Celtics Return Home to Face Young Bucks

  at 
Milwaukee Bucks (1-3) at Boston Celtics (3-1)
Wednesday, November 3
8:00 PM ET
Game #5,  Home Game #3
TV: ESPN, NBAC, FSNWI, CSNNE
Radio:  WTMJ, WEEI
TD Garden 
Referees:  Ed Malloy, Bennie Adams, Kevin Fehr 
Last Season these two teams split  the series 2‐2 with both teams winning on the other’s home court.   Kevin Garnett led the C’s with an average of 19.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in his two  appearances while Rajon Rondo averaged a double‐double with 16.8 points and 11.0 rebounds per game.   Andrew Bogut led the Bucks with an average of 25.0 points, 15.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game.   John Salmons averaged 16.3 points per game in his three contests against the Celtics.

Both teams are playing in the second of back to back games and both had to travel the night before so neither will have the advantage of playing on a day's rest.  The Celtics are coming off a fairly easy win over the Pistons while the Bucks are coming off a loss to the Blazers. 

Doc has said that he expects Shaq to play in this one but that will probably be a game time decision, or at least after shoot around.  Whether Doc will put Shaq back into the starting unit or bring him off the bench will be interesting to see. Semih Erden played well in his debut and may see minutes as well.  

  vs 

Rajon Rondo vs Brandon Jennings

  vs 

Ray Allen vs John Salmons

  vs 

Paul Pierce vs Carlos Delfino

  vs 

Kevin Garnett vs Drew Gooden

  vs 

Jermaine O'Neal vs Andrew Bogut 

Marquis Daniels

Glen Davis

Luke Harangody

Nate Robinson

Von Wafer

Semih Erden

Delonte West (Suspended)

Injured

Kendrick Perkins (knee) out

Avery Bradley (ankle) questionable

Shaquille O'Neal (knee) probable

Corey Maggette

Jon Brockman

Keyon Dooling

Larry Sanders

Luc Mbah a Moute

Earl Boykins

Chris Douglas-Roberts (eye) out

Darrington Hobson (hip) out

Michael Redd (knee)  out 

  vs 

Rajon Rondo vs Brandon Jennings

Jennings is a good young PG who is working to make a name for himself in the league.  Rondo should remember Jennings spouting garbage at KG as they walked down the tunnel after a Bucks win last season and let him know who is in charge right from the start.  Rondo is coming off a near perfect performance against the Pistons and hopefully he can keep that momentum going. 

  vs 

Jermaine O'Neal vs Andrew Bogut 

With Shaq still not getting a practice in, JO will probably get the start once again.  Bogut is one of the best young centers in the league and Jermaine will have his hands full trying to contain him and keep him off the glass.  Jermaine started to find his game vs the Pistons but how his body will react to playing in back to back games.  

Limit Turnovers - The Celtics have to take better care of the ball.  If they can get their turnovers under control,  it would make winning games much easier for them. 

Bench Play - Both teams are playing in the second of back to back games.   Both will need to get quality minutes from their bench and the strongest bench may very well be the difference in this game. 

Defense -  The Celtics won the 2008 championship with their defense.  They need to get back to that lock down defense, limiting teams to one and done and preventing any easy shots.

Back to Back

Both teams are playing in back to back games.  That shouldn't be an advantage for either team, but the last time the Celtics played in a back to back situation, they were very sluggish vs the Cavs.  Hopefully the Celtics can put out a better effort than they did in that one. 

Paul Pierce is very close to becoming the 36th player in NBA history to reach 20,000 points. He needs 23 points to reach the mark.  He would be the fourth player on this Celtics' roster to reach the 20,000 point mark.  Shaquille O'Neal (5th all-time; 28,281 points), Kevin Garnett (22nd; 22,332), and Ray Allen (28th; 21,025) have already reached that milestone for their careers.  .

In a name the team contest R.D. Trebilcox, was one of 45 persons who suggested the name "Bucks." His reasoning: "Bucks are spirited, good jumpers, fast and agile." Mr. Trebilcox won a new car for his efforts in picking the name.