The Celtics search for their eighth straight win as they go to the New York Knicks at Madison Sq. Backyard. That is the 4th of 5 video games between these two groups this season. The Celtics are 3-0 thus far, profitable 108-104 in New York on 10/25, 114-98 in Boston on 11/13, and 133-123 in Boston on 12/18. They’ve yet another recreation after this one on April 11.
The Celtics stay first within the East, 7.5 video games forward of 2nd place Cleveland, 8.5 video games forward of third place Milwaukee, 10 video games forward of 4th place New York, 11 video games forward of fifth place Philadelphia, and 12.5 video games forward of sixth place Indiana. They’re 18-9 on the street and 9-1 of their final 10 video games. They’re 31-6 towards Japanese Convention groups and 13-1 towards Atlantic Division groups. They’ve gained their final 7 video games. (Milwaukee remains to be taking part in as I write this).
The Knicks are 4th within the East, 10 video games behind 1st place Boston, 2.5 video games behind 2nd place Cleveland, and 1.5 recreation behind third place Milwaukee. They’re 1 video games forward of fifth place Philadelphia, 2.5 video games forward of sixth place Indiana and three video games forward of seventh place Orlando and having to compete within the play in video games. They’re 19-8 at hom and 5-5 of their final 10 video games. They’re 23-12 towards the Japanese Convention and 7-3 towards the Atlantic Division. They’re coming off a win of their final recreation.
The Celtics are taking part in of their second straight recreation on the street. They beat the Bulls at Chicago 129-112 on Thursday. After this recreation, they’ll head residence for 3 straight video games at TD Backyard towards Philadelphia, Dallas, and Golden State. After that, they’ve a 5 recreation street journey by way of Cleveland, Denver, Phoenix, Portland and Utah.
The Knicks are coming off a 1-2 street journey and are taking part in within the first of a 4 recreation residence stand. After this recreation, they’ll play Detroit and New Orleans again to again on Monday and Tuesday after which Golden State. Subsequent they play at Cleveland earlier than returning residence for 4 extra, internet hosting Atlanta, Orlando and a pair of video games towards Philadelphia.
The Celtics have nobody on the harm checklist right now. For the Knicks, OG Anunoby is out after having proper elbow surgical procedure on February 8. Mitchell Robinson has missed the Knicks’ final 34 video games after present process left ankle surgical procedure and can miss this recreation as properly. Julius Randle has been out since he injured his shoulder Jan. 27 and will likely be out for this recreation as properly.
Possible Celtics Starters
Celtics Reserves
Oshae Brissett
Sam Hauser
Al Horford
Luke Kornet
Svi Mykhailiuk
Payton Pritchard
Jordan Walsh
Xavier Tillman
Jaden Springer
2 Approach Gamers
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Neemias Queta
Accidents/Out
None
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
Possible Knicks Starters
Knicks Reserves
Miles McBride
Alec Burks
Daquan Jeffries
Bojan Bogdanovic
Jericho Sims
Jacob Toppin
2 Approach Gamers
Duane Washington, Jr
Charlie Brown, Jr
Accidents/Out
OG Anunoby (elbow) out
Mitchell Robinson (ankle) out
Julius Randle (shoulder) out
Miles McBride (sickness) questionable
Head Coach
Tom Thibodeau
Key Matchups
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Jrue Vacation
Picture by Maddie Meyer/Getty Photos
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Jalen Brunson
Picture by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE through Getty Photos
Jrue Vacation vs Jalen Brunson
Brunson is averaging 27.5 factors, 3.8 rebound, and 6.6 assists per recreation. He’s taking pictures 47.9% from the sector and 40.6% from past the arc. Towards the Celtics this season he averaged 21.3 factors, 2.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.7 steals. He shoots a excessive proportion from 3 and so the Celtics need to defend him properly on the perimeter.
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Sam Hauser
Picture by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Photos
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Bojan Bogdanovic
Picture by Mike Mulholland/Getty Photos
Sam Hauser vs Bojan Bogdanovic
The Knicks introduced Bojan Bogdanovic over from Detroit on the deadline and he’ll add one other sharpshooter to their workforce. He’s averaging 19.8 factors, 3.3 rebounds, and a pair of.3 assists per recreation. He’s taking pictures 47.1% from the sector and 42.4% from past the arc for the season. Towards the Celtics this season, he’s averaging 17 factors, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists per recreation. He’ll doubtless come off the bench for the Knicks and so the Celtics will want their second unit to maintain him off the three level line and off the boards.
Honorable Point out
Derrick White vs Donte DiVincenzo
DiVincenzo is averaging 13.7 factors, 3.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals per recreation. He’s taking pictures 45.6% from the sector and 41.4% from past the arc. He has struggled towards the Celtics this season averaging solely 3.7 factors, 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per recreation whereas taking pictures simply 25% from the sector and 25% from past the arc.
Keys to the Sport
Protection – Protection is the important thing to profitable each recreation. The Knicks common 114.4 factors per recreation (seventeenth) whereas the Celtics common 120.8 factors per recreation (fifth). The Celtics have a defensive score of 110.6 (2nd) whereas the Knicks have a defensive score of 112.8 (seventh). Each groups wish to be defensive minded however each groups overlook their defensive id once in a while. The Celtics have gotten to make protection a precedence and play harder workforce protection than the Knicks in the event that they hope to get a win on this recreation.
Rebound – The Celtics can’t rating in the event that they don’t have the ball, and one of the best ways to get the ball is to seize rebounds. The Celtics have to rebound as a workforce with each Celtic battling on the boards. It’ll take a workforce effort to beat the Knicks, who’re 4th within the league in rebounding with 45.8 per recreation. The Celtics are 1st with 47.1 rebounds per recreation however are likely to get lazy towards bodily groups that battle for rebounds. The Knicks are tied for first with 16.6 second probability factors per recreation and so the Celtics have to crash the boards to stop giving the Knicks additional factors on this recreation.
Transfer the Ball Rigorously – The Celtics want to maneuver the ball and discover teammates for the perfect photographs out there. They play their greatest when the ball is transferring and they’re discovering the open man. They wrestle when the ball sticks and gamers attempt to do an excessive amount of and play iso ball. Nevertheless, they should make cautious passes as a result of the Knicks common 16.5 factors off turnovers per recreation and if the Celtics get sloppy, they’ll make them pay.
Be Aggressive – The Celtics have to be the extra aggressive workforce. They need to be extra aggressive in going after free balls, in grabbing rebounds, in defending, and in going to the basket. They should hustle and be aggressive for 48 minutes each recreation however particularly towards the Knicks as a result of Thibs has them taking part in arduous each recreation. They’ll win a number of video games by taking part in more durable than their opponents they usually can lose a number of video games by permitting their opponents to be the workforce that performs more durable.
Play All Out 48 Minutes – The Knicks are taking part in with out key gamers and too typically the Celtics play with lower than 100% effort when going through a workforce weakened by accidents. They did that towards the Lakers with 2 stars out they usually misplaced a recreation they need to have gained. They’ll’t afford to do this in the event that they wish to win this recreation. They need to play arduous from the opening tip till the ultimate buzzer and never permit the Knicks to out-work them for any stretch through the recreation.
X-Elements
On the Street Once more – The Celtics are taking part in their 2nd straight recreation on the street. They should overcome the distractions of taking part in on the street and in entrance of a hostile crowd and keep targeted on taking part in the best approach. Even in simply their 2nd straight street recreation, groups can get street weary and the Celtics need to battle towards that by staying targeted on taking part in arduous and getting a win.
Officiating – Officiating all the time has the potential to be an x-factor. Every officiating crew calls the sport in a different way. Some refs name it tight and always name fouls whereas others allow them to play with few fouls known as. The Celtics want to regulate to how the refs are calling the sport and never permit dangerous calls or no calls to remove their focus.
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