Game time!

Stat check: The Suns have lost 7 of their last 10 games, with them coming off their worst season in team history (18-37)

Game time: 22 Feb 2013, 1300hrs AEDT

Watch it on: NBA League Pass

Roster changes:

1. Rajon Rondo is out for the season with a torn ACL on his right knee.
2. Jared Sullinger is out for the season after his back operation.
3. Leandro Barbosa is out for the season with a torn ACL on his left knee.
4. Newest Celtic member, Jordan Crawford, may make his debut tonight.
5. Channing Frye out for the season with an enlarged heart condition.
6. Sebastian Telfair has been traded to the Raptors for Hamed Haddadi and a 2nd round pick.
7. Marcus Morris joins the Suns roster after being traded by the Rockets. No confirmation on his playing status yet.

Top enemy performers:

1. Scoring: Goran Dragic (14.2)
2. Rebounds: Marcin Gortat (8.5)
3. Assists: Goran Dragic (6.6)

Keys to the game:

1. Solving the big problem: Jason Collins is gone, and Doc plans to sit KG more often to keep him fresh for the road trip.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Suns will take full advantage of this, especially when  they have a roster full of big men to throw at us (see: Gortat, Scola, and O’Neal). It will be interesting to see how Doc handles this situation.
2. Dragic Magic — not today: Dragic leads the team in both scoring and assists, which makes him even more dangerous because of our thin frontcourt. Bradley will have an important role in containing him for the night.
3. The Gangster Squad (revamped): This will be an interesting game, should Jordan Crawford make his debut. Will he be able to bring his guns to the table immediately? Will Terrence Williams continue to make an impact? If the two young guys can take up part of the scoring load, then JET will be able to focus on ball handling and assisting the plays. Wilcox will be a key player to this game, as his hustle and rebounds will prove to be the difference. And as always, we hope Green will posterise someone and make it into the Top 10 plays continue to put up an impressive performance off the bench.
4. Get out of the funk: Hopefully the last game’s performance was yesterday’s news. With the new guys still learning the way of the green and us being extremely thin in depth, everyone has to give his full efforts in order to put this game away.

This game will be pure grit and grind. Howver, the Suns are not the opponent for the game. The greatest opponent is the Celtics themselves. Overcoming adversity, defying the odds, coming back from the dead, you name it. That’s Celtics basketball.