The Celtics are again on the street to tackle the San Antonio Spurs after 2 brief handed wins at house. That is the primary of two video games between these two groups this season. They’ll meet once more in Boston on January 17. The Celtics received the collection final season 2-0, successful in Boston by 44 factors. The Celtics are 45-56 general all time towards the Spurs and they’re 22-28 in video games performed in San Antonio.
The Celtics stay 1st within the East. They’re 1.5 video games forward of 2nd place Milwaukee, 3 video games forward of third place Philadelphia, 6 forward of 4th place Orlando and 6.5 video games forward of fifth place Miami. They’re 9-5 on the street and 9-1 of their final 10 video games. They’re 4-2 towards Western Convention opponents. They’ve received their final 5 video games.
The San Antonio Spurs are fifteenth within the West. They’re 4 behind 14th place Portland. They’re 10.5 video games behind tenth place Houston for the ultimate Play In spot. They’re 12.5 video games behind sixth place Dallas for the ultimate assured playoff spot. They’re 2-13 at house and 2-8 of their final 10 video games. They’re 0-8 towards Japanese Convention groups. They’re coming off a loss of their final recreation.
The Celtics are on the street once more after 2 brief handed wins in Boston. They’ll head to Oklahoma Metropolis to tackle the new Thunder on Wednesday. They’ll then head house for a recreation towards the Jazz earlier than taking part in 2 extra on the street towards the Pacers. The Spurs are coming off a 1-1 journey to Portland. They’ll play at Memphis on Wednesday earlier than a visit East to tackle the Cavs and Pistons.
The Celtics harm record has only one participant on it earlier than this recreation. Jrue Vacation is questionable as a consequence of a proper elbow sprain. His standing is a recreation time choice. If he’s unable to play, I’d anticipate Derrick White to maneuver to the purpose with both Al Horford or one of many reserve wings transferring into the beginning lineup. For the Spurs, Zach Collins is questionable with an ankle sprain. Devonte Graham is possible as a consequence of an sickness. Charles Bassey is out with a knee harm.
Possible Celtics Starters
Grid View
PG: Jrue HolidaySG: Derrick WhiteSF: Jaylen BrownPF: Jayson TatumC: Kristaps Porzingis
Celtics ReservesDelano BantonOshae BrissettSam HauserAl HorfordSvi MykhailiukPayton PritchardLamar StevensJordan WalshLuke Kornet Al Horford
2 Means PlayersJD DavisonDrew PetersonNeemias Queta
Accidents/OutJrue Vacation (elbow) questionable
Head CoachJoe Mazzulla
Possible Spurs Starters
Grid View
PG: Malaki BranhamSG: Devin VassellSF: Julian ChampagniePF: Jeremy SochanC: Victor Wembanyama
Spurs Reserves Sidy CissokoKeldon JohnsonTre JonesSandro Mamukelashvili Doug McDermottCedi OsmanBlake Wesley
Two Means Gamers Dominick Barlow David Duke, Jr
Accidents/Out Zach Collins (ankle) questionable Devonte Graham (sickness) possible Charles Bassey (knee) out
Head CoachGregg Popovich
Key Matchups
Grid View
Kristaps Porzingis vs Victor Wembanyama This ought to be a enjoyable matchup of a few unicorns. Wembanyama is 7’4” tall whereas Porzingis is 7’2”tall. Wembanyama is averaging 18.8 factors, 10.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists 1.3 steals and three.2 blocks. He’s taking pictures 44% from the sector and 28.5% from past the arc. The Celtics have to be particularly conscious of Wemby when they will the basket as he’s a menace to dam pictures each time. In addition they must preserve him out of the paint and off the glass.
Grid View
Derrick White vs Devin VassellVassell is averaging 18.2 factors, 3.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.2 steals per recreation. He’s taking pictures 45.7% from the sector and 36.2% from past the arc. If Jrue Vacation is out, it might be Jaylen Brown matched up with Vassell at taking pictures guard.
Honorable Point out Sam Hauser vs Keldon Johnson Johnson comes off the bench for the Spurs and is averaging 17.6 factors, 6.3 rebounds, and three.9 assists per recreation. He’s taking pictures 46.4% from the sector and 34.5% from past the arc. The Celtics want Hauser and the Celtics reserves to provide to match Johnson’s impression on the sport.
Keys to the Recreation Protection – Protection is a very powerful key to successful video games. The Celtics are fifth with a defensive ranking of 110.9 whereas the Spurs are twenty fifth with a defensive ranking of 118.7. The Celtics must particularly defend within the paint for the reason that Spurs common 49.2 factors within the paint per recreation. The Celtics must make protection a precedence and play robust crew protection in each recreation 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 provide up second likelihood factors to the Spurs. The Celtics are averaging 47 rebounds per recreation whereas the Spurs are averaging 43.2 rebounds per recreation. 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 nicely.
Be Aggressive – The Celtics must play arduous and be the extra aggressive crew. 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 crew that works more durable and needs it extra. Even the final crew within the standings can beat the #1 crew in the event that they play more durable and are extra aggressive.
Play the Proper Means – The Celtics want to maneuver the ball to seek out the very best shot. Once they play hero ball and don’t preserve the ball transferring, the Celtics wrestle. However, after they preserve the ball transferring and transfer with out the ball, they’re very robust to beat. They should give attention to taking part in protection and having every others backs. They should crash the boards and field out. They should give attention to taking and making good pictures. If the three’s aren’t falling, take the ball to the basket. Play with focus and with vitality.
X-Elements Street Recreation – The Celtics are taking part in on the street as soon as once more. Journey and staying in lodges generally is a distraction and also can take a toll on gamers. Taking part in in entrance of a hostile crowd can be a distraction, particularly for youthful gamers. The Celtics must put all of these distractions apart and give attention to taking part in their recreation.
Teaching – Gregg Popovich is taken into account by most to be probably the greatest coaches within the league. He has been the pinnacle coach of the Spurs since 1996 after 19 years as an assistant coach for numerous groups. He’s a 5 time champion and three time Coach of the 12 months. Joe Mazzulla has been a university assistant coach for 7 years and spent 1 yr as an assistant with the Purple Claws and three years as an assistant with the Celtics. That is his second yr as a head coach. Matchups and training technique chould come into play on this recreation.
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 named. Will they name the sport evenly or favor the house crew? Will they name it tight or allow them to play? Hopefully we get honest officiating they usually allow them to play and the Celtics give attention to taking part in the appropriate manner and never get distracted by the unhealthy calls and no calls.
And ensure to take a look at CelticsBlog’s Playback stream for a dwell dialog in regards to the recreation. To take part, simply create a free account, join your LP sub if in case you have it, and be a part of our group!
