Author Topic: Mavericks (7-17) at Celtics (21-4) Game #26 12/6/17  (Read 42254 times)

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Mavericks (7-17) at Celtics (21-4) Game #26 12/6/17
« on: December 05, 2017, 09:53:20 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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Dallas Mavericks (7-17)  at   Boston Celtics (21-4)
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #26 – Home Game #14
TV: NBCSB, FSSW, NBA-LP 757(DTV)/754(xfinity)
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub, 103.3 FM ESPN
TD Garden



Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard

vs
Kyrie Irving vs Dennis Smith, Jr

Shooting Guard
vs
Jaylen Brown vs Wesley Matthews

Small Forward

vs
Jayson Tatum vs Harrison Barnes

Power Forward

vs
Al Horford vs Maxi Kleber

Center

vs
Aron Baynes vs Dirk Nowitzki


Celtics Reserves
Shane Larkin
Abdel Nader
Semi Ojeleye
Daniel Theis
Guerschon Yabusele
Terry Rozier
Marcus Smart

Injuries
Gordon Hayward (ankle)  out
Marcus Morris (knee)  out

Two Way Players
Kadeem Allen
Jabari Bird

Head Coach
Brad Stevens




Mavs Reserves
JJ Barea
Yogi Ferrell
Salah Mejiri
Dwight Powell
Jeff Withey

Injuries
Seth Curry  (leg)  out
Dorian Finney-Smith  (knee)  out
Josh McRoberts  (knee)  out
Nerlens Noel (thumb) questionable

Two Way Players
Antonius Cleveland
Johathan Motley

Head Coach

Rick Carlisle

Game Notes
Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks make their only trip to Boston this season for the 2nd and final meeting between these two teams.  The Celtics beat the Mavericks 110-102 on November 20 in Dallas. The Celtics needed a late rally to tie the game and send it into overtime.  Kyrie Irving had 47 points to lead the Celtics to their 16th straight win.

The Celtics are 11-2 at home while the Mavericks are 2-7 on the road.  The Celtics have won 3 straight while the Mavericks have won their last 2.  The Celtics are 7-0 vs Western Conference teams and the Mavs are 2-5 vs the East.  The Mavs are 5-5 in their last 10 games while the Celtics are 8-2 in their last 10.  The Mavs are in last place in the West but 2 Eastern teams (Hawks, Bulls) have worse records than them. 

The Celtics have won the last 3 games between these two teams, including a sweep last season. Before those 3 Celtics wins, Dallas won 11 of the previous 12 games.  Six of the last eight games between them have been decided by 8 or fewer points.  Dirk Nowitzki has averaged 25.5 points per game in 35 career games vs the Celtics, which is his highest average against any team in the league. 

The Celtics are without Gordon Hayward, who is out for the season with an ankle injury.  It was also announced that Marcus Morris will miss this game for "knee rehabilitation."  I'm not sure if that's for rest or if his balky knee is acting up again.   For the Mavericks, Seth Curry (tibia),  Dorian Finney-Smith (knee), and Josh McRoberts (leg) are all expected to be out of this game.  Nerlens Noel is questionable with a thumb injury, but has been given very little playing time even when he is healthy.

The Mavericks start the same 5 as they did in the last game between these two teams.  When these two teams met in Dallas, the Celtics started Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Marcus Morris, and Al Horford.  With Morris being reported out for tonight's game, I'll guess that Brad will stick with the lineup with Baynes at center.  However, he did start Daniel Theis in one game against the Bucks and he may go that route again.  The Celtics are 10-1 when Baynes starts and 1-0 when Theis starts. 

The Cavaliers have won 12 straight games and are playing in Sacramento on Wednesday, which should be another win for them.  They are just 3.5 games behind the Celtics and so the Celtics have to win games like this one that they should win to keep pace with the Cavs, who are playing very well recently. 

Key Matchups
vs
Jayson Tatum vs Harrison Barnes
Barnes is averaging a team best 18.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.0 assists. In the first game between these two teams Barnes scored 31 points and so Jayson has to stay with Barnes on defense to prevent another big game from him.  Jaylen has been on a tear offensively and needs to make Barnes work on the defensive end as well. 

vs
Kyrie Irving vs Dennis Smith, Jr
Dennis Smith has been playing well and has been mentioned in Rookie of the Year conversations.   Smith is averaging 14.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists and Kyrie should win this matchup easily, though.   Kyrie had 47 points in their first meeting and hopefully will have another big game in this one.   

Honorable Mention
Al Horford vs Dirk Nowitzki
Dirk has lost a step from when he was in his prime but he is still a very dangerous player and he loves playing the Celtics.  In their first game this season he had 14 points and 12 rebounds.  He is averaging 11.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists.  Al should win this matchup but he needs to be sure to stay with Dirk and make him earn everything he gets. 

Keys to the Game
Defense - Defense wins games.  The Celtics have a defensive rating of 99.1,  which is the best in the league.  The Mavericks' defensive rating is 106.0 (24th).  The Celtics have let their defense slip in recent games, allowing 6 of their last 8 opponents to reach at least 100 points.  If the Celtics come out with their normal lock down defense, they should get a win in this one.  They have to be careful not to let up on defense, thinking that the Mavs won't score on them.  They have to continue to make defense a priority. 

Rebound
- Much of rebounding is effort and the Celtics  have to put out extra 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 45.0 rebounds per game while the Mavs are averaging 42.2 rebounds per game.  The Celtics need to continue to crash the boards as a team.     

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 to be the team that wants the win more.  The more aggressive team will usually get the benefit of questionable calls and so the Celtics need to be sure that they are more aggressive on both ends of the court. 

Take Care of the Ball - The Celtics need to move the ball and find the open man but they also need to make careful passes so as not to turn the ball over.  They turned the ball over 17 times in the first game against the Mavericks and it almost cost them the game as it took OT to get the win.   They have to keep their focus and avoid costly turnovers that could lead to easy points for the Mavs. 


X-Factors
Home Game
- The Celtics are playing in the final game of a 5 game home stand and should get a boost from the home crowd cheering them on.  Hopefully the hostile crowd will throw the Mavs off and give the Celtics the home court advantage. 

Don't Be Over Confident - The Celtics can't underestimate the Mavericks in spite of their record.  The Mavs have quality wins over some playoff teams.   If the Celtics let up and think they can win with less than full effort, they are likely to join the Bucks, Thunder and Wizards as victims of the Mavs. 

« Last Edit: December 06, 2017, 12:16:47 PM by FLCeltsFan »

Re: Mavericks (7-17) at Celtics (21-4) Game #26 12/6/17
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2017, 09:54:18 PM »

Offline CELTICSofBOSTON

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First  ;D

Going to be a challenging game.  The Mavs have an awful record but have some guys that can play and always seem to play well against us.

Also, they have been playing decent basketball recently.

All that being said,  Celtics should get the win.

Re: Mavericks (7-17) at Celtics (21-4) Game #26 12/6/17
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2017, 09:54:58 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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TP to  CELTICSofBOSTON for being first to post in the game thread!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Celtics!!!! 

Re: Mavericks (7-17) at Celtics (21-4) Game #26 12/6/17
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2017, 09:56:59 PM »

Offline jambr380

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Way to go FLC and let's go Cs - this is one we should really get! Hopefully we come out strong and don't let them back in it. A nice blowout would be wonderful!  ;D

Re: Mavericks (7-17) at Celtics (21-4) Game #26 12/6/17
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2017, 09:57:38 PM »

Offline Monkhouse

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You guys are fast! Whoo! Lol.

Let's get this one! TP to FLCeltsFan for always posting these game threads.

It'll be fun to see us cruise through this win, but you never know... Mavericks also beat us last time, and we let it almost slip. So we gotta play hard all 48 minutes. Tire them out... Dirk is still a great scorer, but he's well beyond his years, so making him work on defense, and forcing him to expend his energy should prove to be more crucial.

DSJ is gonna throw down some tomahawks, but... Overall, I feel like we should have this in the bag.
"I bomb atomically, Socrates' philosophies and hypotheses
Can't define how I be dropping these mockeries."

Is the glass half-full or half-empty?
It's based on your perspective, quite simply
We're the same and we're not; know what I'm saying? Listen
Son, I ain't better than you, I just think different

Re: Mavericks (7-17) at Celtics (21-4) Game #26 12/6/17
« Reply #5 on: December 05, 2017, 10:08:48 PM »

Offline azzenfrost

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Can't underestimate anyone. Let's go Celtics!
I moved the cheese.

Re: Mavericks (7-17) at Celtics (21-4) Game #26 12/6/17
« Reply #6 on: December 05, 2017, 10:33:58 PM »

Offline CelticsFan166

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LETS GO

Re: Mavericks (7-17) at Celtics (21-4) Game #26 12/6/17
« Reply #7 on: December 05, 2017, 10:37:21 PM »

Offline liam

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WOOP< WOOP< WOOP!@!!!

Re: Mavericks (7-17) at Celtics (21-4) Game #26 12/6/17
« Reply #8 on: December 05, 2017, 10:50:10 PM »

Offline nickagneta

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ANOTHER WIN IN ANOTHER STREAK!!! GOOOOOOOOOOO C'SSSSSS!!!

Re: Mavericks (7-17) at Celtics (21-4) Game #26 12/6/17
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2017, 10:50:10 PM »

Offline trickybilly

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TP flc.

You're right about the turnovers last game. That was painful.
"Gimme the ball, gimme the ball". Freddy Quimby, 1994.

Re: Mavericks (7-17) at Celtics (21-4) Game #26 12/6/17
« Reply #10 on: December 05, 2017, 11:16:42 PM »

Offline A Future of Stevens

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Look we are going to win this game. A Celtic is greater than a Maverick. McCain was a Maverick, let that sink in one way or another.
#JKJB

Re: Mavericks (7-17) at Celtics (21-4) Game #26 12/6/17
« Reply #11 on: December 05, 2017, 11:23:33 PM »

Offline GratefulCs

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TP FL
I trust Danny Ainge

Re: Mavericks (7-17) at Celtics (21-4) Game #26 12/6/17
« Reply #12 on: December 05, 2017, 11:40:47 PM »

Offline colincb

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They're better than their overall record and have won 5 of their last 8 with a +9 net winning margin during that span. They've suffered 3 losses of under 10 points including the OT loss to the Cs, but also have 4 wins in double digits including 2 blow-outs. In the first 16 games of the season they had a -9 net winning margin. Thus, they have experienced a swing of 18 points with both an 8 and a 10 point improvement on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, respectively.

IOW, pay them the respect any team in the NBA deserves and don't faround.


« Last Edit: December 05, 2017, 11:51:38 PM by colincb »

Re: Mavericks (7-17) at Celtics (21-4) Game #26 12/6/17
« Reply #13 on: December 06, 2017, 12:32:50 AM »

Online hwangjini_1

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First  Frist ;D

Going to be a challenging game.  The Mavs have an awful record but have some guys that can play and always seem to play well against us.

Also, they have been playing decent basketball recently.

All that being said,  Celtics should get the win.
Fixed the spelling for you.  ;)

Frist page!   As shown above by our fabulous flc, the mavs are toast.

Another win and the streak will grow.  Thanks flc once more , and once more a toasty tp is headed your way.

Gooooooooooooooo Celtics!  ;D
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.
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Re: Mavericks (7-17) at Celtics (21-4) Game #26 12/6/17
« Reply #14 on: December 06, 2017, 12:48:27 AM »

Offline mainevent

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1st time 1st page woo-hoo! Let's get a convincing W tonight fellas and make it a really successful home stand!
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