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The Celtics attain the tip of their 4 sport Western highway journey with a go to to the San Antonio Spurs. The Celtics misplaced the primary two video games on their highway journey to the Denver Nuggets, who’re first within the West, and to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who’re thirteenth within the West. The Celtics then defeated the Dallas Mavericks, ending their 7 sport win streak. That is the primary of two conferences between these two groups this season. They’ll play once more in Boston on March 26.
The Celtics are 1st within the East, 1 sport forward of the 2nd place Brooklyn Nets and a couple of video games forward of the third place Milwaukee Bucks, who misplaced by 29 factors to the Hornets on Friday. The Celtics are 12-7 on the highway and 5-5 of their final 10 video games. They gained their final sport after shedding the primary two video games on the highway journey. They’re 12-4 in opposition to Western Convention opponents.
The Spurs are 14th within the Western Convention. They’re 4 video games behind thirteenth place Oklahoma Cityand 2.5 video games forward of the final place Houston Rockets. They’re 8-13 at dwelling and 3-7 of their final 10 video games. That they had misplaced 3 straight video games earlier than beating the Pistons on Friday. They’re 8-6 in opposition to Jap Convention opponents.
The Spurs are taking part in on the second night time of again to again video games. They confronted the Detroit Pistons at dwelling on Wednesday. They’re 1-6 on within the second of again to again video games. The Celtics misplaced the collection 0-2 final season. They’re 43-56 general all time in opposition to the Spurs and 21-28 in video games performed in San Antonio. The final time they performed in San Antoinio, Derrick White was the Spurs beginning capturing guard.
The Celtics have simply Danilo Gallinari on the damage record as he rehabs from the torn ACL he suffered within the off season. The Spurs had simply Devin Vassell on their damage record on Friday however have added Jakob Poeltl with an Achilles damage and Keldon Johnson with a hamstring damage. Going by their depth chart I’ll guess that Zach Collins begins for Poeltl and Doug McDermott begins for Johnson.
Possible Celtics Starters
PG: Marcus Sensible
SG: Derrick White
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Al Horford
Celtics Reserves
Malcolm Brogdon
Grant Williams
Robert Williams III
Sam Hauser
Payton Pritchard
Blake Griffin
Justin Jackson
Luke Kornet
2 Manner Gamers
JD Davison
Mfiondu Kabengele
Out/Accidents
Danilo Gallinari (ACL) out
Head Coach (Interim)
Joe Mazzulla
Possible Spurs Starters
PG: Tre Jones
SG: Romeo Langford
SF: Doug McDermott
PF: Jeremy Sochan
C: Zach Collins
Spurs Reserves
Keita Bates-Diop
Malaki Branham
Stanley Johnson
Josh Richardson
Isaiah Roby
Blake Wesley
Two Manner Gamers
Dominick Barlow
Charles Bassey
Out/Accidents
Devin Vassell (knee) out
Jakob Poeltl (Achilles) out
Keldon Johnson (hamstring) out
Head Coach
Gregg Popovich
Key Matchups
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Derrick White
Picture by Brian Fluharty/Getty Photos
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Romeo Langford
Picture by Elsa/Getty Photos
Derrick White vs Romeo Langford
When these two groups final met in San Antonio, Derrick White began at capturing guard and Romeo Langford was a Celtic. Everyone knows that when gamers face their former groups they in some way turn out to be tremendous stars. Langford is averaging 6.9 factors, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.0 assists. He’s capturing 49.6% from the sector and 27.3% from past the arc. The Celtics must be prepared for his finest shot.
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Marcus Sensible
Picture by Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald through Getty Photos
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Tre Jones
Picture by Elsa/Getty Photos
Marcus Sensible vs Tre Jones
Jones is averaging 12.8 factors, 3.6 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.4 steals per sport. He’s capturing 43.8% from the sector and however simply 27.6% from past the arc. The Celtics have to protect him for the cross in addition to the shot and likewise watch out round him as a result of he’s a risk to make a steal.
Honorable Point out
Al Horford vs Zach Collins
It’s only a guess that Collins will get the beginning instead of Poeltl. Collins is averaging 9.2 factors, 5.5 rebounds, and a couple of.4 assists. He’s capturing 55.7% from the sector and 38.6% from past the arc. The Celtics want to stick with him particularly within the paint to forestall rebounds and put backs.
Keys to the Sport
Protection – Protection is crucial key to successful video games. The Celtics have strayed from their defensive identification of final season however they’ve proven glimpses of returning to that protection at instances this season. The Celtics are seventh with a defensive score of 111.1 whereas the Spurs are thirtieth with a defensive score of 119.2. The Celtics must particularly defend within the paint for the reason that Spurs are eighth with 53.9 factors within the paint per sport. The Celtics must make protection a precedence and play robust group protection in each sport and never let up.
Rebound – The Celtics can’t rating in the event that they don’t have the ball, and they’ll wrestle if they offer up second probability factors to the Spurs, who’re sixth within the league with 15.9 second probability factors per sport. The Celtics are averaging 43.9 rebounds per sport whereas the Spurs are averaging 42.6 rebounds per sport. Rebounding takes effort and when the Celtics put forth the additional effort on the boards, that tends to unfold to different areas of the sport as effectively.
Be Aggressive – The Celtics must play laborious and be the extra aggressive group. They must go after rebounds, free balls, and 50/50 balls. They must be aggressive on protection and in attending to the basket. They must be the group that works tougher and desires it extra. They’ve allowed groups just like the Magic and Thunder to play tougher than them and misplaced to groups they need to have simply beat. They need to not make that mistake once more.
Play the Proper Manner – The Celtics want to maneuver the ball to search out the perfect shot. Once they play hero ball and don’t hold the ball shifting, the Celtics are simple to beat. However, once they hold the ball shifting and transfer with out the ball, they’re very robust to beat. They should concentrate on taking part in protection and having every others backs. They should crash the boards and field out. They should concentrate on taking and making good pictures. If the three’s aren’t falling, take the ball to the basket. Play with focus and with vitality.
Don’t Underestimate – The Celtics have confronted a number of of the underside groups and misplaced to them as a result of they got here out and performed with little or no effort, anticipating a straightforward win, however as an alternative acquired the perfect shot from a younger group. They’ve misplaced to the Magic twice, the Pacers, and the SGA-less Thunder, all of whom they need to have crushed. The Spurs are a backside group and likewise lacking three of their high gamers. The Celtics can’t calm down as they did earlier than the Thunder sport or they’ll as soon as once more endure a loss in a sport they need to simply win with a bit of effort.
X-Elements
Street Sport – The Celtics are taking part in on the highway as soon as once more. Journey and staying in motels is usually a distraction and may take a toll on gamers. Taking part in in entrance of a hostile crowd may also be a distraction, particularly for youthful gamers. The Celtics must put all of these distractions apart and concentrate on taking part in their sport. The final sport of a highway journey is at all times a tricky one.
Teaching – Gregg Popovich is taken into account by most to be probably the greatest coaches within the league. Joe Mazzulla has been a school assistant coach for 7 years and spent 1 12 months as an assistant with the Pink Claws and three years as an assistant with the Celtics. That is his first 12 months as a head coach. Ime Udoka misplaced each video games to the Spurs final season. Can Joe Mazzulla do higher this season? Matchups and training technique chould come into play on this sport.
Officiating – Officiating is at all times an X-Issue. Each crew officiates in a different way and groups want to regulate to the best way the sport is known as. Will they name the sport evenly or favor the house group? Will they name it tight or allow them to play? Hopefully we get truthful officiating and so they allow them to play and the Celtics concentrate on taking part in the suitable approach and never get distracted by the dangerous calls and no calls.
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