Game 28: Where We Call This Game 'An Ackbar Special'

by Tom Bellinger on Feb 15, 2012 2:16 PM EST

Detroit Pistons at Boston Celtics, Feb 15, 2012 7:30 PM EST

Other possible titles for the game tonight: "Return of the Mack"

Detroit Pistons (8-21) at Boston Celtics (15-12)
Wednesday, February 15
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #28 – Home Game #19
TV: CSNNE, FSD, NBA-LP 753/754 (DTV)
Radio: WEEI, WDFN, 97.1 FM The Ticket
TD Garden

Game Thread | Chat Room

Watch this clip.Or, check out this link. There, now everybody gets the joke!

Tonight's game has all the usually *ahem* trappings of a "Trap Game".

A) Its against a weaker opponent that nobody is currently taking seriously, but a team who is also young and hungry.

B) Its after a small amount of rest, meaning that it should be a pretty simple and easy win for a 'good' team.

C)The Celtics are coming off of a big win against the league's best team. Without its reigning MVP, sure, but still.

This is a trap game. This is a game where a good team walks into what should be a sure win, what should just be the preamble to the real contest against Chicago tomorrow night, a contest that will, almost to a certitude, have all the critical and ambulatory members of each team active, especially considering the close outcome of their last contest.

Basically tonight is a footnote in a lot of ways, and because of that, its a trap game.Good teams know to see these coming. Kevin Garnett may play tonight (along with Pietrus and O'Neal). He knows its a trap game, and they need his near-homicidal passion out there to keep it competitive.

But even knowing something is a trap game isn't enough to avoid the trap. The reason why its a trap game is because the other guys want it more than you do; its because it would make their week to take down the boistrous and bully-like Boston Celtics, whereas it wouldn't even necessarily make the Celtics' day to take down the struggling and lottery-bound Pistons, especially with the Bulls game tomorrow.

The Celtics need to be a bully from the moment they set foot on the floor tonight. They need to quell any rumors of a resistance from the Pistons. They need to run them off the floor before they have a chance to let the 'so you're sayin' there's a chance' mentality to creep in.

That's how you really avoid a trap game. If the score is tied at halftime, you'll know they failed.

As usual, all lineups, etc, from FLCeltsFan

Probable Starters
PGSGSFPFC
Rajon Rondo.... Ray Allen.... Paul Pierce.....Kevin Garnett.... Chris Wilcox

Celtics Reserves
Marquis Daniels
Greg Steimsma
Brandon Bass
JaJuan Johnson
E'Twaun Moore
Keyon Dooling
Mickael Pietrus

Injuries
Sasha Pavlovic (wrist) day to day
Jermaine O'Neal (shoulder) probable
Brandon Bass (knee) out
Mickael Pietrus (knee) questionable
Kevin Garnett (hip) questionable

Probable Starters
PG SG SF PF C
Brandon Knight...Rodney Stuckey...Tayshaun Prince...Jason Maxiell..Greg Monroe

Pistons Bench
Ben Wallace
Jonas Jerebko
Brandon Knight
Austin Daye
Damien Wilkins
Vernon Macklin
Will Bynum
Ben Gordon
Walker Russell

Injuries
Charlie Villanueva (foot) out

Team Connections
Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva and Ray Allen all attended the University of Connecticut
Tayshaun Prince, Brandon Knight and Rajon Rondo attended the University of Kentucky
Pistons Head Coach Lawrence Frank was an assistant coach with the Celtics during the 2010‐11 season
Sasha Pavlovic and Ben Wallace were teammates on the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2007‐09
Pistons Assistant Coach Roy Rogers played for the Celtics during the 1997‐98 season and was an assistant coach during the 2010‐11 season.
Chris Wilcox played for the Pistons from 2009-11.

Key Matchups
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Brandon Knight
As has been stated many times, as Rondo goes, so goes the Celtics. The Celtics need the aggressive Rondo that ran on every possession and gave the Celtics a spark on both ends of the court, including on the boards. He should be able to school Knight and have another big night if he comes to play.

vs
Paul Pierce vs Tayshaun Prince
This has been a great matchup over the years, Prince's length can give Pierce problems but Pierce's strength can also give Prince problems. If Pierce can't get his shot off, he needs to be a facilitator and find the open man rather than trying to force it.

Honorable Mention
Kevin Garnett vs Jason Maxiell
KG has a height advantage over Maxiell and hopefully he will be aggressive in looking for his shot.

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Official Report

Tony Brothers
TTony Brothers is entering his 18th season as an NBA official and has officiated 1,040 regular season games and 50 playoff games during his career. He was a member of the crew that officiated the 1996 Mexico Challenge, 1998 Schick Rookie Game, 1999 McDonald’s Championship in Milan, Italy and the 2008 China Games. Prior to joining the NBA, Brothers spent four years officiating in the CBA, including three CBA Finals and a CBA All-Star Game. He has one year of collegiate officiating experience at the Junior College level. Brothers also has seven years of high school officiating experience in Virginia, including three state tournaments.There are several articles about what a terrible ref Brothers is and detailing his misdeeds. He has angered a lot of fans of just about every team because of bad calls, no calls, and one sided officiating. The Celtics are 5-5 in their last 10 games with Brothers on the court. Brothers was one of the officials in Celtics lone loss to the Heat in the regular season last year in which the Heat took 26 free throws to 16 for the Celtics. The Pistons are 2-0 this season and 4-6 with Brothers in their last 10. His home W/L record this season is 12-13.

Derrick Collins
Collins has officiated 616 regular season games and 11 playoff games in 10 NBA seasons. Prior to joining the NBA, he officiated five seasons in the CBA and three in the WNBA, where he worked two CBA Finals and three WNBA Playoffs and Finals. He has seven years of collegiate officiating experience in various conferences. Collins also officiated at the high school level in Louisiana.
Collins was a member of the Xavier basketball team for four seasons, an honorable mention All-American, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the university in Mass Communications. Collins was a victim of both Hurricane Katrina and Rita and basically had to start all over in the aftermath. The Celtics are 0-1 this season and 5-5 in their last 10 games with Collins. The loss was in Indiana and the Pacers shot 23 free throws to 18 for the Celtics. The Pistons are 1-1 this season and 3-7 in their last 10 games with Collins. His home W/L record this season is 14-8.

Ben Taylor
Taylor is listed as a non staff referee. This is just his 3rd game in the NBA. In trying to find information on him, I found that he officiated just 9 games at the college level between 1997 and 2010. He officiated an exhibition game between the Knicks and Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2009. In that game he ejected the coach for the Maccabi team which nearly started an international incident when the coach refused to leave the game. They even had a well known Rabbi out there trying to negotiate with Taylor because it was a game for charity but Taylor wouldn’t budge and he called security to escort the coach to the locker room. He has experience in the D-League and in NBA pre-season games. He was also one of the replacement refs during the recent referee lockout. His home team W/L record is 0-2.

Perk is a BEAST!!

by FLCeltsFan on Feb 15, 2012 2:12 PM EST reply actions

Updated Injury Info

From the Globe

The Celtics could have Kevin Garnett, Mickael Pietrus and Jermaine O’Neal back in the lineup tonight as they face the Detroit Pistons at TD Garden.

All three participated in shootaround, and Garnett participated in full-court drills after missing practice Tuesday with a strained hip flexor,. He is the lone Celtic to play in all 27 games this season. Pietrus missed part of practice Tuesday with a sore knee while O’Neal missed the past two games with a sore left shoulder.

Brandon Bass, who is out with a sore knee, was the only Celtic not to participate in shootaround.

Perk is a BEAST!!

by FLCeltsFan on Feb 15, 2012 2:14 PM EST reply actions

Pistons coming off a loss last night at home to the Spurs while C's had a couple days rest and playing at home.

So the Pistons should win by 10…………………kidding…..i think.

by JPV on Feb 15, 2012 2:23 PM EST reply actions

Every game is a TRAP Games these days

When it is a regular we-may-lose-this-one-just-like-the-rest games, the lead should be – this is NOT a Trap Game.

by johnnymost on Feb 15, 2012 2:38 PM EST reply actions

+1

We don’t have the record to say any game is a trap game anymore.

by vgarcia890 on Feb 15, 2012 5:04 PM EST up reply actions

Agreed

We can lose to any team this season just because we are no longer a dominant team.

by guava_wrench on Feb 15, 2012 6:02 PM EST up reply actions

I think they should get this one

To get some momentum going into Chicago, plus we could use a win.

by p-peazy on Feb 15, 2012 2:43 PM EST reply actions

I hope the NBA Official Ben Taylor (with little NBA experience) can be our very own version of Jeremy Lin tonight

Bensanity!!!!

Is it Soup Yet?

by Master Po on Feb 15, 2012 3:11 PM EST reply actions

In keeping with Tom' Star Wars theme ... I see that jar jar will be playing a lot tonight

Is it Soup Yet?

by Master Po on Feb 15, 2012 3:15 PM EST reply actions 2 recs

That's funny

Haha props for pointing it out

"Victory belongs to the most Preserving" - Napoleon

by RotB_MattR on Feb 15, 2012 5:57 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

Are we already making up excuses in advance just in case we lose this game, calling it a “trap Game”? Just asking. If we are going to win it all, we should have no doubts whatsoever about wining this game for sure tonight.

by Dantenina on Feb 15, 2012 6:37 PM EST reply actions

Larry Bird would’nt have let his guard down. There were no trap games in his era.

by Dantenina on Feb 15, 2012 6:39 PM EST reply actions

Is it possible that neither Doc nor the players know this is a trap game and do’nt do whatever they need to do in order not get themselves trapped? If we are better that the Pistons, and I know we are and the Celtics know they are, should’nt it be easy for them to just beat these clowns with double digit numbers? I just do’nt know how can we be thinking about Número 18 and still talk about us letting ourselves be trapped into loses? WE are better than that, are’nt we? We are not going to fall for the Pistons tonight cause we know this is a trap game and we will avoid falling for it. We are that good – are’nt we? Still, Im going to tape it, just in case Doc does’nt know this is a trap game, or if he knows, he might not let the team know, or maybe even if the team knows, they may not want to make the effort to win it cause they rather save themselves for the playoffs. We should know by half time, wont we?

by Dantenina on Feb 15, 2012 7:06 PM EST reply actions