at
Dallas Mavericks (7-4) at Boston Celtics (6-4)
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #11 – Home Game #7
TV: CSN-NE, FSSW, NBA-LP 757(DTV)/754(xfinity)
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub, 103.3 FM ESPN
TD GardenProbable Starting Matchups
Point Guard vs
Isaiah Thomas vs Deron Williams
Shooting Guard vs
Marcus Smart vs Wesley Matthews
Small Forward vs
Jae Crowder vs Chandler Parsons
Power Forward vs
Amir Johnson vs Dirk Nowitski
Center vs
Jared Sullinger vs Zaza Pachulia
Celtics ReservesAvery Bradley
Evan Turner
RJ Hunter
Jonas Jerebko
David Lee
Jordan Mickey
Terry Rozier
James Young
Tyler Zeller
Kelly Olynyk
Head CoachBrad Stevens
InjuriesNone
Mavs ReservesJustin Anderson
JJ Barea
Jeremy Evans
Raymond Felton
Devin Harris
John Jenkins
Dwight Powell
Head Coach Rick Carlisle
Injuries JaVale McGee (tibia) out
Charlie Villanueva (foot) doubtful
Game Notes The Celtics return home from their very successful 2 game road trip to face the Dallas Mavericks. The Celtics are on a 3 game win streak (Hawks, Thunder, Rockets) while the Mavericks have won their last 4 games (Clippers, Lakers, Rockets, Sixers).
The Mavs swept last season series 2-0 and have won their last 5 overall over Boston and the last two games they have played in Boston. The Mavericks have won 10 of the last 12 games overall and 12 of the last 16 in Boston.
The Mavericks have changed considerably since these two teams last met. Only Dirk Nowitski is the same in their starting lineup. In the last game in Boston, Rajon Rondo led Dallas with 29 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Tyson Chandler added 17 rebounds and Monta Ellis pitched in 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. All three are now long gone.
The only players that remain from the blockbuster trade that sent Rajon Rondo to the Mavs are Jae Crowder on the Celtics and Dwight Powell on the Mavericks. That trade sure didn't work out the way the Mavericks expected it to and the Celtics ended up with the best player in the trade in Jae Crowder, although Powell has been playing well for the Mavericks.
The Celtics are the final stop on a 3 game road trip for the Mavericks. They have already beat the Rockets and the Sixers in their first two stops. They survived 39.5% shooting on Monday to beat the winless Philadelphia 76ers. The Celtics just finished with a stretch of 5 games in 7 nights. Both teams last played on Monday.
The Celtics don't have any injuries listed while JaVale McGee (tibia) is listed as out and Charlie Villanueva (foot) is listed as doubtful for the Mavericks.
Key Matchups vs
Amir Johnson vs Dirk Nowitski
Dirk may be getting older, but he is still a dangerous player. He is averaging 18.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.5 blocks. Dirk can score both inside and out and so will be a tough matchup. Amir will need to make him work on both ends of the court.
vs
Isaiah Thomas/Marcus Smart vs Deron Williams/Wesley Matthews
Williams isn't known for his tough defense and so he should allow Isaiah to get some easy baskets. I expect Marcus Smart to be on Williams on the defensive end because Williams is big and strong and would be a mismatch for Isaiah. Williams is averaging 12.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 5.3 assists. Matthews has struggled somewhat since coming to the Mavs and so might be easier for Isaiah to cover.
Keys to the GameDefense - The Celtics have been winning by playing tough lock down team defense. They need to continue to play that kind of defense. Defense wins games. The Celtics are holding teams to 95.9 points on 42.7% shooting. The Mavericks have been playing some good defense themselves, holding teams to 99.5 points per game on 43.3% shooting. The Celtics have to play tougher defense than the Mavs if they want to win this.
Rebound - Much of rebounding is effort and the Celtics have been putting out good effort to win the battle of the boards. When they work hard on the boards, it usually follows through to the rest of the game as well. The Celtics are averaging 45.3 rebounds per game while the Mavs are averaging 45.7 rebounds per game. The Celtics will need to work very hard to get the rebounds in this game.
Be Aggressive - The Celtics need to be the more aggressive team in going to the basket, diving for loose balls, going after 50/50 balls, grabbing rebounds, and just playing harder in general. They have been the team that wanted it more over their last 3 wins and they need to continue to play like that in this game.
Run and Move the Ball - The Celtics are most effective when they run on every possession and move the ball to find the open man. When they stop running and the ball stops moving, they get into a slump and their scoring and defense both suffer. They have to run up the court on offense and run back on defense to set up before the Mavs get back. The Celtics are young and deep and need to use that to their advantage.
X-Factors
Home Game - The Celtics are back home and should get a boost from the home crowd cheering them on. Hopefully the hostile crowd will throw the Mavs off, in spite of the fact that they have won their first two games on this road trip.
Effort - The Celtics can't get complacent after winning 3 in a row. They have to continue to play hard, be aggressive, run and move the ball. If the effort is there, they have a good chance to win this game.