The Celtics complete a back to back set at home as they take on Grant Williams and the Charlotte Hornets. This is the third and final game between these two teams this season. The Celtics lost the first game 118-121 in OT on November 20 at Charlotte. They won the second game 118-104 in Charlotte on April 1. The Celtics won the series 4-0 last season.
The Celtics are 76-46 overall all time against the Hornets. They are 40-20 in games played in Boston. The Celtics are playing on the second night of back to back games. They lost to the Knicks on Thursday in spite of playing all their starters. The Celtics are 11-2 in the second of back to back games. and they are 6-0 when the second game is at home.
The Celtics have just one more game left and that is at home against the Washington Wizards on Sunday afternoon. The Hornets are coming off a win at Atlanta, with Trae Young back in the line up,, on Wednesday. They have just one more game to play also. They will play at Cleveland on Sunday also.
The Celtics are locked into first place in the league. They are 13 games ahead of 2nd place Milwaukee, 14 games ahead of 3rd place new York, 15 games ahead of 4th place Cleveland, 16 games ahead of 5th place Orlando and 16 games ahead of 6th place Indiana. They are 35-4 at home and 6-4 in their last 10 games. They are 39-11 against Eastern Conference teams and they have lost their last 2 games.
The Hornets are 13th in the East, 42 games behind 1st place Boston, 16 games behind 10th place Atlanta and a chance to play for a playoff spot in the play in tournament. They are 5 games ahead of 14th place Washington and 6.5 games ahead of 15th place Detroit. They are 9-30 on the road and 3-7 in their last 10 games. They are 13-37 against Eastern Conference teams and are coming off a win in their last game.
The Celtics played their starters, 4 of whom were questionable going into the game, between 25 and 30 minutes on Thursday night and so I doubt we will see any of them in this game. Tatum (knee), Brown (hand), Porzingis (hamstring), Holiday (knee), White (ankle) and Al (toe) will all likely be out this game. They are listed as questionable as of now. It’s possible that one or two of them may play but I’m thinking they will sit this one. The starters I’ve listed are just a wild guess at this time and will become clearer closer to game time.
With the Maine Celtics off until Monday, they may recall Queta and Walsh, but that’s also a guess. The Hornets also have a lengthy injury list. Nick Richards is questionable with a foot injury. Grant Williams is questionable with an ankle injury. Both of them will be a game time decision. Mark Williams is out with a back injury. LaMelo Ball is out with an ankle injury. Seth Curry is out with an ankle injury. Cody Martin is out with an ankle injury.
Probable Celtics Starters
PG: Payton Pritchard
SG: Oshae Brissett
SF: Sam Hauser
PF: Xavier Tillman
C: Luke Kornet
Celtics Reserves
Svi Mykhailiuk
Jaden Springer
2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Injuries/Out
Jaylen Brown (hand) questionable
Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring) questionable
Jayson Tatum (ankle) questionable
Al Horford (toe) questionable
Derrick White (ankle) questionable
Jrue Holiday (knee) questionable
Jordan Walsh (Maine) questionable
Neemias Queta (Maine) questionable
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
Probable Hornets Starters
PG: Vasa Micic
SG: Tre Mann
SF: Brandon Miller
PF: Miles Bridges
C: Grant Williams
Hornets Reserves
Davis Bertans
Bryce McGowens
Nick Smith, Jr
JT Thor
Aleksej Pokusevski
2 Way Players
Amari Bailey
Leaky Black
Marques Bolden
Injuries/Out
LaMelo Ball (ankle) out
Cody Martin (knee) out
Seth Curry (ankle) out
Mark Williams (back) out
Nick Richards (foot) questionable
Grant Williams (ankle) questionable
Head Coach
Steve Clifford
Key Matchups
Xavier Tillman vs Miles Bridges
Bridges is averaging 21.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1 steal per game. He is shooting 46.2% from the field and 35% from beyond the arc. Against Boston so far this season, he averaged 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 6.5 assists while shooting 36.1% from the field and 31.3% from beyond the arc. I really have no idea who will start at the four for Boston but I’m taking a guess that it might be Tillman.
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Sam Hauser
Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
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Brandon Miller
Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images
Sam Hauser vs Brandon Miller
Miller is averaging 17.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He is shooting 44% from the field and 37.4% from beyond the arc. Against Boston this season, he averaged 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 40.7% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. Who knows who will start here. If Tatum could start at the point, I’m not eliminating anything.
Honorable Mention
Luke Kornet vs Grant Williams
Williams is averaging 10.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. He is shooting 45.6% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc. Against the Celtics this season, he averaged 12.5 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists, while shooting 52.4% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc.
Keys to the Game
Defense – Defense is always a key to winning. It was a lack of defense that lost the 2 games against Atlanta and it was good defense that got them back on track against the Pelicans. It was also a lack of defense (and rebounding) that lost the games against the Bucks and Knicks. The Celtics are 2nd with a defensive rating of 110.6. The Hornets are 29th with a defensive rating of 119.2. The Celtics need to especially guard the Hornets in the paint and the mid-range.
Rebound – The Celtics can’t score if they don’t have the ball, and the best way to get the ball is the grab rebounds. The Celtics are 2nd in the league with 46.2 rebounds per game while the Hornets are last with 40.3 rebounds per game. The Celtics need to put out extra effort on the boards and when they do, that effort usually translates to the rest of their game. They can’t allow the Hornets to out rebound them as they did the Bucks and the Knicks.
Next Man Up – It’s a given that some of the starters will be out this game and so the stay ready group needs to be ready to step up once again in their place. Some of them will need to start and others will need to come in and play extra minutes because of the Celtics being short handed. They all need to play hard and to stay focused on both ends of the court.
Be Aggressive – The Celtics need to be the more aggressive team. They have to be more aggressive in going after loose balls, in grabbing rebounds, in defending, and in going to the basket. They need to hustle and be aggressive for 48 minutes every game. For the last 2 games, the starters have seemed to be complacent and weren’t the more aggressive team. However, the reserves came in at the end of Thursday’s game and were pressing and were more aggressive and almost pulled out the game. They can win a lot of games by playing harder than their opponents and they can lose a lot of games by allowing their opponents to be the team that plays harder.
X-Factors
Home Game and Purpose– The Celtics are playing in their 2nd straight home game while the Hornets are playing in their 2nd straight game on the road. The Celtics should get a boost from the home crowd and from being in the friendly confines of the TD Garden. The Hornets have to deal with all the distractions that come with playing on the road. In the last 2 games the Celtics had little to play for while their opponents were playing for their playoff position. In this game, neither team has anything to play for.
Officiating – Officiating is always an x-factor. Sometimes you don’t even notice the refs but other times, they very clearly make their presence known. Every crew calls the game differently and players never know what to expect. Sometimes they call it tight with a foul for every little bit of contact. Sometimes they let the teams play and allow them to be physical and call no fouls the whole game. Players need to adjust to how the game is being called and not allow the officiating to take their focus off of playing their game.
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