Time: 10:30 PM EST, February 26th, 2011
Venue: Staples Center
Officials: Ron Garretson, Marat Kogut, Gary Zielinski
TV: CSN-NE, Radio: WEEI
Game Thread | Chat Room
Like an Oklahoma tornado mixed with some lightning and "distant Thunder", the highly touted, and revamped Boston Celtics will spin into the Staples Center tonight. They will try and rip a bigger hole in the severely damaged sails of the LA Clippers before heading to Utah and then back home to the Boston Harbor. You must like these opening sentences as I worked hard on them.
Apparently the two most excited people in the arena tonight will be the newly acquired Jamario Moon and Mo Williams for the Clippers. Both players have expressed excitement in being jetted out of Cleveland and landing in LA Clipper land. Wow.....now this ought to be an one exciting game when you have two players jumping with joy to be on the Clippers. Blake Griffin is so excited over the addition of his new teammates that he will attempt to jump over the top of Kristic at halftime, comb Krisitic's hair(s) while in mid air and then dunk.
Of course the big story in this game for Boston fans is not the game itself, but rather getting a peak at our new players: Nenad Kristic and Jeff Green!!!! There I said it. I even sounded excited, and I feel all the more nauseated for it. I am so excited about watching these two new guys in Celtic green that I almost feel like I was just traded to the Clippers blog in exchange for a tall blonde intern for Jeff Clark in 2012.
"So now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country"....errr....I mean their team. Really? I still don't feel like it, but I have no choice as I signed up for this pre-game gig. I started off this morning by looking at the stats of Nenad and Jeff Green the last time they played the Clippers. Nenad Kristic played 21 minutes, shot 20% from the field (1-5), had one rebound, 3 fouls and 5 points. Don't ask me how long ago that happened, or who he played against - I don't care.
Jeff Green on the other hand finished with 22 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 4 rebounds and 1-4 from downtown last time he played the Clippers. Hmm...OK. Let me pause here while I chew on a few more Tums and sip warm milk.
The Clippers are 2-8 in their last 10 games. They are 27.5 games back of the Spurs and have high hopes to catch the Spurs with 23 games remaining. Surely you jest Po? They were beaten last night by the LA Lakers at the Staples Center with Griffin and Foye leading the glorious way to yet another loss. The Clippers have however won 9 of their last 10 home games, and Boston has lost their last two games against the Clippers in LA.
Boston is 6-4 in our last 10 games and we are coming off a Denver loss in which we played hard, ran fast and fell apart with a broken heart. I am absolutely certain "Team Celtics" are ready to be back home, but next up are the revamped Jazz on Sunday in which Jerry Sloan will make his return debut!!! .....wait for it........................kidding!!
I am assuming Big Baby Davis will start at the 5 spot and Kevin Garnett can hopefully get fired up to try and contain Blake "Superboy" Griffin. Of course Kristic Combover could start, however I am guessing he might be late coming out of the locker room as he still may be reading up on the meaning of Celtic defense.
Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs 
Rajon Rondo vs Eric Bledsoe
Shooting Guard 
vs 
Ray Allen vs Randy Foye
Small Forward 
vs 
Paul Pierce vs Ryan Gomes
Power Forward 
vs 
Kevin Garnett vs Blake Griffin
Center
vs 
Nenad Krstic vs DeAndre Jordan 
Reserves
Avery Bradley
Jeff Green
Chris Johnson
Nenad Krstic
Von Wafer
Delonte West
Injuries
Jermaine O'Neal (knee) out
Shaquille O'Neal (Achilles) out 
Reserves
Brian Cook
Al-Farouq Aminu
Rasual Butler
Craig Smith
Chris Kaman
Willie Warren
Ike Diogu
Jamario Moon
Mo Williams
Injuries
Eric Gordon (wrist) questionable
PO's Take:
Let me make some assumptions about this late night sleeper of a game:
- The Celtic Big 4 have probably "slow gathered" both themselves and their emotions, and are ready to play.
- Kristic and Green will play limited minutes trying to understand the basics of our offensive and defensive schemes, unless foul trouble erupts with the starters.
-Chris Kaman is back for the Clips after a long injury (thanks for wrecking my fantasy team Chris), and I am sure he will be banging the boards plus scoring in-the-paint buckets as he can be tough to handle underneath when healthy,
-We will not double team Griffin while KG is on the floor but otherwise we might.
-Delonte West will get more minutes tonight as he looked sharper against the Nuggets.
-Nate Robinson will not be shooting threes tonight for the C's, but instead will be in Thunder land working on spelling Oklahoma correctly and trying on extra small cowboy hats.
KEY MATCHUPS:
- Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic vs. keeping up with CDI (Celtic Defense Intensity) - These two may need oxygen nearby by the 4th quarter.
- Kevin Garnett vs. Blake Griffin - This is the most entertaining matchup of the night, for me anyway.
- Rookie PG Eric Bledsoe vs. All-Star PG Rajon Rondo - come on Rajon and be super aggressive tonight.
- Krisitc vs. Kaman - Slow and Ugly vs. Good and Ugly.....Ugly's gonna win somehow.