Celtics Go for Sixth Straight at Home as They Host the Spurs
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San Antonio Spurs (43-28) at Boston Celtics (47-25)
Sunday, March 28
8:00 PM ET
Game #73, Home Game #36
TV: ESPN, CSN-NE, KMYS
Radio: WOAI, WEEI
TD Garden
Both teams are 7-3 in their last 10 games. San Antonio has been average away from home, going just 17-17 on the road while the Celtics are 23-12 at the Garden and have won their last 5 games there. The Celtics are going for their 3rd straight win while the Spurs are going for 2 in a row.
In December, the Celtics won their fourth straight game in San Antonio, a feat they had not accomplished in nearly 20 years. Kevin Garnett led the C’s offensive output with 20 points while Rajon Rondo added another double-double with 12 points and 12 assists. The Celtics brought their tough D for the third straight night, limiting the Spurs to just 42% from the field and 12.5% from beyond the arc. The Spurs last lead of the game came with 9:54 remaining in the first quarter with the score 4-2. The Spurs were led by rookie DeJuan Blair and his 18 points and 11 boards off the bench while Tim Duncan added 16 points and 15 boards.
The Celtics will more than likely be playing without Kendrick Perkins for the second straight game and if so, the Celtics will need to get some effort out of Rasheed Wallace. Wallace has played Duncan well in the past and hopefully that will continue in this game.
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Probable Starters
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Probable Starters
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George Hill/Manu Ginobili/Richard Jefferson/Tim Duncan/Antonio McDyess
Key Matchups
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Rajon Rondo vs George Hill
With Parker out, Hill has been called on to run the team and has been doing a good job. Rondo has been on a tear in recent games and hopefully he will continue his aggressive play in this game.
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Kevin Garnett vs Tim Duncan
This is a matchup of the two best power forwards in the league. Both have slowed a bit but they are both still formidable foes. Both have been playing very well in recent games and so this should be a fun matchup to watch.
Honorable Mention
Ray Allen vs Manu Ginobili
Ginobili is very important to the Spurs offense, especially with Parker out. In their last game, a win over the Cavs, one of the key reasons for the win was Ginobili outplaying LeBron. Ray will need to slow Ginobili down while continuing his own hot shooting.
Keys to the Game
Defense - The Celtics appear to have returned to their defensive roots. They need to continue to play the swarming team defense that we have come to know and love.
Focus The Celtics have also regained their focus when playing at home, having won their last 5 games at the Garden. They need to continue to focus on team play and establish home dominance once again.
Rebound The Spurs are a good rebounding team and the Celtics need to concentrate on crashing the boards. The Celtics have been doing much better at this in recent games and need to continue to put out the effort on the boards. By dominating the boards, the Celtics can prevent put backs and second chance points.
Be Aggressive When the Celtics are aggressive in going after loose balls, taking the ball to the hoop and playing in your face defense, they are very tough to beat. When they get lazy and allow teams to beat them to loose balls and rebounds and when they settle for jumpers and don't go to the basket, they are very beatable. They must stay aggressive.
Play 48 Minutes The Celtics let a big lead slip once again against the Kings. Of course, this time when the starters returned, they held the Kings at bay, but against a better team, they may not have been able to. Both the starters and especially the bench must come out strong and play hard without letting up.
