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Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2018 19:57:42 GMT -5
Preview: Boston Celtics vs. Houston RocketsAfter a Christmas Day overtime thriller, the Celtics hit the road and head to Houston to take on the Rockets. By Jack NoonanErik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
After giving Celtics Nation a great Christmas gift, the Celtics go back to work on the road against the Houston Rockets. It is another match-up against one of the top teams of the league. Even as the Rockets have not looked like themselves this year, they are starting to figure things out as of late. They’ve won seven out of their last eight games despite losing Chris Paul to a hamstring injury. It sets up for what should be a classic battle between two juggernauts of the NBA.
The Rockets also had a Christmas Day thriller as they beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 113-109 with James Harden going off for 41 points. Harden will, of course, be the focal point of this Rockets team especially with Chris Paul unavailable. Because of Paul’s absence, Harden has been able to put the team on his back and has scored 30 points or more in a career-high seven games in a row.
To start the year, the Rockets went 11-14 and many questions came up about the team who was, similar to the Celtics, one half and some made shots in a Game 7 away from making the NBA Finals last season. Now, Houston is 18-15 securely in the Western Conference playoff seeding race. Boston will need a superb performance from the whole team tonight if they stand a chance to stop this hot streak the Rockets are on.
The good news is the Celtics are also on a hot streak of their own. Boston has won ten of the last thirteen games coming off their thrilling win on Christmas. As the Rockets have James Harden, the Celtics have Kyrie Irving. Untucked Kyrie Irving was in prime form for the most recent game against the 76ers. He took over the game getting the Celtics to overtime and then securing the victory hitting two huge three-pointers when they were needed the most. Even as the team looks for a more complete effort tonight in Houston, it is a great security blanket to have a player of Kyrie’s caliber being able to take over games in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter.
In addition to Kyrie’s offense, the Celtics will need to play incredible team defense to slow down Harden and this offense. The Rockets was just able to put up 113 points on the league’s best defense, so the stakes will be high to control the game from the defensive end and then create offense out of that. Outside of Harden, Eric Gordon has the potential to have himself a 20-point game, and, down low, there is Clint Capela who is an excellent rebounder with a chance to have a major game as Boston’s frontcourt could use some help. If Al Horford can take the same approach he had towards Joel Embiid last game and apply it towards Capela, that approach will limit his production and impact on both ends of the court. Horford was very impressive against Embiid and can be as well against Capela tonight.
The main injury question going into tonight was the status of James Harden. He is officially questionable with a calf injury. However, many have suggested that he is just being precarious going on the injury report, and multiple confirm that he is playing tonight. Harden is one of the biggest competitors in the league, so he was not going to pass up the opportunity to play the Boston Celtics primetime on TNT if he can help it. Outside of that, the Rockets will be without Chris Paul and James Ennis. The Ennis injury has given rise to Danuel House Jr. out of Texas A&M. He has contributed quality minutes for the team on both ends of the court.
The Celtics will only be without Aron Baynes again as he will not be back for another few weeks recovering from surgery to his hand. Their starting lineup will be the same as Christmas. It will be crucial for the Celtics to get into this game early on and not let Houston start rolling. The Houston crowd can be rowdy sometimes, so this will be important early on for the C’s.
Projected Starters: BOS - HOU
PG – Kyrie Irving – Eric Gordon
SG – Marcus Smart – James Harden
SF – Jayson Tatum – Danuel House Jr.
PF – Marcus Morris Sr. – P.J.Tucker
C – Al Horford – Clint Capela
Injuries: BOS - HOU
Boston – Aron Baynes (Out, Hand)
Houston – Chris Paul (Out, Hamstring); James Ennis (Out, Hamstring); James Harden (Questionable, Calf); Carmelo Anthony (Out, “Rest”)
How To Watch
Time – 8:00 EST
TV – TNT / NBC Sports Boston
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Post by cole on Dec 27, 2018 20:06:40 GMT -5
Let's go Celtics!
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Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2018 20:16:45 GMT -5
Let's see if Harden is hampered or not ...
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Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2018 20:17:39 GMT -5
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Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2018 20:21:39 GMT -5
4 mins in ... 8-8
Morris 3-3 FTs ... 10-8 C's
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Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2018 20:23:51 GMT -5
Quarter: 1 Time Description Score 12:00 Celtics lineup change (Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, Marcus Morris, Al Horford) 0-0 12:00 Rockets lineup change (James Harden, Danuel House Jr., PJ Tucker, Clint Capela, Eric Gordon) 0-0 12:00 Al Horford vs. Clint Capela (Marcus Smart gains possession) 0-0 11:41 Jayson Tatum misses two point jump shot 0-0 11:39 PJ Tucker defensive rebound 0-0 11:32 James Harden turnover (bad pass) (Al Horford steals) 0-0 11:25 Kyrie Irving makes two point driving layup 2-0 11:07 Eric Gordon misses three point jump shot 2-0 11:03 Clint Capela offensive rebound 2-0 11:02 Clint Capela makes two point reverse layup 2-2 10:46 Kyrie Irving misses three point jump shot 2-2 10:44 Danuel House Jr. defensive rebound 2-2 10:39 Clint Capela misses two point layup 2-2 10:37 Marcus Morris defensive rebound 2-2 10:25 Al Horford turnover (bad pass) (PJ Tucker steals) 2-2 10:13 James Harden makes three point step back jump shot 2-5 9:50 Al Horford misses two point turnaround hook shot 2-5 9:47 PJ Tucker defensive rebound 2-5 9:41 Al Horford shooting foul (Clint Capela draws the foul) 2-5 9:41 Clint Capela makes regular free throw 1 of 2 2-6 9:41 Clint Capela misses regular free throw 2 of 2 2-6 9:41 Al Horford defensive rebound 2-6 9:23 Jayson Tatum makes two point step back jump shot (Al Horford assists) 4-6 9:14 Eric Gordon makes two point driving layup 4-8 9:02 Marcus Morris makes three point jump shot (Kyrie Irving assists) 7-8 8:37 James Harden misses three point step back jump shot 7-8 8:34 Kyrie Irving defensive rebound 7-8 8:27 James Harden personal foul (Al Horford draws the foul) 7-8 8:20 Danuel House Jr. shooting foul (Marcus Morris draws the foul) 7-8 8:20 Marcus Morris makes regular free throw 1 of 3 8-8 8:20 Marcus Morris makes regular free throw 2 of 3 9-8 8:20 Marcus Morris makes regular free throw 3 of 3 10-8 8:14 Eric Gordon misses three point jump shot 10-8 8:10 Kyrie Irving defensive rebound 10-8 8:03 Kyrie Irving misses two point driving layup 10-8 8:02 Danuel House Jr. defensive rebound 10-8 7:48 James Harden makes two point finger roll layup 10-10 7:29 Al Horford turnover (out of bounds lost ball) 10-10 7:18 Eric Gordon makes two point driving hook shot (James Harden assists) 10-12 7:01 Marcus Smart misses three point jump shot 10-12 6:57 Eric Gordon defensive rebound 10-12 6:52 PJ Tucker misses three point jump shot 10-12 6:50 Clint Capela offensive rebound 10-12 6:49 Clint Capela makes two point putback layup 10-14 6:40 Kyrie Irving makes three point jump shot (Marcus Smart assists) 13-14 6:25 James Harden makes three point jump shot 13-17
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Post by fierce on Dec 27, 2018 20:25:28 GMT -5
Capela outplaying Horford early.
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Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2018 20:25:33 GMT -5
6:06 Marcus Morris misses two point hook shot 13-17 6:04 Clint Capela defensive rebound 13-17 5:58 James Harden misses three point step back jump shot 13-17 5:54 Kyrie Irving defensive rebound 13-17 5:52 Marcus Smart makes two point dunk (Kyrie Irving assists) 15-17 5:51 Rockets 60 second timeout 15-17
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Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2018 20:26:31 GMT -5
Nice shot Kobe ... errr, Jayson.
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Post by cole on Dec 27, 2018 20:32:03 GMT -5
Wasnt Tucker moving?
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Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2018 20:33:20 GMT -5
5:51 Celtics lineup change (Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward, Marcus Smart, Daniel Theis) 15-17 5:51 Rockets lineup change (Gerald Green, James Harden, PJ Tucker, Austin Rivers, Clint Capela) 15-17 5:39 Jayson Tatum personal foul (Clint Capela draws the foul) 15-17 5:26 James Harden makes three point step back jump shot 15-20 5:06 Austin Rivers shooting foul (Marcus Smart draws the foul) 15-20 5:06 Marcus Smart makes regular free throw 1 of 2 16-20 5:06 Marcus Smart misses regular free throw 2 of 2 16-20 5:06 James Harden defensive rebound 16-20 4:55 Clint Capela turnover (lost ball) (Jayson Tatum steals) 16-20 4:46 Jayson Tatum misses two point driving layup 16-20 4:44 PJ Tucker defensive rebound 16-20 4:21 Clint Capela misses two point alley-oop layup 16-20 4:19 Gordon Hayward defensive rebound 16-20 4:11 Gordon Hayward makes three point jump shot (Kyrie Irving assists) 19-20 3:54 Clint Capela makes two point hook shot (Gerald Green assists) 19-22 3:37 Marcus Smart misses three point jump shot 19-22 3:34 Austin Rivers defensive rebound 19-22 3:20 Gerald Green misses three point jump shot 19-22 3:17 Jayson Tatum defensive rebound 19-22 3:00 Jayson Tatum offensive foul (Charge) (PJ Tucker draws the foul) 19-22 3:00 Jayson Tatum turnover (offensive foul) 19-22 3:00 Celtics lineup change (Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward, Daniel Theis) 19-22 3:00 Rockets lineup change (Gerald Green, James Harden, PJ Tucker, Austin Rivers, Nene) 19-22 2:40 James Harden makes three point step back jump shot 19-25 2:31 Celtics 60 second timeout 19-25
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2018 20:33:45 GMT -5
Yea he was moving.
Someone want to tell me why Smart isn't guarding Hardin?
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Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2018 20:34:22 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2018 20:36:04 GMT -5
Capela outplaying Horford early. Horford looks a lot older this year. He has as many miles as a Volvo wagon.
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Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2018 20:36:55 GMT -5
Yea he was moving. Someone want to tell me why Smart isn't guarding Hardin?
You got video and don't need play-by-play?
Only posting it cuz I read you had connection problems so I'll stop unless someone else pipes up ...
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Post by drboogiebone on Dec 27, 2018 20:37:41 GMT -5
Yea he was moving. Someone want to tell me why Smart isn't guarding Hardin? Moving and barely any contact at all. Guy was falling down before the contact was made. Hometown call. Moving is allowed as long as position is established 1st. New rule. So sliding that foot or shuffling the feet a little is allowed according to the league.
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Post by drboogiebone on Dec 27, 2018 20:38:30 GMT -5
How many times are they going to let him do that same move? Force him left.
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Post by drboogiebone on Dec 27, 2018 20:39:04 GMT -5
WTF Theis?
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Post by fierce on Dec 27, 2018 20:39:30 GMT -5
Celts really need a big.
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Post by drboogiebone on Dec 27, 2018 20:41:02 GMT -5
No interior defense at all. Harden playing C's unthinking defense like a whistle.
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Post by fierce on Dec 27, 2018 20:41:30 GMT -5
Theis is just not tall enough and Horford is not the same Horford of 2-3 years ago.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2018 20:42:36 GMT -5
Yea he was moving. Someone want to tell me why Smart isn't guarding Hardin?
You got video and don't need play-by-play?
Only posting it cuz I read you had connection problems so I'll stop unless someone else pipes up ...
Yea TNT and back in he city. thanks however
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Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2018 20:44:31 GMT -5
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Post by drboogiebone on Dec 27, 2018 20:45:05 GMT -5
A little hop back jumper move is destroying this defense.
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Post by drboogiebone on Dec 27, 2018 20:45:18 GMT -5
Brown for 3.
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