Celtics Try to Stay Perfect on Trip as they Visit Hornets

by FLCeltsFan @ CelticsBlog on Mar 22, 2008 9:45 AM EDT in Boston Celtics Games

Boston Celtics (55-13) at New Orleans Hornets (46-21)Saturday,March 22
8:00 PM ET
Game # 69. Road Game #35
TV: NBA LP ch 759, CST, CSN HD
Radio: WEEI, Sirius 126
New Orleans Arena

Chat l Game

Hornets Blogs Hornets 24/7 l At the Hive

The Celtics are on the last game of their very tough Western road trip as they face the New Orleans Hornets. They beat a motivated Spurs team trying to avoid a 4 game losing streak. They beat a motivated Rockets team who were looking to extend their 22 game win streak. And they beat a motivated Mavs team looking to avenge an earlier loss and also to bounce back from an embarrassing loss to the Lakers. But, this may be their toughest challenge yet.

The Hornets are a very good team and they have the best young point guard in the league in Chris Paul who makes everyone on the team better. They are a dangerous team that can score in the paint as well as light it up from beyond the arc and that makes them difficult to defend. They lead the league in alley oop passes from Paul to Chandler and Peja Stojakovic is one of the better 3 point shooters in the league.

This is the first meeting between these two teams and they will meet again in Boston in 6 days. The Hornets are 26-10 at home and 15-7 against the Eastern Conference teams. They are 7-3 in their last 10 games and have won 2 in a row including a 90-69 blow out win over the Rockets in their last game.

The Hornets are the best in the West and they will be motivated to show that they can beat the best in the East. The Hornets have been off since Wednesday and the Celtics had Friday off but played a very tough game against the Mavs on Thursday night. The Celtics have momentum from their sweep of the Texas Triangle and hopefully they can keep that going and not have a let down in this game after those emotional contests. But there is plenty of motivation for the Celtics to bet that Best in the West, a team they may face in the finals. They also will be motivated to keep this road trip perfect with 5 wins and 0 losses.

More after the Jump

Probable Starting Matchups

PG: Rajon Rondo vs Chris Paul

SG: Ray Allen vs Morris Peterson

SF: Paul Pierce vs Peja Stojakovic

PF: Kevin Garnett vs David West

C: Kendrick Perkins vs Tyson Chandler

Key Matchups
Vs

Rajon Rondo vs Chris Paul
For the 5th game on this road trip, Rondo will be facing tough competition. If healthy, Rondo should be able to stay with Paul, but his sore back may be a factor.

Kevin Garnett vs David West
KG has a height advantage on West and should be able to get the step on him. He will need to slow down the Hornets' second leading scorer.

Keys to the Game
Defense: The Celtics must defend both inside and on the perimeter. Chandler and West are very tough in the paint and Paul and Chandler have combined for more than twice as many alley oops as anyone else in the league. They also have several players who are dangerous beyond the arc. They have won the first 4 games on this trip with their defense and have to continue that in this game.

Be Aggressive The Celtics have to be the aggressive on both ends of the court. They have to come out strong and not let up. The Celtics have to crash the boards and not allow the Hornets to get second chance points. They also have to be aggressive taking the ball to the hoop and hustling for loose balls.

Move the Ball The Celtics have to continue to move without the ball and to make the extra pass to find the open man. When they dribble too much and stop the ball movement, they aren't nearly as effective. Against the Mavs, it seemed as though the Celtics were taking a lot of quick shots and not making that extra pass. They got away with it by clamping down on defense at the end in Dallas, but may not be as lucky in this game. They have to get back to moving the ball and finding the open man.

X-Factor
Fatigue vs Adrenaline
The Celtics will be tired as they are playing the final game of a 5 game road trip and have expended a lot of effort in the other 4 games. Fatigue could be a factor. However, adrenaline may take over and give them a boost as they are playing the top team in the West and a win here would be big.

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Comments

FLCeltsFan – has anyone told you serve up a great game preview 8)

Now where did you get the alley oop stat for Paul and Chandler?

by ManchvegasBob on Mar 22, 2008 3:51 PM EDT reply actions

Thanks for the kind words Bob.

ALLEY OOP- Chris Paul and Tyson Chandler have produced many high-flying highlights this season, connecting on numerous alley
oopsâ€¦so many in fact, that they lead the league in alley oops with 82, more than 45 ahead of the next closest tandem.

From the Hornets game notes on NBA.com
http://aol.nba.com/hornets/news/notes.pdf

by FLCeltsFan @ CelticsBlog on Mar 22, 2008 4:23 PM EDT reply actions

Nice preview, Fl. CP3 has gotten rookie jumping jack into the alley oop act lately too, so the Cs’ bigs need to keep their heads on a swivel tonight. If they take care of the defensive backboard, and Rondo does a decent job staying in front of Chris Paul, the Celts should return to Boston with a perfect road trip under their belts.

by TripleOT on Mar 22, 2008 5:01 PM EDT reply actions

I think our depth will carry us through this game. The Hornets match up with the Celtics very well 1-5, (except for the obvious advantage we have with Ray over Mo Pete at SG and yes Pierce is way better than Stojakavic but he’s a scoring machine and Ray has a obvious advantage over Mo Pete) our bench being better than theirs will be the difference.

by Hillcrestwildcat on Mar 22, 2008 5:02 PM EDT reply actions

(correction to the post above)

CPS has gotten rookie jumping jack Julian Wright into the alley oop act lately

by TripleOT on Mar 22, 2008 5:02 PM EDT reply actions

Thank you again – you live here somewhere… Tony Allen will win or lose this game. He should work CP3 also. Tonight is a Glen Davis night. I don’t know how I come up with these things. I’m trying the Glen “Teh Buddha” Rivers just be version of prediction

by johnnymost on Mar 22, 2008 5:29 PM EDT reply actions

If TA is the difference win or lose in this game then we are likely in trouble. Since he only plays well about 1 out of 5 games we are likely in for a long night. I am not really sure that TA will see much court time actually based on Sam’s increased PT and Ray’s return. Look for a quick exit after a couple quick turnovers by TA and a lot of pine riding.

by EJPLAYA on Mar 22, 2008 6:03 PM EDT reply actions