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The Celtics host the New York Knicks for the fourth and remaining assembly this season. The Celtics gained the primary assembly at New York 133-118 on November 5. The Knicks gained the second assembly 120-117 on January 26 in Boston and so they gained the third assembly 109-94 on February 27 in New York. They tied the collection 2-2 final season with every group successful twice on their residence court docket.
That is the second straight street recreation for the Knicks. They beat the Warmth in Miami on Friday on a final second shot by Julius Randle. They’ll play at residence towards Charlotte on Tuesday earlier than heading out West for a 4 recreation street journey. The Celtics play at Cleveland on Monday in again to again video games. They’ll return residence for a recreation towards Portland on Wednesday earlier than a 6 recreation Western street journey.
The Celtics at the moment are 2nd within the East, half a recreation behind the primary place Bucks, who had their 16 recreation win streak damaged by the 76ers on Saturday. The Celtics are 3.5 video games forward of third place Philadelphia and 6 video games forward of 4th place Cleveland, who they face on Monday. They’re now tied with West main Denver. The Celtics are 25-8 at residence and 7-3 of their final 10 video games. They’re 28-14 towards Japanese Convention groups and 9-3 towards Atlantic Division foes. They’re coming off a loss to the Nets.
The Knicks are fifth within the East, 7.5 video games behind 2nd place Boston. They’re 1.5 behind 4th place Cleveland and a pair of forward of sixth place Brooklyn. They’re 4 video games forward of seventh place Miami and a spot within the play-in match. They’re 19-12 on the street and 9-1 of their final 10 video games. They’re 27-16 towards Japanese Convention opponents and 7-8 towards Atlantic Division groups. They’ve gained their final 8 video games.
The Celtics will likely be with out Robert Williams III after he tweaked his hamstring in Wednesday’s recreation towards Brooklyn. Malcolm Brogdon is questionable with ankle soreness and will likely be a recreation time resolution. Danilo Gallinari stays out to rehab the ACL tear. Coach Mazzulla has began Blake Griffin at middle prior to now so I’m guessing that he does so once more however he might go in a lot of totally different instructions to interchange Timelord, together with Mike Muscala, Grant Williams, and Luke Kornet and even Derrick White and transfer Tatum to energy ahead. The Knicks don’t have any accidents listed.
Possible Celtics Starters
PG: Marcus Good
SG:Jaylen Brown
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Al Horford
C: Blake Griffin
Celtics Reserves
Grant Williams
Sam Hauser
Payton Pritchard
Luke Kornet
Mike Muscala
Derrick White
2 Method Gamers
JD Davison
Mfiondu Kabengele
Out/Accidents
Danilo Gallinari (ACL) out
Robert Williams III (hamstring) out
Malcolm Brogdon (ankle) questionable
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
Possible Knicks Starters
PG: Jalen Brunson
SG: Quentin Grimes
SF: RJ Barrett
PF: Julius Randle
C: Mitchell Robinson
Knicks Reserves
Evan Fournier
Josh Hart
Isaiah Hartenstein
Miles McBride
Immanuel Quickley
Derrick Rose
Obi Toppin
Jericho Sims
2 Method Gamers
Daquan Jeffries
Trevor Keels
Out/Accidents
None listed
Head Coach
Tom Thibodeau
Key Matchups
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Marcus Good
Picture by Dylan Buell/Getty Pictures
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Jalen Brunson
Picture by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE through Getty Pictures
Marcus Good vs Jalen Brunson
Brunson came visiting to the Knicks from the Mavericks this off season and has match very effectively with the Knicks. He’s averaging 23.9 factors, 3.6 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per recreation. He’s capturing 48.7% from the sphere and 41.1% from past the arc. Within the first 3 video games towards the Celtics he averaged 22.7 factors, 3.7 rebounds, and 6.7 assists. He shot 48.1% from the sphere and 16.7% from past the arc.
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Al Horford
Picture by Adam Glanzman/Getty Pictures
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Julius Randle
Picture by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Pictures
Al Horford vs Julius Randle
Randle is averaging 25.3 factors, 10.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per recreation. He’s capturing 46.7% from the sphere and 35.4% from past the arc. Within the first 3 video games this season Randle averaged 29.7 factors, 8.3 rebounds and a pair of.7 assists whereas capturing 50% from the sphere and 37.9% from past the arc. The Celtics have to hold him out of the paint as a result of he can do harm there on the boards and inside scoring however in addition they want to stick with him on the perimeter as a result of he can rating from there as effectively.
Honorable Point out
Jayson Tatum vs RJ Barrett
Barrett is averaging 19.4 factors, 5.1 rebounds and a pair of.8 assists per recreation this season. He’s capturing 43.1% from the sphere and 33% from past the arc. Within the first 3 video games towards Boston this season, he averaged 18.7 factors, 5 rebounds and a pair of.3 assists whereas capturing 40.4% from the sphere and 46.2% on 3’s.The Celtics want Jayson Tatum to search out his shot once more as he struggled towards the Nets going 0-7 from past the arc.
Keys to the Sport
Protection – Enjoying powerful group protection is the important thing to successful each recreation. The Celtics want to focus on getting stops and holding the Knicks’ offense off stability. The Knicks have a defensive ranking of 113.4 (fifteenth) whereas the Celtics have a defensive ranking of 111.2 (4th). The Celtics have proven they’re able to enjoying excellent protection however they must be extra constant and decide to it each possession of each recreation. The Celtics should particularly guard the paint because the Knicks common 51.4 factors within the paint per recreation.
Rebound – The Celtics are averaging 45.0 rebounds per recreation (seventh) whereas the Knicks are averaging 46.8 rebounds per recreation (third). Rebounding is essential to maintain the Knicks from getting second likelihood factors and further possessions for the reason that Knicks are 2nd within the league with 17.0 second likelihood factors per recreation. A lot of rebounding is effort and need. When the Celtics put out further effort on the boards it normally transfers to the remainder of their recreation.
Play Exhausting 48 Minutes – At instances the Celtics have come out slowly and allowed their opponent to construct an enormous first quarter lead. At different instances, like on Friday towards the Nets, the Celtics have constructed a lead after which stopped enjoying onerous and allowed their opponent to return again and surge forward. Different instances, they play their opponent even up till the ultimate minutes after which can’t appear to shut out as we noticed within the final recreation towards the Knicks. They’ve to start out robust and play onerous all through the sport proper up till the ultimate buzzer.
Play the Proper Method – The Celtics have to remain targeted and play the best method. They should transfer the ball and look to get the very best pictures on each possession. They should play as a group and belief one another and have every others’ backs on protection. They should maintain the ball and make good passes and never dribble right into a crowd. If the 3s aren’t falling, they should take the ball into the paint. They should hold their heads within the recreation and never lose focus. In addition they have to play with effort and power for all 48 minutes.
X-Elements
House Once more – The Celtics are at residence and have the benefit of the gang behind them and never having to journey and having the comforts of residence round them. Despite the fact that the Knicks have extra losses at residence than they do on the street, enjoying on their residence court docket nonetheless ought to give the Celtics the sting on this one.
Delight– The Celtics had been embarrassed by the Nets on Friday after they blew a 28 level lead and misplaced the sport in entrance of their residence crowd. They’re combating with the Bucks, who’ve gained 16 straight video games, for the primary seed within the East. They should win each recreation and never permit groups to beat them as a result of they play tougher. They should have pleasure and play onerous and never simply undergo the motions.
Officiating – Officiating all the time has the potential to be an x-factor. Every officiating crew calls the sport otherwise. Some name it tight and a few allow them to play. The Celtics want to regulate to how the refs are calling the sport and never permit dangerous calls or no calls to remove their give attention to enjoying the sport. Most of all, they should cease complaining each time they get a name they don’t like. That solely tends to worsen the refs and make issues worse.
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