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Celtics (47-22) at Pelicans (39-29) Game #70 3/18/18
« on: March 17, 2018, 11:12:47 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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Boston Celtics (47-22) at New Orleans Pelicans (39-29)
Sunday, March 18, 2018
6:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #70 – Road Game #34
TV: NBCSB, FSNO, NBA-LP 751(DTV)/753(Xfinity)
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub, WRNO 99.5
Smoothie King Center




Probable Starters
Point Guard

Kyrie Irving

Shooting Guard

Jayson Tatum

Small Forward


Marcus Morris

Power Forward

Al Horford

Center

Aron Baynes 

Celtics Reserves
Shane Larkin
Abdel Nader
Terry Rozier
Guerschon Yabusele
Semi Ojeleye
Greg Monroe
Kadeem Allen

Injuries
Gordon Hayward (ankle) out
Daniel Theis (knee)  out
Marcus Smart  (thumb)  out
Jaylen Brown (concussion)  out
Jabari Bird (back) day to day
Kyrie Irving (knee) possible

Two Way Players
Jabari Bird
Kadeem Allen
 
Head Coach
Brad Stevens 




Probable Starters
Point Guard


Rajon Rondo

Shooting Guard

Jrue Holiday

Small Forward

E'Twaun Moore

Power Forward

Anthony Davis 

Center


Emeka Okafor

Pelicans Reserves
Ian Clark
Cheick Diallo
Larry Drew II
DeAndre Liggins
Darius Miller
Nikola Mirotic

Injuries
DeMarcus Cousins  (Achilles) out
Alexis Ajinca (knee)  out
Solomon Hill (hamstring) possible 
Frank Jackson (foot)  out

2 Way Players
Charles Cooke

Head Coach
Alvin Gentry

Game Notes
The Celtics complete their 2 game road trip against the New Orleans Pelicans.  This is their second and final meeting this season.  The Pelicans won 116-113 in OT on January 16 at the Garden.  The Celtics were playing in the first game back after playing in London and the Pelicans ended the Celtics 7 game win streak. 

The Pelicans are playing in the second of back to back games.  They lost at home to the Houston Rockets on Saturday night.  Anthony Davis played 36 minutes and Jrue Holiday played 37 minutes.  Rondo sat out this game so he would be good and rested against his former team.  New Orleans has won just 2 of the last 7 games against the Celtics.

The Celtics are looking to win their second straight game.  They are 24-9 on the road and 17-7 against Western Conference teams.  The Pelicans have lost their last 2 games.  They are 18-15 at home and 19-8 vs Eastern Conference teams.   The Celtics are 7-3 in their last 10 games while the Pelicans are 6-4 in their last 10 games. 

The Celtics are still 2nd in the East, 5 games behind the Toronto Raptors and 7 games in front of Cleveland, Washington, and Indiana.  The Pelicans are currently in 7th 1 game behind Minnesota along with Utah and San Antonio.  They are all 1 game in front of Denver who is in the 9th spot and 1 game out of the playoffs. 

Kyrie traveled with the team and it is possible he will play in this game.  I'm being positive and including him in the starting lineup.  Hayward (ankle), Smart (thumb), Brown (concussion), and Theis (knee) are all out for this game.  Jabari Bird (back) is day to day. 

For the Pelicans, Cousins (Achilles), Ajinca (knee), and Jackson (foot) are all listed as out.  Solomon Hill has missed all 68 games so far but Alvin Gentry has said that it is possible that he may play in this game in a very limited capacity. 

Key Matchups
vs
Al Horford vs Anthony Davis
Davis is dominant and is averaging 28.0 points, 11.2 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 2.4 blocks per game.  Against the Celtics in their first meeting, he had 45 points, 16 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks.  Needless to say, it will be important to try to slow him down in this one.  Al will need to play tough defense to slow him down. 

vs
Jayson Tatum vs Jrue Holiday
With Cousins out, Holiday becomes the second best player behind Davis.  He is averaging 19.3 points, 5.9 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals.  In their first meeting he had 23 points and 7 assists.  Tatum will have a height advantage and hopefully that will help him to limit Holiday's production. 

Honorable Mention

Kyrie Irving vs Rajon Rondo
Rondo is averaging 7.9 points, 3 rebounds, 7.8 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game.  Rondo always gets up for playing his old teams and he also loves playing against the top point guards in the league.  I wouldn't be surprised to see him have a big game in this one.  Hopefully Kyrie can play.

Keys to the Game
Defense - Defense will always be the key to winning. The Pelicans average 111.9 points per game (4th) while the Celtics average 104.6 points per game (18).  The Celtics must play tough defense to slow down the Pelicans' scoring if they want to win this game.  The Celtics are first in the league with a defensive rating of 101.2.  The Pelicans are 16th with a defensive rating of 106.5. The Celtics defense will be very important in this game.  The Celtics have to especially defend the paint as the Pelicans are 2nd in the league with 51.8 points in the paint. 

Rebound - The Celtics have to crash the boards as a team. Rebounding takes effort and the Celtics have to show that effort on the boards.  When they put that extra effort out to dominate the boards, it often translates to all other areas of the game as well.  The Celtics need to outwork the Pelicans on the boards. 

Be Aggressive - The Celtics have got to be aggressive in going to the basket, playing defense, diving for loose balls and just playing harder.  Their effort and aggressiveness can make them very tough to beat.  When they let other teams outwork them, however, they struggle. 

Take Care of the Ball -  The Celtics need to move the ball to find the open man as when the ball slows down and players try to do too much, they struggle.   But as they move the ball, they have to be careful with their passes and avoid turning it over as the Pelicans are 5th in fast break points and will make the Celtics pay if they get careless. 


X-Factors

Injuries - The Pelicans have 3 and maybe 4 players out with injuries.  The Celtics have 4 and possibly 5 players out with injuries.  Which team will have the depth that can carry them with so many injuries?  Whose reserves will step up?

Pelicans Fatigue
- The Pelicans are playing in the second of back to back games.  Davis and Holiday played 36 and 37 minutes respectively.  The Celtics were off on Saturday and so if they can run the Pelicans, they may be able to wear them out down the stretch. 
« Last Edit: March 17, 2018, 11:25:30 PM by FLCeltsFan »

Re: Celtics (47-22) at Pelicans (39-29) Game #70 3/18/18
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2018, 11:15:56 PM »

Offline BlastFromThePast

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Is it possible?

Re: Celtics (47-22) at Pelicans (39-29) Game #70 3/18/18
« Reply #2 on: March 17, 2018, 11:16:15 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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TP to   BlastFromThePast  for being the first to post in the game thread.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Celtics!!!! 

Re: Celtics (47-22) at Pelicans (39-29) Game #70 3/18/18
« Reply #3 on: March 17, 2018, 11:20:01 PM »

Offline BlastFromThePast

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TP to   BlastFromThePast  for being the first to post in the game thread.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Celtics!!!!

You do a great job on these game threads.  Many thanks!


Re: Celtics (47-22) at Pelicans (39-29) Game #70 3/18/18
« Reply #4 on: March 17, 2018, 11:36:56 PM »

Offline libermaniac

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4th. Go Cs

Re: Celtics (47-22) at Pelicans (39-29) Game #70 3/18/18
« Reply #5 on: March 17, 2018, 11:42:11 PM »

Offline hwangjini_1

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fifth and a starter.

many many thanks go out once more to flc for a fabulous game thread. as we all know, a fabulous game thread is the celtics' best bet for winning. ;D tp for flc, as usual.

and i second flc's recommendation that we all drink appropriately on st patty's day.

and before i forget in some sort of stupor...

gooooooooooooooooooooo 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.
- Vandana Shiva

Re: Celtics (47-22) at Pelicans (39-29) Game #70 3/18/18
« Reply #6 on: March 18, 2018, 12:00:02 AM »

Offline Jiri Welsch

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6th man! Let’s win even though NO will be especially motivated for victory after tonight

Re: Celtics (47-22) at Pelicans (39-29) Game #70 3/18/18
« Reply #7 on: March 18, 2018, 12:03:07 AM »

Offline KGs Knee

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Besides further solidifying our lock on the #2 seed, I'm also hoping a Celtics win will help Utah gain further ground in the Western playoff race.

I'm just a huge fan of the Jazz, they're a really fun team to watch when I'm not watching the C's.

Re: Celtics (47-22) at Pelicans (39-29) Game #70 3/18/18
« Reply #8 on: March 18, 2018, 01:01:26 AM »

Offline mr. dee

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Let's just get a W and avoid getting swept by the pels

Re: Celtics (47-22) at Pelicans (39-29) Game #70 3/18/18
« Reply #9 on: March 18, 2018, 01:41:00 AM »

Offline Jiri Welsch

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I kind of hope Kyrie doesn’t play

Re: Celtics (47-22) at Pelicans (39-29) Game #70 3/18/18
« Reply #10 on: March 18, 2018, 02:18:46 AM »

Offline azzenfrost

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To preserve the knee?
I moved the cheese.

Re: Celtics (47-22) at Pelicans (39-29) Game #70 3/18/18
« Reply #11 on: March 18, 2018, 06:58:56 AM »

Offline hodgy03038

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This will be a tough game with rested Rondo & the Brow. Go Celts! Get this.

Re: Celtics (47-22) at Pelicans (39-29) Game #70 3/18/18
« Reply #12 on: March 18, 2018, 07:34:43 AM »

Offline Surferdad

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12th man.  CB Forum is deep!

Re: Celtics (47-22) at Pelicans (39-29) Game #70 3/18/18
« Reply #13 on: March 18, 2018, 08:48:26 AM »

Offline apc

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WHAT? Okafor is still in the league??

Re: Celtics (47-22) at Pelicans (39-29) Game #70 3/18/18
« Reply #14 on: March 18, 2018, 01:29:37 PM »

Offline LatterDayCelticsfan

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WHAT? Okafor is still in the league??

I wanted us to throw a BAE at him.
Banner 18 please 😍