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Celtics take on Magic looking for second straight win

After being at home for a home win, the Celtics head back out on the road to face the surprising Orlando Magic.

USA TODAY Sports

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Boston Celtics (1-4) at Orlando Magic (3-2)
Friday, November 8, 2013
7:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #6, Road Game #4
TV: CSNNE, FS Florida, NBA LP 752(DTV), 511, 751(xfinity)
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, WBZ, WDBO
Amway Center
Referees: Tony Brothers, Steve Anderson, Tre Maddox

Game Thread l Chat

CLNS Post Game Show

Call into the Studio: 347-215-7771 | Listen Live After being at home for one game, the Celtics head back out on the road for a back to back set in Florida. First up are the surprising Magic. The Celtics would do well not to take this team lightly. The Magic are coming off a big win over the Clippers

The Celtics finally got their first win of the season after shuffling the starting lineup and rotation. I would expect Jordan Crawford will once again start at the point with Gerald Wallace coming off the bench.

The Celtics have won 8 in a row against the Magic. But these teams have gone in opposite directions since they last played. The Celtics are without 4 of their top 5 scorers including the heart and soul of that team.

The Magic, on the other hand, have returned five of their top six scorers from last season and that continuity has appeared to pay off. Orlando (3-2) is averaging 103.4 points this season - 9.3 more than in 2012-13 - and has produced 107.5 per game over its last four contests.

The Magic are a balanced team and have good depth. Six Magic players are averaging at least 10.4 points per game. Orlando also has seven players who are averaging at least 4.0 rebounds per game. And they have three players who are averaging at least 3.6 assists per game. They have balance across the roster and even when they go to their bench, there is not a big drop off.

The Celtics are one of the least offensive teams in the league, averaging just 89.4 points per game. However, the Celtics have made up for their low output by playing some tough defense, allowing only 93.4 per game. The Magic, however are a tough defensive team this season. They have held three straight opponents under 40 percent shooting and rank third in the league with an opponents' shooting percentage of 39.8.

The Celtics lead the NBA in 3-point defense, holding opponents to 27.1 percent from behind the arc. The Magic like to shoot the 3 and hit at a 41.6 percent clip from long range. But the Magic have a good 3 point defense themselves, leading the NBA in 3-point defense and holding opponents to 27.1 percent from behind the arc. The Magic like to shoot the 3 and hit at a 41.6 percent clip from long range.


Be sure to catch the CLNS Post Game Show after the game. Your broadcast crew is Ty Ray and Brian Langford. Calvin Chamberlain will be stationed in the chatroom at CelticsBlog and manning the CLNS Radio social media outlets. As always, we will be taking your calls throughout the entire broadcast.


Probable Starting Matchups

Point Guard

vs

Jordan Crawford 9.2 PPG, 2 RPG, 3 APG

Jameer Nelson 12.4 PPG, 4 RPG, 6.6 APG

Shooting Guard

vs

Avery Bradley 10.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 2.6 APG

Arron Afflalo 18.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 4.6 APG

Small Forward

vs

Jeff Green 17.0 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 2.0 APG

Maurice Harkless 10.4 PPG, 3 RPG, 0.4 APG

Power Forward

vs

Brandon Bass 13.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.0 APG

Jason Maxiell 3.6 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 0.0 APG

Center

vs

Vitor Faverani 7.6 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 0.8 APG

Nikola Vucevic 17.8 PPG, 13.2 RPG, 2.6 APG

Celtics Reserves

Celtics Reserves

MarShon Brooks

Jordan Crawford

Kris Humphries

Kelly Olynyk

Phil Pressey

Jared Sullinger

Courtney Lee

Phil Pressey

Keith Bogans

Gerald Wallace

Injuries

Rajon Rondo (ACL)out

Magic Reserves

Victor Oladipo

E'Twaun Moore

Andrew Nicholson

Kyle O'Quinn

Doron Lamb

Ronnie Price

Hedo Turkoglu

Injuries

Glen Davis (foot) out

Tobias Harris (ankle) out

Solomon Jones (meniscus) out

Key Matchups

vs

Avery Bradley vs Arron Afflalo

Afflalo is the Magic's leading scorer averaging 18.8 points per game. Avery's defense will be needed to slow Afflalo down.

vs

Vucevic is one of the up and coming young centers in the league. He is averaging 17.8 points and 13.2 rebounds per game. It will fall on Vitor and Kelly Olynyk to keep him out of the paint and off the boards.

Keys to the Game

Rebound - The Magic are #1 in the league in rebounding, pulling down 48.4 per game. The Celtics are going to have to work hard to get rebounds to give themselves a chance at winning this game.


Limit Turnovers
- The Celtics are 3rd in the league in turnovers with 19.8 per game. They cut their turnovers to 14 in their win over the Jazz and need to keep them down again in this game.


Run, Run, Run
- The Celtics have shown that when they run, they are capable of playing very well, and they need to run the ball up the court before the Magic's defenses can get set up.


Play 48 Minutes
- The Celtics have yet to put together a complete game. In all 5 of their games, they have had a spurt where they slowed the game down and stopped playing their game. They need to play for 48 minutes and not let up.

X-Factors
On the Road and Rotations

Young teams often have problems keeping their focus on the road. The Magic are undefeated so far at home. The Celtics will have to work to keep their focus and play their game in a hostile atmosphere.

Brad Stevens seemed to hit on a rotation that worked for the most part in the last game. Will he keep the same rotation or change it up again?

Official Report

Tony Brothers
Tony Brothers is entering his 21st season as an NBA official and has officiated 1,144 regular season games, 61 Playoff games and three NBA Finals 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.

The Celtics are 0-1 this season, and 6-4 in their last 10 games with Brothers while the Magic are 4-6 in their last 10. Last season in a game vs the Knicks, twice Brothers made the correct call from across the court after Dick Bavetta missed the call, standing right on top of it. This is the Celtics second game already with Brothers as a ref. He called the opening night loss to the Raptors in which the Celtics took 29 rebounds to 23 for the Raptors, and the officiating wasn't bad. All in all, Brothers is a decent ref. His home win/loss record this season is 3-1.

Steve Anderson

Steve Anderson is one of two new officials for the 2013-14 season. Anderson joins the full-time staff after six seasons as a referee in the NBA D-League already having officiated 18 regular season NBA games as a non-staff official.

This past summer, Anderson officiated the FIBA U19 World Championships in the Czech Republic. Anderson received his BA degree in 2005 and Masters degree in 2007 from the University of Central Florida. While at UCF, he worked in the Intramural Sports program where he was selected to officiate at regional and national tournaments.

When not officiating he enjoys traveling to different Major League Baseball Stadiums throughout the USA, recently picking up Oakland as his 25th ballpark.

This is already Anderson's second Celtics game as a referee this season. He also called the season opener with Tony Brothers. He officiated 1 game last season for the Magic, a loss. A new referee sometimes is intimidated by the home crowd and sometimes they are quick with the whistle to show that they are on top of things. He did ok in the Raptors game and didn't make any calls that stood out either way. His home win loss record this season is 1-0.

Tre Maddox

Tre Maddox enters his third NBA season having officiated 100
regular season games. Maddox’s experience includes four seasons
and 158 games officiated in the D-League. He also has five seasons of NBA preseason game
experienece and worked in NBA summer camps for five years.
In addition to his professional experience, Maddox officiated collegiate games for six years in
the PAC 10, West Coast and Pac West Conferences and has eight years of high school officiating
experience.

The Celtics are 3-2 over his career as a referee. The wins last season were over the Timberwolves, the Warriors, and the Magic and the officiating was good in all 3 games. The losses last season were to the Clippers where the Celtics shot 15 free throws to 24 for the Clippers but the officiating wasn't bad and to the Pacers where the officiating was fairly even. The Magic are 4-5 over Maddox career. His home W/L record this season is 2-1.

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