Boston Celtics
Record: 41-10
Last Ten Games: 7-3
Points scored per game: 100.2
Points allowed per game: 90.1
Pace Factor: 90.9 (17th of 30)
Offensive Rating: 109.7 (10th of 30)
Defensive Rating: 98.7 (1st of 30)

Golden State Warriors
Record: 32-21
Last Ten Games: 7-3
Points scored per game: 109.9
Points allowed per game: 107.7
Pace Factor: 98.4 (2nd of 30)
Offensive Rating: 111.1 (5th of 30)
Defensive Rating: 108.9 (26th of 30)

Hat tip to basketball-reference.com for info on the Celtics and the Warriors.

Rajon Rondo  vs. Baron Davis
Ray Allen vs. Monta Ellis
Paul Pierce vs. Stephen Jackson
Kevin Garnett vs. Al Harrington
Kendrick Perkins vs. Chris Webber

5 Random Points about the Warriors

5. You aren't a Warriors fan if you can't pronounce Monta Ellis' first name correctly.
   
4. Speaking of Ellis. I'm not going to make a joke about it because it is way too unoriginal. But check out the photo of Ellis above. He looks young. Fine here it is if you are that lazy.
   
3. Baron Davis' beard is one of the most underrated aspects of the whole team. True story.
   
2. Remember when Davis did this.
   
1. The Warriors have great fans.

He should have a big game tonight

The Warriors like to run and gun. They also give up close to 108 points per game. They're not an extraordinary shot blocking team. Meanwhile, Tony Allen is looking better and better. I'm going to go out on a limb and say he throws down three dunks tonight.

The West is Legit

In my recent Q&A with Golden State of Mind I wrote the following:

Seriously the West is loaded. And the fans, broadcasters and reporters that follow the teams out there won't let you forget it. Combine that with all the talent headed out West via trades and every game is magnified. The regular season actually matters. If a team goes into a slump it has to worry about seeding and falling out of the playoffs altogether. We saw how that affected the Nuggets last night. That was a borderline playoff game. The NBA is awesome right now. Believe that.

Fired up Paul Pierce

There are certain players in the NBA - LeBron, Carmelo and Stephen Jackson - that bring out the best, or worst depending upon how you look at it, in The Truth's offensive game. They just fire him up. As a side note can everyone get on board and start calling Jackson "Stephen"? I imagine that I'm alone on this one.

Welcome Home

Leon Powe makes his triumphant return to the Bay area as a contributing player on a winning team. He could have his way on the boards tonight if Doc gives him some burn. Are we still saying burn?

Scheduling Note

The Warriors lost to the Jazz in Utah on Tuesday, while the Celtics fell to the Nuggets in Denver. So it is the second game of a back-to-back for both of them. However, the Warriors have home court advantage when the Oracle gets rocking. And the whole team took the All Star weekend off. It's an 11-year tradition out in Oakland. To be fair, this year it is downright inexcusable.

Random YouTube clip
I've posted this before and I'll do it again, even if Jason Richardson is playing in Charlotte now. Bottom line. It is one of my favorite YouTube clips...ever. In fact if I was dropped on an island of prisoners and had to fight my way off I would watch this three times in a row. This is the type of thing I think about all day:

Team Defense Will Be Key

The Celtics starting lineup can not guard Baron Davis and Monta Ellis at the same time. Davis creates match up troubles due to his size and is explosive off the dribble. Ellis is a blur. So it would be nice to see the team defense return after taking last night off.

Last Time They Met

Matt Barnes and Al Harrington sat out. It is a different team with them back.

Get Your Thesaurus

Patrick O'Bryant is synonymous with "stiff".

Wanna bet...

that Marco Belinelli doesn't see anywhere near the 23 and a half minutes he got the last time they met? Strangely, as I was looking through the boxscore of that game I was struck by the fact that only Monta Elllis had more than thirty minutes of time. And he logged close to 43 minutes. Is anyone else interested in this? Moving on...

This Road Trip

I'd like the Celtics to go 3-2 on this trip. With that in mind it would be nice to pull this one out.