Celtics (11-21) at Nets (16-18) Game #33 1/7/15

[FLCeltsFan]

  at 
Images courtesy of Fanatics.com
Boston Celtics (11-21)  at  Brooklyn Nets (16-18)
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #33, Road Game #14
TV: CSNNE, YES, League Pass 757(DTV), 754(xfinity)
Radio: WZLX 100.7, WFAN
Barclays Center


Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
  vs 
Evan Turner vs Jarrett Jack

Shooting Guard
  vs 
Avery Bradley vs Sergey Karasev

Small Forward
  vs 
Jeff Green vs Joe Johnson

Power Forward
  vs 
Jared Sullinger vs Kevin Garnett

Center
 




Celtics Reserves
Phil Pressey
Brandon Bass
Kelly Olynyk
Gerald Wallace
Marcus Smart
Jae Crowder
Brandan Wright
James Young

Injuries
Marcus Thornton (calf) day to day
Jameer Nelson  (ankle)  day to day


Nets Reserves
Alan Anderson
Markel Brown
Cory Jefferson
Jerome Jordan
Mirza Teletovic
Brook Lopez
Bojan Bogdanovic
Darius Morris
Brandon Davies

Injuries
Deron Williams (side) questionable

Game Notes
The Celtics visit the Brooklyn Nets looking for their first road win since Rondo was traded.  This is the 3rd of 4 meetings between these two teams with the series tied 1-1.  They will meet once more at the Barclays Center in March. 

Both teams are looking to get back on track and end losing streaks.  The Nets have lost their last 2 games while the Celtics have lose 3 in a row.   The Nets have beaten the Celtics the last 2 times they played at the Barclays Center. 

This is the first game of a 3 game road trip for the Celtics.  They will visit the Pacers on Friday and the Raptors on Saturday before returning for a home game against the Pelicans on Monday. 

The topic after the Celtics loss to the Hornets and at practice was effort.  Hopefully they got the message and we will see a better effort in this one.  They got a boost from James Young in the last game but he may or may not see the court in this one.  It would be nice to see him get some regular minutes. 

Both Marcus Thornton (calf) and Jameer Nelson (ankle) are improved but both are listed day to day in advance of this game.   For the Nets, Deron Williams is listed as questionable with soreness in his side. 

Key Matchups
  vs 
Jeff Green vs Joe Johnson
Johnson leads the Nets in scoring at 16.6 points per game. It will be key for Jeff Green to slow him down if the Celtics expect to get the win.  Green has been in a slump and this would be a great time for him to break out of it.

  vs 
Evan Turner vs Jarrett Jack
Turner has been playing well at the point in spite of the slow starts.  Jarrett Jack is averaging 10.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists but is capable of big games if the defense is lax. 

Honorable Mention
Jared Sullinger vs Kevin Garnett
This is the student vs the teacher. Sully is a proud player and that should fire him up to play well along with playing against his former mentor to show that he learned his lessons well. KG also has a lot of pride and will do his best not to let Sully get the better of him. This should be a good matchup. 

Keys to the Game
Pace and Space - The Celtics must run and move the ball and get open shots. Running on every possession will allow them to get easy shots before the defenses can get set up. They can also wear the older Nets down if they can keep the pace up.

Rebound - The Celtics can't score if they don't have the ball. They have to rebound from every position on the court in order to give themselves extra possessions and to limit the Nets' fast break opportunities and second chance baskets. They all have to make an effort on the boards to make up for the loss of Rondo, who was one of the Celtics better rebounders.  They have been getting out-rebounded in recent games and that has to stop if they want to get back to winning. 

Defense - Defense is always the key to winning. The Nets allow only 98.2 points per game while the Celtics allow a whopping 104.3 points per game. The Celtics absolutely must find ways to get stops.

Play 48 Minutes - The Celtics seem to either start out fast and build an lead and then slack off and let the other team back into the game. Or, they start slow and dig a big hole and then have to play very hard to catch up and come up just short. They have to play hard from start to finish and avoid those slumps.

Be Aggressive -  The Celtics have been giving less than their best effort in their recent losses.   They must be the more aggressive team in going after loose balls, in rebounding, on defense, in going hard to the hoop, and just play harder in general. 

X-Factors
On the Road and Effort
The Celtics are on the road and as with most young teams, they struggle away from home.  They need to focus and play hard regardless of the arena.   The talk after their last loss was all about effort, or the lack of it.  If they play hard from start to finish, they have a good chance to win this one. 

[Celtics4ever]

This it seems that we play the same teams over and over again more so than usual.

Tp for a great game thread.

[FLCeltsFan]

Thanks Celtics4ever and a TP for the first post in the game thread. 

This is actually the 5th time we are playing the Nets because we played them 2 times in the preseason and then 2 more regular season. 

[soulman]

play Young for at least 20 minutes please! 

[The_Truth]

X-factor : James Young!! 

[The_Truth]

So head coach Brad Stevens will make a decision on James Young playing tonight after shootaround depending on how Jameer and Marcus react.... 

[hwangjini_1]

yet another lucky thread to seal the upcoming victory for our beloved celtics!!!!

goooooo celtics...and tp for flc as ever.

[Who]

I think an Olynyk & Sully big man duo would work best against KG and Plumlee. Stretch out their defense as much as possible. Force KG to defend Olynyk on perimeter. Allow Sully to out-smart and out-skill Plumlee all over court.

Those two have worked well together against the Nets in the past.

[Kuberski33]

So head coach Brad Stevens will make a decision on James Young playing tonight after shootaround depending on how Jameer and Marcus react.... 

Looking forward to this thread tonight if Nelson plays and submits another suck-fest.

[TwinTower14]

If Young is not active for this game because they want to play Thornton and Nelson I may have to give serious consideration to fighting Brad Stevens and the coaching staff....

[Shamrocker]

If Young is not active for this game because they want to play Thornton and Nelson I may have to give serious consideration to fighting Brad Stevens and the coaching staff....

Enough is enough.  I wish Stevens would just give Young his minutes, and bench Nelson and Thornton.

[sofutomygaha]

Probably our last chance to see James Young for a while if he does play. Thornton and Nelson will surely be back auditioning for trades after tonight.

[hwangjini_1]

If Young is not active for this game because they want to play Thornton and Nelson I may have to give serious consideration to fighting Brad Stevens and the coaching staff....

Enough is enough.  I wish Stevens would just give Young his minutes, and bench Nelson and Thornton.

at least then we can watch sucky defense for a reason...the hope that someday young will become a credible defender. that hope for nelson and thornton has already sailed.

[Shamrocker]

Before the Charlotte game, Stevens said he felt "pretty good about our starting lineup." But that loss forced him to contemplate a change.

"I've considered it," he said. "I don't know whether I'm going to do it tonight or not. It may depend a little bit on their lineup."

Wonder what he has in mind. Have to think Green, Bradley (unfortunately), Zeller and Sully are safe, for now. Hope CBS isn't bowing to the pressure, and inserting Nelson into the starting five. That wouldn't be prudent.


http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2015/01/boston_celtics_notes_james_you_4.html

[greece66]

When the trade season started, I was like 'no point in tanking, we are too good to tank'.
Now, I'm like Okafor is ours. Ainge is a great manager.