Cancelled: Indiana Pacers @ Boston Celtics

18 April 2013 By Leave a Comment

The Boston Celtics’ 81st regular season game was supposed to be against the Indiana Pacers. What would have been Boston’s last regular season home game has been cancelled by the NBA, due to the bomb explosions at the Boston Marathon. This means both the Pacers and Celtics will finish with 81 regular season games. This game will not be rescheduled as the Celtics (7th) and Pacers (3rd) are locked into their seed.

The Celtics also released a statement on the cancellation of Tuesday’s game:

Out of respect to all those who have been impacted by the tragic events today in Boston, including members of the extended Celtics family, the Boston Celtics and the NBA have decided to cancel the game scheduled for Tuesday April 16 between the Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers.

The game will not be rescheduled. Instructions for any fans holding tickets to the game will be provided on Celtics.com after 3 p.m. tomorrow.

Our sincere sympathies go out to all those affected by this senseless tragedy. The entire Celtics organization would like to acknowledge the heroic efforts of the brave civilian, police, fire and medical personnel responding today in the City of Boston. - Chris Forsberg (Celtics reporter, ESPNboston.com)

The Celtics game against Toronto will still go ahead as planned, but it is not known when the team will fly out. Thoughts are with those affected by the bombings.

(Ed: Late putting this up, problem with WordPress notifications. First and last time!)

Filed Under: Games, Season 2012/2013 Tagged With: , , ,

Grinding: Boston Celtics @ Indiana Pacers preview

7 March 2013 By Leave a Comment

Indiana Pacers logo 2005–present

Well, it seems like I was on the money on the Philly game. Will the team be able to pull this W off a back-to-back road game? If anyone can, the C’s can. Grit and balls people, just grit and balls.

Stat check: The Pacers have lost only 3 of their last 10 games, all of them surprisingly at home, and 2 in OT.

Game time: 07 March 2013, 1100hrs AEDT

Watch it on: NBA League Pass

Roster changes:

  1. Rajon Rondo (ACL), Leandro Barbosa (ACL) and Jared Sullinger (back) are out for the season.
  2. Danny Granger is out indefinitely with his sore knee.

Top enemy performers:

  1. Scoring: David West (17.7)
  2. Rebounds: Roy Hibbert (8.0)
  3. Assists: George Hill (4.9)

Keys to the game:

  1. Offensive execution: Indiana has been a top-tier defensive team this season, ranking 2nd in the league at holding opponents to 89.6 PPG. How we break their defense and find open shots is very important; expect a heavier load of Pierce and KG as the facilitators, and for everyone else to pull their load on hitting the shot. Unlikely as it is for Avery to pull a consecutive 20-point scoring night off, I’ll still like to see him try. Same goes for Jordan Crawford, he has to keep his mojo alive and keep trying to score – we are going to need every point he can muster.
  2. Playing with energy: Fatigue will undoubtedly set in on a back-to-back game, but the energy level has to be present. Rebound and defend hard, never give up on fast break opportunities, and do not surrender easy second chance points or 50/50 balls to the Pacers.
  3. Keep grinding: Have no doubt, this is going to be one hell of a gritty game. Indiana gets its wins through tough defense, the same way the C’s have been doing it in recent years. If we are to nab the win, it can only be by playing equally tough D, securing the rebound and getting stops.
  4. Stopping West: David West has been very good on the Pacers offense with an all-round game. Will Bass be able to stop him from scoring? I’d like to see how the team strategy is like on stifling him this game.

If we are to win, it will be a scrappy victory. I won’t be surprised if the game goes either way, but this will likely be a close one. Odds on C’s scratching a tough W out.

Filed Under: Games, Season 2012/2013 Tagged With: ,

Finding consistency: Suns @ Celtics preview

10 January 2013 By Leave a Comment
Phoenix Suns logo

Phoenix Suns logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Three game win streak, more to come! There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be taking this game. Granted this season’s team has not been consistent even on home games, but hell if we do not get this one.

Fact: nothing is going to happen in the meantime, we are just going to have to rough things out until the 10th at least.

Game time: 10 Jan 2013, 1200hrs AEDT

Watch on: NBA League Pass

Roster changes:

1. Wilcox is still out with his thumb injury (sprained ulnar collateral).

Consistency
The key to the win, as far as I’m concerned. Put up four good quarters and we’re done. The Suns are very prone to fourth-quarter offensive meltdowns (the way we used to be), keep the foot on the gas pedal and all will be good.

Containing Gortat/Scola
The Suns have two very good big men in Marcin Gortat and Luis Scola, both of whom can roll effectively off the pick, work off the post or take their own shot in the mid-range. Deny these options, and you’re left with less severe options like Dragic or Dudley’s shooting. Granted either of them could go off on scoring streaks, but Scola is the scoring anchor of this team, period.

Rebounding
No second chance points please. The better we can rebound on the defensive end, the better our chances of kicking it up in transition. This means rebounding machine Sully needs to do what he does, with everyone else chipping in. Our chances of getting rebounds are definitely better without overly helping on defense, something that the third factor relates to.

Dribble penetration
The Suns do not have aggressive penetrating guards outside of Goran Dragic, and containing the dribble penetration should not be an issue when we have a healthy Avery Bradley. Stop Dragic from directing the flow of the offense, everyone else on the court wilts. Limit the help defense from the big guys, and our rebounding improves. See how that works?

Not much to take away from this, it’s going to be a straightforward win unless the entire team decides to coast and collapse altogether. What do you reckon?

Filed Under: Games, Season 2012/2013 Tagged With: , , , , ,

Hello Melo: Celtics @ Knicks preview

8 January 2013 By Leave a Comment
New York Knicks logo

New York Knicks logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This will be the real test of the Celtics revival: a Rondo-less road game, being well-rested and facing a true contender in the form of Melo and the Knicks.

Bring it on!

Game time: 8 Jan 2013, 1130hrs AEST

Watch on: Good old NBA League Pass

Roster changes:

1. Wilcox is still out with his thumb injury (sprained ulnar collateral).

2. Raymond Felton is out with a fractured right finger.

3. Rajon Rondo has been suspended one game for bumping referee Rodney Mott in the Atlanta game. (I was surprised when he didn’t get tech-ed right then. Ah well.)

Defense

Melo-stopper: There is no one in the team capable of defending Melo one-on-one in his current state. Not Pierce, not Green (who am I kidding), not Bass. No, not even Rondo (who is absent for this game), even though we’ve seen him try to defend LeBron before.

Melo is strong and quick enough to go against anyone outside and in the post, and should you be smaller or slower, he will be getting his points one way or another – either by bulldozing his way to the basket, or by his extremely quick pullup shot.

Look for double-teams to be used to force Melo off the ball, expect KG’s swarming help defense to be utilised.

Long range: Melo, Novak, Smith, Brewer, even Copeland. And not forgetting our favourite: SHEEEEEEEED. The 3 ball is an extremely important weapon in this Knicks team, and getting out there to deny the open shot is crucial.

Pick-and-roll defense: STAT is finally back, and while he is not in 100% game shape, he can still roll and finish with ease. Coming off the bench with Prigioni manning the ball, be prepared to see more of this being shoved our way today.

A good win in New York will cement the streak and give everyone confidence that the C’s are well and truly back. Rondo’s absence from this game will be tough, but count in the fact that Pierce always plays well in the Garden, so expect him to have a good showing too.

What are your points for the game?

Filed Under: Games, Season 2012/2013 Tagged With: , , , , ,

Finding the light: Pacers @ Celtics preview

4 January 2013 By 1 Comment
pacers vs c's

pacers vs c’s (Photo credit: burningairlinesgiveyousomuchmore)

Coming off a four game losing streak, it’s tough to find positivity amidst the bad we have seen so far. Nevertheless, it’s our job to remain deluded optimistic and look for the silver lining, rather than continually screaming TRADE (INSERT-NAME-OF-UNDERPERFORMING-PLAYER) DAMMIT!

Fact: nothing is going to happen in the meantime, we are just going to have to rough things out until the 10th at least.

Game time: 5 Jan 2013, 1200hrs AEST

Watch on: Good old NBA League Pass

Roster changes:

1. Wilcox is still out with his thumb injury (sprained ulnar collateral).

2. Rondo is not fully recovered from the hip bruise, but he hasn’t indicated any reason for sitting out.

Offense

I’ll talk about offense this time round, rather than harping on the same old tired defensive points of rebounding-help-rotation. The C’s need to make things simpler for themselves.

Less IsoPierce
IsoPierce is good in limited doses, but he is beginning to show the lack of lift in recent games. Reduce the amount of IsoPierce, allow him to take his 3 shots off the catch. He’s shown that he can still hit them shots. Forcing the captain to take the offense into his own hands and making him charge into a packed interior is not going to have pretty results. We’ve seen the jump balls, the blocks, the turnovers. No sir, less of those please.

How do we reduce Pierce’s role then?

Boston Celtics v/s Washington Wizards April 11...

Boston Celtics v/s Washington Wizards April 11, 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bench men – Green/Lee/Barbosa
I hate to even hope for miracles like these, but we need these guys. Jeff Green, Courtney Lee and Leandro Barbosa are the young legs on the team, the ones who can and should be aggressively taking it in without hesitation.

Space it out, set a pick for them. Get them inside, force the contact and get some free throws! Less hesitation, and less outside shots please. We are not going to win a game shooting jumpers all night long.

Of course, there is that tiny problem of us having horribly ineffective pick setters. Times like these make me miss Perk a lot.

KG versus Hibbert
Having KG match up against Hibbert allows Sully to sneak into the paint. KG will be taking his usual long 2s, and that will definitely draw Hibbert out.

Note: I’m not saying Sully will be hitting putback bunnies under the rim all night long against the rebounding likes of West/Hansborough/Mahinmi/Granger, but with Sully’s positioning smarts, there’s a fighting chance our hardest working rookie can make something happen.

No? Nevermind, I know we’re getting killed on the boards.

Bradley’s cuts
All of Celtic Nation had a glorious moment of deja vu last game, when they witnessed a beautiful backdoor cut from Avery Bradley. HE’S BACK! And so it came to be that every fan wept, and gave thanks to something so sorely missed.

Sadly, that was all we got – one brilliant flash.

Not holding high hopes for his shooting at this point, but I’m really looking forward to Bradley making an obvious impact with his precise cuts and Rondo’s passing vision. Potent scoring formula, yes? I’m hoping Rondo will be in better shape to drive and pass tomorrow.

Against yet another team with a tough interior presence, I’m not hoping for the C’s to take a blowout win. I’m glad Collison left though, that’s one less guy to carve us up for layups.

All I’m saying is, any kind of win is good at this point, and the odds are not fantastic.

Filed Under: Games, Season 2012/2013 Tagged With: , , , ,
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