The Celtics begin a 4 game road trip with a stop at the Chase Center to take on the Golden State Warriors. This is the second, and final, game between these two teams this season. The Celtics lost the first game 118-112 in Boston on November 6. Last season they split the series 1-1 with each team winning on their home court.
In fact, over the past 3 seasons, the Celtics and Warriors have split the series 1-1 every season. These two teams have had somewhat of similar seasons, starting fast and then bogging down. The Celtics got off to a 10-9 start but have gone 19-4 after that. The Warriors got off to a 12-3 start but have gone 9-17 since that start.
The Celtics remain 2nd in the East, but are falling further behind the first place Cavaliers. They are now 6.5 games behind first place Cleveland. They are 2.5 games ahead of the 3rd place Knicks and 5 games ahead of 4th place Milwaukee. The Celtics are 14-5 on the road and 6-4 in their last 10 games. They are 6-4 against Western Conference teams and are coming off a loss in their last game.
The Warriors are 10th in the West, 13 games behind the 1st place Thunder, 2 games behind the 6th place Lakers and tied with 9th place Sacramento, and 11th place Phoenix. They are 11-10 at home and 5-5 in their last 10 games. They are 6-7 against Eastern Conference opponents and they have won their last 2 games.
The Celtics are beginning a 4 game road trip that will continue through Los Angeles to face both the Clippers and the Lakers back to back and then at Dallas to finish the road trip. They then face Houston and Chicago at home before 3 more on the road through New Orleans, Philadelphia and Cleveland. Then one game at home against Dallas before playing at New York and Miami and home against San Antonio before the All Star Break.
The Warriors are playing in the second straight home game after beating Washington at home on Saturday. AFter this they will play at Sacramento before a 6 game home stand against Chicago, the Lakers, Utah, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, and Orlando. They then have a 6 game road trip through Utah, the Lakers, Chicago, Milwaukee, Dallas, and Houston that will take him to the All Star Break.
The Celtics have just Drew Peterson on the injury list as he goes through concussion protocol. Jaylen Brown had a bad fall in Saturday’s game but at this time isn’t on the injury list. For the Warriors, Kyle Anderson is out with a hamstring injury. Brandin Podziemski is out with an injury to his abdomen. Jonathan Kuminga is out with an ankle injury. Draymond Green is out with a calf injury and Steph Curry is questionable with an ankle injury.
Curry left Saturday’s game with an ankle injury in the 4th quarter. After the game he sounded positive and like he expected to play in this game. If he can’t play, I would expect Dennis Schroder to start at the point and Buddy Hield to start at shooting guard. With Anderson and Kuminga both out, I am guessing that Looney may start for Green.
Probable Celtics Starters
Celtics Reserves
Luke Kornet
Payton Pritchard
Neemias Queta
Sam Hauser
Baylor Scheierman
Jaden Springer
Xavier Tillman, Sr
Jordan Walsh
Al Horford
2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Anton Watson
Injuries/Out
Drew Peterson (concussion) questionable
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
Probable Warriors Starters
Warriors Reserves
Kyle Anderson
Buddy Hield
Moses Moody
Gary Payton II
Gui Santos
Lindy Waters III
2 Way Players
Quinten Post
Pat Spencer
Injuries/Out
Kyle Anderson (hamstring) out
Jonathan Kuminga (ankle) out
Brandin Podziemski (abdomen) out
Stephen Curry (ankle) questionable
Draymond Green (calf) out
Head Coach
Steve Kerr
Key Matchups
Jrue Holiday vs Stephen Curry
Curry is averaging 23 points, 5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. He is shooting 45% from the field and 41.1% from beyond the arc. In the first game against the Celtics, he finished with 27 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals and 1 block while shooting 47.1% from the field and 44.4% from beyond the arc. Slowing Curry down is important if the Celtics want to get a win in this game.
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Jaylen Brown
Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images
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Andrew Wiggins
Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Jaylen Brown vs Andrew Wiggins
Wiggins is averaging 17.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. He is shooting 45.6% from the field and 39.1% from beyond the arc. In the first game against the Celtics, he finished with 16 points and 2 rebounds while shooting 42.9% from the field but didn’t hit a 3 pointer. He is coming off a 31 point game and can have a big game if not well defended.
Honorable Mention
Derrick White vs Dennis Schroder
Schroder is averaging 15.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game. He is shooting 41.9% from the field and 35.2% from beyond the arc. In games this season against the Celtics, Schroder finished with 18 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.5 steals while shooting 45.5% from the field and 28.6% from beyond the arc.
Keys to the Game
Defense – Defense is always the key to winning. The Celtics are 5th in the league, averaging 117.5 points per game. They are 5th in the league with a defensive rating of 109.8. The Warriors are 18th in the league, averaging 111.4 points per game. The Warriors are 9th with a defensive rating of 111.0. The Celtics have played good defense in spurts recently. They need to get back to playing lock down defense consistently. It is highly likely that the team that plays the toughest defense in this game will be the winner.
Rebound – Rebounding is always a key to winning as you need the ball to score and a good way to get it is to grab rebounds. It takes effort to grab rebounds and the Celtics must make an extra effort to crash the boards and beat the Warriors to rebounds. If they put out extra effort on the boards, that usually carries through to the rest of their game. More rebounds gives them extra possessions and limits the possessions for the Warriors. The Warriors are 3rd with 46.6 rebounds per game while the Celtics are 9th with 45.2 rebounds per game.
Be Aggressive – The Celtics need to be the more aggressive team from start to finish. They need to be aggressive in going to the hoop, in crashing the boards, in fighting for loose balls and in running the court. They also have to be more aggressive on defense. They have to be the team that wants it more. When the Celtics have lost this season, it’s mostly been because they allowed their opponents to be more aggressive and to play harder than them. Effort and being more aggressive will likely be the difference in this game.
Three Pointers – Both of these teams shoot a lot of 3 pointers. The Celtics are 1st in the league, shooting 49.1 threes a game. The Warriors are 4th, shooting 41.3 threes a game. The Celtics shoot 36.2% from beyond the arc while the Warriors shoot 36.5% on threes. Recently the Celtics have struggled as a team shooting 3’s. They have to get their focus back on track and hit their threes and if they still aren’t falling, they need to get into the paint.
X-Factors
On the Road – The Celtics are on the road and have traveled across the country through 3 time zones to get there. The Celtics need to shake off the distractions of travel, being away from home, and playing on the road in front of a hostile crowd, not to mention jet lag and getting used to a different time zone. They need to cfocus on playing the right way and not on the distractions of playing on the road.
Officiating – Officiating always has the potential to be a factor in every game. Every officiating team calls the game differently. Some call it tight and others let them play. Some favor the home team while some call it evenly. However the game is called, the Celtics must adjust to it and not allow the officiating to take away their focus on playing the game. Complaining about calls rarely changes anything other than to take away from their focus on playing the game and irritate the officials.
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