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Celtics (25-36) at Heat (28-34) Game #62 3/9/15
« on: March 08, 2015, 10:11:10 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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Boston Celtics (25-36) at Miami Heat (28-34)
Monday, March 9, 2015
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #62, Road Game #31
TV: CSNNE, SunSports, NBA-LP 754(DTV), 753/754(xfinity)
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, 104.3 The Ticket
American Airlines Arena



Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard

vs
Marcus Smart vs Goran Dragic

Shooting Guard

vs

Small Forward
vs
Jae Crowder vs Luol Deng

Power Forward
vs
Brandon Bass vs Udonis Haslem

Center
vs


Reserves
Gerald Wallace
Jae Crowder
James Young
Phil Pressey
Shavlik Randolph
Isaiah Thomas
Jonas Jerebko
Gigi Datome
Kelly Olynyk

Injuries
Avery Bradley (elbow) out
Jared Sullinger (foot) out
Evan Turner (toe) probable

Head Coach

Brad Stevens

Reserves
Heat Reserves
Shabazz Napier
Chris Andersen
Tyler Johnson
Michael Beasley
Mario Chalmers
James Ennis

Injuries
Josh McRoberts (meniscus) out
Chris Bosh (blood clots) out
Luol Deng (thigh) questionable
Goran Dragic (back) questionable
Udonis Haslem (knee) questionable
Hassan Whiteside (ankle) questionable

Head Coach

Erik Spoelstra

Game Notes
The Celtics face the Heat for the 3rd of 4 meetings this season.  The Heat are 2-0 in the series so far.  The Heat beat the Celtics 100-84 in the first meeting in December in Miami and then in February, they again beat the Celtics 83-75 in Boston.  The Celtics 75 points marked the fewest points of the season for the Celtics. 

This is a must win for the Celtics if they hope to get that 8th seed in the playoffs.   With the Celtics loss to the Magic and a win for the Hornets on Monday night, the Celtics fell to 2.5 games behind Indiana and Miami for the 8th seed.  The Celtics could make up a full game on Miami with a win in this one.

The Heat have several players who are questionable for this game, including 4 of their starters.  Dragic (back), Deng (thigh), Haslem (knee), and Whiteside (ankle) are all questionable for this game.  All but Haslem missed the Heat's last game.  Napier (PG), Walker (SF), and Andersen (C) would get the start should the regular starters not be able to go.

the Celtics are playing in the second of back to back games.  They are 7-5 in the second game of back to backs.  They are 3-1 in the second of back to back games when both games are on the road.  However, they are only 1-4 in the first game of road/road back to backs.

The Heat are 6-4 in their last 10 games while the Celtics are 5-5 in their last 10.  The Celtics are 10-20 on the road. while the Heat are 13-17 at home. 

Key Matchups

vs
Evan Turner vs Dwyane Wade
Wade is the Heat's leading scorer and it will be important for the Celtics to slow him down.  Wade is averaging 20.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists.  We may see Marcus Smart guarding Wade if he starts to get hot. 

vs
Tyler Zeller vs Hassan Whiteside
In their last meeting, Whiteside led the Heat with Whiteside 20 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.  Zeller needs to keep Whiteside away from the paint and limit his ability to affect the Celtics shots at the basket.

Keys to the Game
Defense

Defense wins games. The Heat are allowing just 97.0 points per game while the Celtics are allowing 102.4 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 38.7 rebounds 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. However, Hassan Whiteside has been cleaning up on the glass in recent games and the Celtics need to work hard to win the rebounding battle.

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.  They can't afford to slack off or to allow the Heat to play harder than them.

Play Hard for 48 Minutes
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.  The Celtics started aggressively vs the Magic, but then they let up when they got a big lead.  They need to play hard from start to finish no matter who is out for the Heat or what the score is. 

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, especially if they are short handed. 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
Motivation and Fatigue

These two teams are fighting to make the playoffs.  Currently, the Heat are 2.5 games up on the Celtics, but a win here for the Celtics would allow them to gain a whole game on them.  They need to motivated to play harder and they need to keep their focus.  The Celtics are playing in back to back games while the Heat have been off since Saturday.  Fatigue could come into play down the stretch. 

Re: Celtics (25-36) at Heat (28-34) Game #62 3/9/15
« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2015, 10:14:25 PM »

Offline slamtheking

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woohoo - first one in.  TP FL for a great job and staying ahead of the game

Re: Celtics (25-36) at Heat (28-34) Game #62 3/9/15
« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2015, 09:57:36 AM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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Thanks slamtheking!!!  And a TP for you for being the first to post in the thread!!  Go Celtics!!!   We need this win! 

Re: Celtics (25-36) at Heat (28-34) Game #62 3/9/15
« Reply #3 on: March 09, 2015, 07:16:57 PM »

Offline WeMadeIt17

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If we win tonight that puts us back 1.5 games correct. Losing to Orlando was a tough one to swallow.

Re: Celtics (25-36) at Heat (28-34) Game #62 3/9/15
« Reply #4 on: March 09, 2015, 07:31:55 PM »

Offline ImShakHeIsShaq

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Time to win!
It takes me 3hrs to get to Miami and 1hr to get to Orlando... but I *SPIT* on their NBA teams! "Bless God and bless the (Celts)"-Lady GaGa (she said gays but she really meant Celts)

Re: Celtics (25-36) at Heat (28-34) Game #62 3/9/15
« Reply #5 on: March 09, 2015, 07:44:47 PM »

Online jpotter33

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Smart is going to have a big night after his BS ejection!  ;)

Re: Celtics (25-36) at Heat (28-34) Game #62 3/9/15
« Reply #6 on: March 09, 2015, 07:47:41 PM »

Offline Chief

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Why did Bill Walker change his name?
Once you are labeled 'the best' you want to stay up there, and you can't do it by loafing around.
 
Larry Bird

Re: Celtics (25-36) at Heat (28-34) Game #62 3/9/15
« Reply #7 on: March 09, 2015, 07:48:27 PM »

Offline celticsclay

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Why did Bill Walker change his name?

I read somewhere it was because he hated being called billy, but I don't if it was a serious article or not (it was presented like that was a real serious reason). Sorry don't have a link to it.

Re: Celtics (25-36) at Heat (28-34) Game #62 3/9/15
« Reply #8 on: March 09, 2015, 07:49:19 PM »

Offline Chief

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Why did Bill Walker change his name?

I read somewhere it was because he hated being called billy, but I don't if it was a serious article or not (it was presented like that was a real serious reason). Sorry don't have a link to it.

Tp
Once you are labeled 'the best' you want to stay up there, and you can't do it by loafing around.
 
Larry Bird

Re: Celtics (25-36) at Heat (28-34) Game #62 3/9/15
« Reply #9 on: March 09, 2015, 07:49:49 PM »

Online jpotter33

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Where's Dragic?

Re: Celtics (25-36) at Heat (28-34) Game #62 3/9/15
« Reply #10 on: March 09, 2015, 07:50:27 PM »

Offline ImShakHeIsShaq

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We need this! Can't get happy when we're up, we have given up 2 20+ leads in the last few weeks.




Dragic is injured.
It takes me 3hrs to get to Miami and 1hr to get to Orlando... but I *SPIT* on their NBA teams! "Bless God and bless the (Celts)"-Lady GaGa (she said gays but she really meant Celts)

Re: Celtics (25-36) at Heat (28-34) Game #62 3/9/15
« Reply #11 on: March 09, 2015, 07:51:25 PM »

Offline hpantazo

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Re: Celtics (25-36) at Heat (28-34) Game #62 3/9/15
« Reply #12 on: March 09, 2015, 07:51:29 PM »

Offline Chief

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Bass reading those cue cards like Rocky in Rocky 2.
Once you are labeled 'the best' you want to stay up there, and you can't do it by loafing around.
 
Larry Bird

Re: Celtics (25-36) at Heat (28-34) Game #62 3/9/15
« Reply #13 on: March 09, 2015, 07:51:53 PM »

Offline celticsclay

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Re: Celtics (25-36) at Heat (28-34) Game #62 3/9/15
« Reply #14 on: March 09, 2015, 07:54:36 PM »

Online jpotter33

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Where's Dragic?

back spasms

tanking...but nobody wants to believe it.

Well they're the dumbest tankers ever then, because I don't even think they own their pick this year lol