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Rockets (32-14) at Celtics (16-28) Game #45 1/30/15
« on: January 29, 2015, 10:23:03 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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  at 
Houston Rockets (32-14) at Boston Celtics (16-28)
Friday, January 30, 2015
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #45, Home Game #23
TV: CSN-NE, ROOT, NBA-LP 755(DTV)/752,754(Xfinity)
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, 790AM
TD Garden



Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Evan Turner vs Patrick Beverley

Shooting Guard
vs
Avery Bradley vs James Harden

Small Forward
vs
Jae Crowder vs Trevor Ariza

Power Forward
vs
Brandon Bass vs Donatas Motiejunas

Center
vs
Jared Sullinger vs Joey Dorsey



Reserves
Phil Pressey
Tyler Zeller
Gerald Wallace
Marcus Thornton
Tayshaun Prince
Shavlik Randolph
James Young
Marcus Smart

Injuries

Kelly Olynyk (ankle) out
Evan Turner (thumb) probable
Avery Bradley (thumb)  probable

D-League Assignment

Andre Dawkins

Head Coach

Brad Stevens

Reserves
Isaiah Canaan
Corey Brewer
Terrence Jones
Alexey Sved
Josh Smith
Jason Terry
Kostas Papanikoulaou

Injuries
Dwight Howard (knee)  out 

D-League Assignment

Clint Capela
Nick Johnson

Head Coach
Kevin McHale

Game Notes

The Celtics return home from a tough  road trip to face a tough test at home as they host the Houston Rockets.   The Rockets have won their last 3 games while the Celtics are coming off a loss to the lowly Wolves.  The Rockets are 16-7 on the road while the Celtics are 9-13 at home.   

The Rockets have also won the last 3 meetings between these two teams.  In those losses, the Rockets held the Celtics to an average of 89.0 points on 35.9% shooting.  This is the second meeting between these two teams this season.  The Rockets beat the Celtics 104-90 in Houston in the second game of the season. 

The Rockets are in a 3-way tie  with the Clippers and Blazers for the 3rd playoff spot in the West.  They are also just 1.5 games out of the 2nd spot and so every win is important to them at this point.  They aren't going to take the Celtics lightly.

 The Celtics on the other hand are just 2 games out of the final playoff spot in the East and are fighting to make the playoffs.  (Although some fans and possibly their GM would rather they remain in the lottery).  After this game their next 4 games are against teams under .500. 

Kelly Olynyk remains out for the Celtics and both Evan Turner and Avery Bradley are expected to play though thumb injuries.  Dwight Howard will miss his 3rd straight game for the Rockets with knee injury. 

Key Matchups
vs
Avery Bradley vs James Harden
Harden is the league's leading scorer and is playing very well.  He is averaging 27.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists.  If Avery can slow him down, it will give the Celtics a much better chance of winning this game.

vs
Benches
The Rockets bench has been playing very well for them and is one of the reasons that they have been winning recently.  They are getting 42.8 points on 47.4% shooting in their last 4 games.  The Celtics must have a good game from their bench as well if they hope to get a win. 

Keys to the Game
Defense - The Rockets have the 7th ranked offense in the league, scoring 102.9 points per game. The Celtics defense was weak against the Wolves, allowing  a team that averages 97 points to score 110 points in the game. It's important for them to play tough defense as it will be very difficult to outscore the Rockets high powered offense if they don't.

Rebound - The Rockets are 13th in the league in rebounding with 43.3 per game. Much of rebounding is effort and energy and the Celtics must show both and crash the boards to keep the Rockets from getting easy points off rebounds.

Effort and Energy - The Celtics simply don't have the talent to beat teams on talent alone. They must win with energy and effort and grit. They have to be the team that wants it more and that works harder for the win. 

Be Aggressive
- Going along with the effort and energy, the Celtics have to be the more aggressive team. The have to be more aggressive in going after rebounds and loose balls. They have to be aggressive on defense and in going to the basket. And they have to keep up that aggressiveness the entire game.

X-Factors
Home and Fatigue

The Celtics are finally back home again and should get a boost from playing in front of the home crowd again.  However, they are going to have to overcome the fatigue of playing in 6 games in 10 nights and traveling to an fro across the country. 

Re: Rockets (32-14) at Celtics (16-28) Game #45 1/30/15
« Reply #1 on: January 29, 2015, 10:26:23 PM »

Offline jpotter33

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No Howard = good for us! TP for another great game thread!

Re: Rockets (32-14) at Celtics (16-28) Game #45 1/30/15
« Reply #2 on: January 29, 2015, 10:31:45 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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Thanks jpotter33.  And a TP to you for being the first to post in the game thread. 

Re: Rockets (32-14) at Celtics (16-28) Game #45 1/30/15
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2015, 10:45:09 PM »

Offline hwangjini_1

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yes, another thread means another celtic victory!!

thanks flc. i bet you have the best post to tp ratio in all of cb-land.  ;D

goooooo celtics!!
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: Rockets (32-14) at Celtics (16-28) Game #45 1/30/15
« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2015, 10:56:16 PM »

Offline TheFlex

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Going to this game. Pretty excited to see Harden play.


Draft: 8 first rounders in next 5 years.

Cap space: $24 mil.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dkcleague/

Re: Rockets (32-14) at Celtics (16-28) Game #45 1/30/15
« Reply #5 on: January 29, 2015, 11:18:59 PM »

Offline letsgoblue86

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What would the state of the Boston Celtics be if Ainge had managed to get Harden instead of Green?

Alas, we will never know.

Harden drops 35 and the C's.

Re: Rockets (32-14) at Celtics (16-28) Game #45 1/30/15
« Reply #6 on: January 30, 2015, 06:54:15 PM »

Offline Nerf DPOY

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It must be really hard to draw Kevin McHale's face.





Or whoever made the lower image really had an axe to grind.

Re: Rockets (32-14) at Celtics (16-28) Game #45 1/30/15
« Reply #7 on: January 30, 2015, 07:03:14 PM »

Offline Rondo9

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What would the state of the Boston Celtics be if Ainge had managed to get Harden instead of Green?

Alas, we will never know.

Harden drops 35 and the C's.

Win  ;) The Thunder really liked Harden and for good reasons too.

Re: Rockets (32-14) at Celtics (16-28) Game #45 1/30/15
« Reply #8 on: January 30, 2015, 07:24:50 PM »

Offline danglertx

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I guess Shav is never getting off the bench.  Sad.  I had my desktop background Shav stuffing a Scott attempted dunk for over a year.   

Re: Rockets (32-14) at Celtics (16-28) Game #45 1/30/15
« Reply #9 on: January 30, 2015, 07:36:01 PM »

Offline greece66

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What would the state of the Boston Celtics be if Ainge had managed to get Harden instead of Green?

Alas, we will never know.

Harden drops 35 and the C's.
The real question is how OKC managed to waste such a blessing of fantastic draft picks.
I am confident Danny would have turned such a blessing of good luck into a couple of championships.

Re: Rockets (32-14) at Celtics (16-28) Game #45 1/30/15
« Reply #10 on: January 30, 2015, 07:40:19 PM »

Offline greece66

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All of Houston's starting 5 have a beard?
 :o

Re: Rockets (32-14) at Celtics (16-28) Game #45 1/30/15
« Reply #11 on: January 30, 2015, 07:43:10 PM »

Offline greece66

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ugly start...  >:(

Re: Rockets (32-14) at Celtics (16-28) Game #45 1/30/15
« Reply #12 on: January 30, 2015, 07:44:15 PM »

Offline greece66

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Re: Rockets (32-14) at Celtics (16-28) Game #45 1/30/15
« Reply #13 on: January 30, 2015, 07:45:49 PM »

Offline jpotter33

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They move the ball so well.

Re: Rockets (32-14) at Celtics (16-28) Game #45 1/30/15
« Reply #14 on: January 30, 2015, 07:46:38 PM »

Offline MarcusStart

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How in the world did Turner lose sight of Harden?