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Celtics (44-19) at Rockets (44-13) Game #64 3/3/18
« on: March 02, 2018, 09:52:53 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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Boston Celtics (44-19) at Houston Rockets (48-13)
Saturday, March 3, 2018
8:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #64, Road Game #30
TV:  ABC
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub
Toyota Center



Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Kyrie Irving vs Chris Paul

Shooting Guard

vs
Jaylen Brown vs James Harden

Small Forward
vs  
Jayson Tatum vs Trevor Ariza

Power Forward
  vs 
Al Horford vs PJ Tucker

Center
vs
Aron Baynes vs Clint Capela 

Reserves
Abdel Nader
Marcus Morris 
Greg Monroe
Terry Rozier
Shane Larkin
Semi Ojeleye
Marcus Smart

Injuries
Gordon Hayward (ankle)  out
Daniel Theis (hamstring)  questionable
Guerschon Yabusele  (G-League) questionable

Two Way Players
Kadeem Allen
Jabari Bird

Head Coach
Brad Stevens



Reserves
Tarik Black
Eric Gorden
Gerald Green 
Joe Johnson
Luc Mbah a Moute
Nene
Zhou Qi

Injuries
Brandon Wright (knee)  out
Ryan Anderson (hip)  out
Chinanu Onuaku (nose)  out

Two Way Players

RJ Hunter
Markel Brown 

Head Coach

Mike D'Antoni 

Game Notes
The Celtics travel to Houston to take on the hottest team in the league.  The Houston Rockets have won 14 straight and currently have the best record in the league.   The Rockets have won 10 straight at home as well.  The Celtics are on a 4 game win streak.  The Rockets are 24-6 at home while the Celtics are 21-8 on the road.  The Celtics are 16-6 vs the West while the Rockets are 18-5 vs the East. 

The Celtics came from 26 down in the first half to beat the Rockets 99-98 at home on December 28th.  In the last 7.3 seconds of that game, Marcus Smart drew 2 offensive fouls on James Harden and the Celtics scored 4 points over that span to get the win.  The Rockets were missing Chris Paul, Luc Mbah a Moute and Clint Capela in that game.

It was 10 years ago this month on March 18, 2008 that the Celtics stopped Houston's 22 game win streak with a 94-74 win in Houston.  KG, Paul Pierce and Leon Powe all scored 20 or more points.  I'm sure those two Celtics' wins will be fresh on the mind of the Rockets in this game. 

Daniel Theis traveled with the Celtics but is listed as questionable for this game.   Gordon Hayward posted another w workout video and is making progress in his rehab,  but remains out for the Celtics.  Brandon Wright (knee), Ryan Anderson (hip) and Chinanu Onuaku (nose) are all listed as out for the Rockets. 

It should be noted that there are 3 former Celtics on the Rockets' roster.  Former Celtic Gerald Green joined the Rockets in Boston when they played the Celtics the first time this season.  Also, they have former Celtic RJ Hunter on their roster.  They signed him to a 2-way contract on January 12.  Former Celtic, Joe Johnson was also signed after the trade deadline. 

Key Matchups

vs
Kyrie Irving vs Chris Paul
Chris Paul is averaging 19.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 1.8 steals this season.  He is fitting very well with Harden on this team.  He missed the first game between these two teams and should make a difference in this one.  Kyrie will  need to out-play him on both ends of the court. 


Shooting Guard

vs
Jaylen Brown vs James Harden
Harden is the Rockets top player and is averaging 31.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 8.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game.  In the last game, Brown was out and it was Marcus Smart who was tasked with guarding Harden.  Harden scored 34 but in the last 7.3 seconds, Smart got in Harden's head and drew 2 offensive fouls from him.  We will likely see a combination of the two players on him in this game.

Honorable Mention
Aron Baynes vs Clint Capela
Capela is averaging 14.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 1.8 blocks per game.  He is also their rim protector.  Baynes has been playing very well and hopefully will continue that in this game.

Marcus Smart vs Eric Gordon
Gordon is averaging 18.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists off the bench and is shooting 33.5% from beyond the arc.  Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier will be tasked with slowing Gordon down along with helping on Harden. 


Keys to the Game

Defense -  Defense is always a key to every game.  Defense wins games.   The Rockets are 2nd in the league in scoring at 113.8 ppg.  The Celtics are 21st and averaging 104.1 ppg.  The Celtics are still tops in the league with a defensive rating of 101.1 while the Rockets are 9th with a defensive rating of 104.3.  The Celtics absolutely need to play hard nose gritty defense.   The Celtics need to play tough team defense and limit the Rockets' scoring if they expect to get a win in this game.   

Rebound -  In order to score, the Celtics need the ball and to get the ball, they will need to crash the boards as a team.   They can't allow the Rockets to own the boards, which will limit the Celtics fast breaks as well as their second chance points. Houston averages 43.5 rebounds while the Celtics average 44.3 rebounds per game.   When the Celtics put out extra effort on the boards, it usually carries over into the rest of their game.

Energy and Aggressiveness - The Celtics need to play physical ball and be aggressive on both ends of the court.    They have to come out and play hard from start to finish with no let up.  At times it seems that when the Celtics get a lead, they stop being aggressive.   They have to be aggressive and they have to play like the team that wants it more for 48 minutes.  They can't let the Rockets get a big lead in this one because they won't give it back like they did in the first game.

Take Care of the Ball -  The Celtics need to move the ball and find the open man, but they also must make careful passes and not get careless with the ball.  The Rockets average 17.7 points off turnovers, good for 6th in the league.  The Celtics can't give them extra possessions by being careless with their passes or lose focus and allow the Rockets to steal the ball. 


X-Factors

On the Road - The Celtics are playing the 1st game of a 3 game road trip.  They have to focus on the task at hand and not allow the distractions of the road and a hostile crowd to take them out of the game.  The Celtics have played well on the road and hopefully that will continue.

Revenge Factor -  I am certain that the Rockets circled this game in the locker room after their loss in December.   The Celtics ended the Rockets' 22 game win streak 10 years ago and they embarrassed them in December by coming back from 26 points down and getting the win.  Harden, in particular, will want to get revenge for the way Smart goaded him into 2 offensive fouls in the final seconds of the game.  The Celtics have to be ready for the Rockets to come out fired up and for them to play hard throughout the game. 
   

Re: Celtics (44-19) at Rockets (44-13) Game #64 3/3/18
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2018, 09:55:48 PM »

Offline mr. dee

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Time to shut down Harden again

Re: Celtics (44-19) at Rockets (44-13) Game #64 3/3/18
« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2018, 09:56:17 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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TP to mr. dee  for being the first to post in the game thread!!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Celtics!!!!!

Re: Celtics (44-19) at Rockets (44-13) Game #64 3/3/18
« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2018, 10:05:08 PM »

Offline Eddie20

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Excited for this one!

Re: Celtics (44-19) at Rockets (44-13) Game #64 3/3/18
« Reply #4 on: March 02, 2018, 10:13:29 PM »

Offline azzenfrost

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Usual defense. Kickass offense. Please.
I moved the cheese.

Re: Celtics (44-19) at Rockets (44-13) Game #64 3/3/18
« Reply #5 on: March 02, 2018, 10:37:08 PM »

Offline Jiri Welsch

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Please win

Re: Celtics (44-19) at Rockets (44-13) Game #64 3/3/18
« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2018, 10:39:54 PM »

Offline footey

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Time to end Houston’s streak. Let’s do it!!

Re: Celtics (44-19) at Rockets (44-13) Game #64 3/3/18
« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2018, 10:45:41 PM »

Offline TheTruthFot18

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Time to end Houston’s streak. Let’s do it!!

Did in 2008. Lets do it again.
The Nets will finish with the worst record and the Celtics will end up with the 4th pick.

- Me (sometime in January)

--------------------------------------------------------

Guess I was wrong (May 23rd)

Re: Celtics (44-19) at Rockets (44-13) Game #64 3/3/18
« Reply #8 on: March 02, 2018, 10:54:27 PM »

Offline hodgy03038

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Let's get this!!

Re: Celtics (44-19) at Rockets (44-13) Game #64 3/3/18
« Reply #9 on: March 03, 2018, 05:32:23 AM »

Offline Billz401

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Let's get it boys, luckily smart is back!
everyone got so sensitive after 9-11... thanks alot bin laden

Re: Celtics (44-19) at Rockets (44-13) Game #64 3/3/18
« Reply #10 on: March 03, 2018, 06:52:16 AM »

Offline Csfan1984

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Would love to see C's dominant a good team at their place.

Re: Celtics (44-19) at Rockets (44-13) Game #64 3/3/18
« Reply #11 on: March 03, 2018, 08:27:55 AM »

Offline makaveli

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hold on, we played 6(six) more games than the rockets?

huge game, i expect a great one
what doesn't kill you makes you stronger

Re: Celtics (44-19) at Rockets (44-13) Game #64 3/3/18
« Reply #12 on: March 03, 2018, 08:52:20 AM »

Offline mctyson

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LOL 6 more games played than Houston.  What a terrible job the NBA did with their schedule.

Re: Celtics (44-19) at Rockets (44-13) Game #64 3/3/18
« Reply #13 on: March 03, 2018, 09:11:01 AM »

Online PAOBoston

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Mentally preparing myself to see Harden shoot about 44 FTs tonight.

Wish Theis was gane ready for this. Do we know his status for tonight?

Re: Celtics (44-19) at Rockets (44-13) Game #64 3/3/18
« Reply #14 on: March 03, 2018, 10:41:36 AM »

Offline ChillyWilly

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Mentally preparing myself to see Harden shoot about 44 FTs tonight.

Wish Theis was gane ready for this. Do we know his status for tonight?

He traveled with the team to Houston and will be a game time decision.
ok fine