Celtics look to end home losing streak as they take on the Cavs

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Cleveland Cavaliers (4-11) at Boston Celtics (6-11)
Friday, November 19, 2013
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #18, Home Game #8
TV: CSN-NE, FSOhio, NBA-LP 758(DTV)/754(xfinity)
Radio: WZLX, WTAM
TD Garden
Referees: Bill Kennedy, Mark Lindsay, James Williams

Game Thread l Chat

CLNS Post Game Show
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The Celtics finish a brutal November with yet another back to back set beginning with the Cleveland Cavaliers at home and finishing on the road in Milwaukee . This is the first of 3 meetings between these two teams this season. They split the 4 game series last season.

The Celtics have lost their last 4 games at home and are looking to get back in the win column. The last time the Boston Celtics dropped five in a row at home was the season before Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined the team when they lost 13 straight at home.

Both the Celtics and Cavs have struggled on the offensive end. The Celtics offense ranks 24th, posting just 92.9 points per game. The Cavs rank just behind the Celtics at 25, averaging just 92.6 points per game.

The Cavs have had very good luck in the lottery in recent years. Perhaps they have their eyes on another top pick in this year's draft. With a 4 and 11 record, they have a good head start.

The Celtics are 2-5 at home while the Cavs are 1-8 on the road. The Celtics head back out on the road after this game to face the Bucks in Milwaukee. I'm sure that one of the things the Celtics were thankful for this Thanksgiving was that their month of November is finally coming to an end.

Be sure to check out the chat room during the game and after the game, don't miss the CLNS Post Game Show. Your broadcast crew is Daniel Baker and, newest addition to the CLNS crew, Oliver Connolly. Both hosts will also be stationed in the chatroom at CelticsBlog and manning the CLNS Radio social media outlets. As always, they will be taking your calls throughout the entire broadcast.

Jordan Crawford...Avery Bradley...Jeff Green...Brandon Bass...Jared Sullinger

Celtics Reserves

MarShon Brooks

Kris Humphries

Vitor Faverani

Courtney Lee

Phil Pressey

Gerald Wallace

Injuries

Rajon Rondo (ACL)out

Kelly Olynyk (ankle) day to day

Courtney Lee (knee) game time decision

Kyrie Irving...Matthew Dellavedova...Alonzo Gee...Tristan Thompson... Andrew Bynum

Cavaliers Reserves

Jarrett Jack

Anderson Varejao

Dion Waiters

Earl Clark

Sergey Karasev

Anthony Bennett

Carrick Felix

Tyler Zeller

Henry Sims

Injuries

CJ Miles (calf) day to day

Key Matchups

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Jordan Crawford vs Kyrie Irving

Irving has been a thorn in the Celtics side since he came into the league. He is averaging 21.0 points, 6.1 assists and 3.5 rebounds. Expect to see Avery guarding Irving while Crawford picks up Dellavedova.

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Jared Sullinger vs Andrew Bynum

Bynum missed all of last year with various and sundry injuries, including one that he suffered while bowling. He is averaging 6.6 points and 3.9 rebounds this season and isn't the dominant player that he was before the injuries. He does have a height advantage on Sully that may give him an advantage.

Honorable Mention

Celtics Bench vs Cavaliers Bench

The Cavs bench is averaging 53.5 points in their last 4 games. For the season, they are averaging 36.9 points per game, which ranks 6th in the league. They have outscored their opponents in 12 of their last 15 games. The Celtics will need a strong game from their reserves if they want to get a win in this game.

Keys to the game

Take Care of the Ball - So far this season, the Celtics have lost when they turn the ball over a lot and they have won when they were able to keep their turnovers to a minimum. They need to take care of the ball and try to limit those turnovers if they want to get a win.

Move the Ball and Run - The Celtics play best when they play uptempo and move the ball. They need to beat the defense down the court before it gets set up. When they slow the ball down and when they over dribble, they struggle to score.

Start Strong and Finish Stronger - The Celtics need to come out strong and establish the tempo and get off to a good start. Against the Grizzlies, they came out sluggish and never could overcome that. They also need to play hard until the final buzzer.

X-Factors

Focus and Home Court

The Celtics need to come out focused and they need to keep their focus until the end. Brad Stevens mentioned that the atmosphere at the Garden has been great and hopefully it will give the Celtics a boost.

Official Report

Bill Kennedy

Bill Kennedy’s 15 seasons of NBA officiating experience include 924 regular season, 54 playoff and five NBA Final games. In addition to his NBA experience, Kennedy has five years of officiating experience in the CBA, including working the 1996 and 1997 CBA Finals. He also officiated two games in the WNBA Finals in 1998, and has 15 years of high school officiating experience in Arizona. The Arizona native attended Arizona State University after graduating from St. Mary’s High School in Phoenix. While a student at St. Mary’s he was named Knight of the Year in 1984 for his athletic achievements. Kennedy’s charitable efforts include working with former NBA official Tommy Nuñez’s tournament, "The National Hispanic Basketball Classic," to help raise money for inner-city kids. He also works with the Boys & Girls Club of Phoenix. He was named "Youth of the Year" twice by of the Boys & Girls Club of Phoenix and is now a lifetime member.

Celtics fans will remember Kennedy's run in with Doc Rivers that resulted in both of them being fined. Yes, David Stern fined one of his precious refs and certainly, Kennedy hasn't forgotten. Here is how Doc described the incident:

"[Kennedy] stood there and goaded me and goaded me and goaded me and stared at me," Rivers said. "Look at the film. I actually walked away. He asked me, 'Where do you want the ball?' And I said, 'Ask them,' talking about our players. That's my right to say that, and I walked away. He stood there and stared me down and stared me down and goaded me until I turned around and said, 'What?' That's when I got thrown out of the game."

Doc was fined for criticizing a referee, but since the league fined Kennedy, they as much as admitted that Doc's criticism was deserved. Go figure. According to Tim Donaghy, Bill Kennedy is gay and his beef with Doc stems from Doc questioning his sexual orientation.

The Celtics are 8-2 with Kennedy in their last 10 games and 4-0 last season. In all 4 games last season, the officiating wasn't bad. In a win over the Pacers two seasons ago, Indiana shot 31 free throws to 14 for the Celtics. When the Pacers were down 7, Kennedy called a bogus flagrant foul on Pietrus that gave the Pacers 2 shots and the ball. And if that wasn't enough he called another technical on Pietrus for protesting the bad call. In a 7 point game with 34 seconds to go, they handed the Pacers 5 points. The flagrant was later downgraded, which shows it was a bad call after all. The Cavs are 3-7 in their last 10 games with Kennedy. His home W/L record this season is 8-5.

Mark Lindsay

Mark Lindsay has officiated 347 games in his six NBA seasons. Prior to working in the NBA, he worked for five seasons in the NBA Development League, officiating 116 games, including playoff games in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Lindsay received a Bachelors degree in Elementary Education and graduated with honors from West Chester University where he was a three year letterman on the Men's Varsity Basketball team. He later worked as a teacher and a real estate sales agent before joining the NBA. He also officiated in several college conferences, including the ACC, Colonial Athletic Association, Atlantic Sun, Big South and Ohio Valley Conferences. Away from basketball he does motivational speaking engagements for professional groups and youth basketball clinics. He volunteers every summer at referee training camps to help younger officials learn the craft and has consistently been a proud contributor to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

The Celtics are 6-4 in their last 10 games with Lindsay making the calls. One win last season was a 101-95 win over Chicago where the Bulls shot 31 free throws to 16 for the Celtics and there were more than a few questionable calls. The Second win was in OT over the Mavs where the Celtics shot 30 free throws to 17 for the Mavs and the Celtics got the benefit of a lot of calls. The third win was in OT over Miami where the Celtics shot 27 free throws to 20 for the Heat and the officiating was pretty good. One loss was a 112-100 loss to the Spurs and the officiating was fairly even. Another win last season was over the Pacers where they pretty much let them play but the questionable calls all went against the Celtics. In a loss last season to the Cavs the officiating was terrible, with bad calls going both ways. Tommy had this to say, "I don't remember when there was such a plethora of terrible calls throughout." The Cavs are 4-6 in in their last 10 with Lindsay. His home W/L record this season is 7-5.

James Williams

James Williams enters his fourth NBA season having officiated 161 regular season games. Williams owns 10 years of experience in the collegiate ranks, having officiated for the NCAA from 2001- 2010. He also officiated two seasons in the WNBA, and has worked two NBA D-League Finals as well as the 2009-10 NBA D-League All-Star Game. He was called up from the D-League in the 2011-12 season. He has officiated 10 total games for the Celtics in his career, in which the Celtics are 5-5. He called 2 games last season for the Celtics, both of which were officiated fairly evenly. The Cavs are 3-7 in their last 10 games with Williams. His home W/L record is 7-3.