opposites..lol. Zeller with his big happy smile and Birdman with his "I want to murder you" mean mug.

Haha true

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 be a step down. I am pure 100 percent Celtic. I think if you slashed my wrists, my
 blood would’ve been green.  -  Bill "Greatest of All Time" Russell

Re: Celtics (10-14) at Heat (12-15) Game #25 12/21/14
« Reply #14 on: December 21, 2014, 11:54:44 AM »

Offline TwinTower14

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My prediction - Smart will frustrate Wade so much with his D, that he will take a cheap shot or a hard foul on him. I have been waiting since June to see Smart harass Wade.