Celtics (13-25) at Clippers (27-14) Game #39 1/19/15

[FLCeltsFan]

  at 
Boston Celtics (13-25) at Los Angeles Clippers (27-14)
Monday, January 19, 2015
3:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #36, Road Game #17
TV: CSNNE, Prime Ticket, SNN, NBA-LP 753(DTV),754/755(Xfinity)
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, KWKW 980 The Beast
Staples Center


Probable Starting Lineups
Point Guard
  vs 
Evan Turner vs Chris Paul

Shooting Guard
  vs 
Avery Bradley vs JJ Redick

Small Forward
  vs 
Jae Crowder vs Matt Barnes

Power Forward
  vs 
Jared Sullinger vs Blake Griffin

Center
  vs 
Tyler Zeller vs DeAndre Jordan


Celtics Reserves
Phil Pressey
Brandon Bass
Kelly Olynyk
Gerald Wallace
Marcus Smart
Marcus Thornton
Tayshaun Prince
Shavlik Randolph

Injuries
James Young  (illness)  out

Head Coach
Brad Stevens 




Clippers Reserves
Jamal Crawford
Glen Davis
Spender Hawes
Dahntay Jones
Austin Rivers
Hedo Turkoglu
Ekpe Udoh
CJ Wilcox

Injuries
None

Head Coach
Doc Rivers

Game Notes
The Celtics begin a 12 day and 6 team road trip with a matinee game against Doc Rivers and the Los Angeles Clippers.  The Celtics are looking to end a 2 game losing streak while the Clippers  are coming off a win over the Kings on the road but have lost their last two games at home.

Brad Stevens has not beaten a Western Conference team on the road as the coach of the Celtics.  The last time the Celtics beat a Western Conference team on the road was in February 2013.  The Celtics are 3-7 on the road while the Clippers are 17-7 at home.

There is no shortage of story lines for this game.  Doc Rivers was the Celtics coach from 2004-2013 and led them to a championship in 2008.  Brad Stevens took over as coach when Doc decided he'd rather coach stars than a rebuild.  Also, Big Baby Davis was traded from the Celtics for Brandon Bass and there may be a bit of a rivalry there.  Finally, there is Austin Rivers, who briefly was a Celtic before being traded to play for his dad on the Clippers. 

Both Tayshaun Prince and Shavlik Randolph practiced with the team on Sunday and both are expected to be available for this game.  James Young missed the last game with the flu and is expected to miss this game as well.  The Clippers have no injuries listed. 

Key Matchups   
  vs 
Jared Sullinger vs Blake Griffin
Jared Sullinger will have his hands full trying to contain the high flying Blake Griffin.  Griffin is averaging 23 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.9 assists.   Slowing down Griffin will be key. 

  vs 
Evan Turner vs Chris Paul
Evan Turner has been doing a decent job of running the point for the Celtics, but it's safe to say that he's no Rajon Rondo.  Chris Paul, however is one of the top PG's in the league and Evan's job just got a lot harder.  Paul is averaging 17.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 9.7 assists, which is good for 4th in the league.  He also leads the league with a 4.68 assist to turnover ratio. 

Honorable Mention
Avery Bradley vs JJ Redick
Redick is always a threat to have a big game.  He is averaging 15 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. He is shooting 43.25 from beyond the arc.  If the Celtics leave him open, he will make them pay. 

Brad Stevens vs Doc Rivers
The new coach vs the previous coach. Doc won the first two meetings with his former team last season.  Can Brad get the upper hand in this one? 

Kelly Olynyk vs Jamal Crawford
While these two players won't be matched up against each other in the game, it's worth mentioning that Crawford leads all reserves with 15.7 points per game and Kelly Olynyk is 2nd among reserves with 11.3 points per game. 

Keys to the Game
Defense - The Clippers are a high scoring team, averaging 106.9 points per game, good for 4th in the league.   The Celtics defense has left much to be desired, allowing  a whopping 104.2 points per game while the Clippers are allowing 100.7 points per game.   The Celtics have got to match the Clippers defensive intensity if they expect to win this one.

Rebound - The Celtics can't score if they don't have the ball.  Rebounding will be tough against the Clippers but rebounding is effort and desire and so the Celtics must put out the extra effort on the boards to give themselves extra possessions as well as to limit the Clippers fast break opportunities and second chance points.  The Clippers will easily turn rebounds into points. 

Limit Turnovers - The Celtics are averaging almost 15 turnovers per game, which is too many.  They also seem to go through spurts in the game when they lose focus and have a flurry of turnovers.   With a young team and with all of the trades, some turnovers are to be expected, but they have to take better care of the ball and also keep their focus better throughout the game if they want to win this one.

Play 48 Minutes - The Celtics seem to play very well at times, sometimes starting off strong and sometimes finishing strong.  But then at other times, they seem to fade away and can't seem to do anything right.  They stayed with the Bulls through 3 quarters, but then seemed to fall apart.   They have to make an effort to play hard and keep their focus from the starting tip until the final buzzer.

Be Aggressive - The Celtics must be aggressive on both ends of the court.  They have to be the more aggressive team going for loose balls, on defense, on the boards, and in going to the hoop.   The Celtics will be aggressive at times and then be timid at other times.  They have to be the more aggressive team throughout the game.

X-Factors
On the Road and Focus
The Celtics have not played all that well on the road this season with just 4 wins out of 12.  Young teams seem to struggle with focus especially on the road.  They need to keep their focus and tune out all the distractions that come with playing on the road. 

[hwangjini_1]

Tough game for the celts, but they can win it....maybe. 

Gooooo celtics. Thanks FLC. A tp for the thread.

[Adelaide Celt]

Allow me to be the second (for this game) to thank you for your unwavering dedication in making these game threads. Great work.

[FLCeltsFan]

Thanks hwangjini_1 and a TP back at ya for being the first to post in the game thread. 

[FLCeltsFan]

Thanks Adelaide Celt and a TP to you as well for posting second  

[csfansince60s]

TP, FLCelts, thanks for your hard work.

Maybe Prince's timing  in being here is coincidence by Ainge and maybe not. There were rumblings that if he were bought out the Clips were interested. I really don't want to help the clips because it hurts their pick we own, but if Danny can squeeze something from Doc for him, it might be worth it.

Let's beat the Clips and improve their/our pick that way .

[Nerf DPOY]

The only starter for the Clippers to miss a game this year is Matt Barnes, who has missed 2 games. Even sixth man Jamal Crawford has only missed one game. That's frustratingly good attendance.

http://espn.go.com/nba/team/stats/_/name/lac/los-angeles-clippers

[clover]

If I see KO taking 14 shots again this game, I'll be happy. As long as he doesn't go 4-10 or something to discourage the trend, that is.

He's quite capable of replacing Green's scoring if only he'll look for his shot more and hesitate less, and the last game was a good step in that direction.

[SHAQATTACK]

Would be so weird if the Celtics somehow pulled off a victory. 

You just want to beat Glen Rivers and Cp3

[Celts Fan 508]

Im excited for this game, I want to see Austin Rivers do terrible and still get 15+ minutes as his dad is the coach

[Chief]

Tp flcelt! 

[Surferdad]

The only starter for the Clippers to miss a game this year is Matt Barnes, who has missed 2 games. Even sixth man Jamal Crawford has only missed one game. That's frustratingly good attendance.

http://espn.go.com/nba/team/stats/_/name/lac/los-angeles-clippers

Interesting. That tells me the LA Clippers are not winning a championship this season. IMO, health is the single biggest factor in team success after talent level on the roster. If this is the best they can do at essentially full strength, then no way they go deep in the playoffs.  Heck, they might not even make the playoffs with the way OKC and PHO are playing (among other teams on the edge).

[Q_FBE]

I am going to the game live today and will bring in some observations from the stands. It is an important game for the Celtics to measure their collective attitudes and technical progress.

The Clippers, I feel are a one and done team at best and there are 8, 9, and 10 place teams in their conference that are capable of beating them in an 82 game season.

Doc Rivers, I feel, is overrated as a coach. I feel this a good opportunity for the Celtics and their fans to step up and be heard from.

Besides, most of us are Patriots fans and have our tires pumped up, right?

[Q_FBE]

The only starter for the Clippers to miss a game this year is Matt Barnes, who has missed 2 games. Even sixth man Jamal Crawford has only missed one game. That's frustratingly good attendance.

http://espn.go.com/nba/team/stats/_/name/lac/los-angeles-clippers

Interesting. That tells me the LA Clippers are not winning a championship this season. IMO, health is the single biggest factor in team success after talent level on the roster. If this is the best they can do at essentially full strength, then no way they go deep in the playoffs.  Heck, they might not even make the playoffs with the way OKC and PHO are playing (among other teams on the edge).

OKC will not stay behind them in the standings. Phoenix might not either. Maybe they can trade us JJ Redick for Teyshaun Prince, at least that is what I would hold out for if I was Danny Ainge.

[danglertx]

Lets get to some basketball!