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New Orleans Pelicans (18-18) at Boston Celtics (12-23)
Monday, January 12, 2015
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #36 – Home Game #20
TV: CSN-NE, NBA-TV
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, WWL 105.3
TD Garden
Probable Starters Point Guard 
Evan Turner
Shooting Guard 
Avery Bradley
Small Forward 
Jae Crowder
Power Forward 
Jared Sullinger
Center
Tyler Zeller
Celtics ReservesPhil Pressey
Brandon Bass
Kelly Olynyk
Gerald Wallace
Marcus Smart
James Young
Marcus Thornton
Jameer Nelson
InjuriesNone
Possibly TradedJeff Green (probably not)
Tayshaun Prince (nope)
Austin Rivers (Nah)
Probable Starters Point Guard 
Jrue Holiday
Shooting Guard 
Eric Gordon
Small Forward 
Dante Cunningham
Power Forward 
Anthony Davis
Center
Omer Asik
Pelicans Reserves Tyreke Evans
Ryan Anderson
Luke Babbitt
Alexis Ajinca
Jimmer Fredette
John Salmons
Jeff Withey
Russ Smith
Injuries None
Possibly traded Austin Rivers
Game Notes The Celtics return home from their 1-2 road trip to host the New Orleans Pelicans. They will face each other again in New Orleans on March 6. The Celtics are 8-11 at home while the Pelicans are 6-13 on the road.
The Pelicans are the the third team in the trade that would send Jeff Green to the Grizzlies. The Celtics are rumored to be getting Austin Rivers from the Pelicans while they would receive Quincy Pondexter from the Grizzlies. There also may be other players involved since as I write this, the trade is still fluid and is not yet official.
The Celtics haven't had much success against the Pelicans in recent years. They have lost the last 5 meetings between these two teams. The last time the Pelicans lost in Boston was way back on November 1, 2009.
Key Matchups vs
Evan Turner vs Jrue Holiday
Holiday is averaging 15.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.6 steals. He has been doing a good job of running the offense and Evan Turner needs to work on both ends to disrupt his game.
vs
Jared Sullinger vs Anthony Davis
Davis is the heart and soul of this Pelicans team and a candidate for MVP. He is averaging 23.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game. In their last win over the Celtics, Davis had the best game of his career with 40 points and 21 rebounds. Sully is definitely going to have his hands full in this one.
Keys to the Game Focus - The Celtics seem to lose focus at times and then have a flurry of turnovers and ill advised shots. They have to keep their focus and make smart passes avoid getting flustered.
Defense - Defense will always be the key to winning. The Celtics have got to play tough defense and get stops if they want to win this game. The Pelicans are another high scoring team, averaging 101.3 points per game. They allow 100.8 points per game though. The Celtics are capable of playing tough defense, but it takes extra effort on their part.
Rebound - The Celtics have to continue to crash the boards as a team. Rebounding takes effort and the Celtics have to show that effort on the boards.
Be Aggressive - The Celtics have got to be aggressive in going to the basket, playing defense, diving for loose balls and just playing harder. They won't win many games on talent alone so they need to outwork the other teams to get the win.
Pace and Space - The Celtics need to set the pace and run on every possession in order to get easy baskets before the defenses set up. They also need to space the floor and make the extra pass to find the open man.
X-Factors
Home and Effort The Celtics are home again and should get a boost from the home crowd. The Pelicans are just 6-13 on the road and so the Celtics may have an advantage if they are the team that give the most effort.
Topic: Pelicans (18-18) at Celtics (12-23) Game #36 1/12/15 (Read 62097 times)