Big Al Returns to Boston

The Utah Jazz come to Boston tonight and will be looking to knock off the Eastern Conference leading Celtics. The two key matchups to keep an eye on are former Celtics' star Al Jefferson taking on Shaq in the paint, and point guard superstars Deron Williams and Rajon Rondo going at it. While I expect both of these matchups to lead to some great plays and quality basketball, neither Rondo nor Shaq need to dominate their man for the Celtics to win tonight, and since Williams and Big Al are both all star caliber players don't expect Rondo and Shaq to be able to take over this game they way they did in the fourth quarter against Detroit. While Rondo should be able to get his typical double digit assists and hopefully keep Williams to a reasonable number of points, it will be the original Big Three that make the difference in this one, so long as Rondo and Shaq reasonably contain Utah's two star players.

Before the season began, Utah was one of the five teams I mentioned as a team to watch out for, and they have played very well on their way to a 27-15 record. However, they have also proved to be inconsistent, and find ways to lose games they have no business losing such as when they lost to the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night. They are capable of playing good defense, but also collapse at times the way Charlotte's defense does and did against the C's, and Boston's Big Three should be able to take advantage, as well as Glen Davis and Boston's second unit who will be running all over Utah's bench. Starting wingmen Andrei Kirilenko, who was once considered a very good defender many seasons ago, and Raja Bell will not be able to respectively contain Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, and look for Ray to rebound from his poor shooting night against the Pistons while Bell continuously gets picked and loses his man. I would not be surprised to see Utah do a ton of switching on defense that results in Williams sticking with Ray since Bell will not be able to. KG will have his hands full with the energetic and hard-nosed Frenchman Paul Millsap, but should be able to expose Millsap's weaknesses and put up some points or get him into early foul trouble. It will be interesting watching Garnett and Jefferson battling in the paint, the two guys who were traded for each other a few seasons ago just before the Celtics went from worst to first. Jefferson will be looking to prove to Ainge and the Celtics that he can play big and still control the paint against the best of them, even guys like Shaq and KG. Though Big Al does have games where he almost disappears and lets Deron Williams do all the work for Utah, tonight will not be one of them.

Out For Revenge

When the Celtics and Pistons faced off in Detroit three weeks ago, Kevin Garnett left the game with a calf injury and the Pistons went on to win against a deflated Celtics' team. The Pistons tend to play some of their best basketball against the Celtics, as last time around former NBA star Tracy McGrady was making clutch jumpers like the Tracy McGrady of old, and point guard Rodney Stuckey was running the offense for them very effectively. Also, big man Charlie Villanueva, who had that "cancer patient" dispute with KG earlier this season, loves to knock down long jumpers, so the Celtics need to make sure they get off to a fast start and put the Pistons down big early on in the game. This Detroit team is struggling right now, despite coming off a win against the slumping Dallas Mavericks on Monday, and has a miserable 4-17 record on the road while the Celtics have a 19-3 record at home and are looking for their fourth consecutive win. Garnett will be out to seek revenge for the injury that the Pistons gave him which caused him to miss nine games, and look for him to energize the Celtics, help Boston put up a lot of points in the first half, and lead a defense that needs to clamp down early on the inconsistent Detroit offense. They are capable of playing the playoff worthy basketball that Detroit used to always play, but lack consistency and leadership, and will implode if Boston can put them down big early on.

Boston should have no major issues in running their offense effectively tonight, as Rondo, Shaq, and the Big Three should all have ample opportunity to score against a Detroit defense that can be easily be penetrated and broken down to the point where they essentially stop contesting shots. Part of the reason for this is that longtime Detroit scorer Rip Hamilton has been getting benched every game recently while the Pistons prepare to trade him as part of the three team deal that would supposedly send Carmelo Anthony to the Nets. Hamilton and his teammates have expressed great frustration with their coach over this matter. Also, Detroit is not as athletic as they used to be, and typically don't get the huge blocks and clutch steals that were associated with Pistons' defense during their reign as the beasts of the Eastern Conference. Boston should be able to penetrate them with relative ease on offense, while clamping down and sucking the life out of them on defense. If you can get a lead on the Pistons early, then McGrady, Stuckey, and Villanueva won't make the big shots that keep Detroit in the game like they did three weeks ago when the Celtics lost Garnett, and then played sloppy basketball for the rest of the game. Boston should have a very well rounded attack on offense, and expect a ton of open threes from Ray Allen and a bunch of strong drives to the hoop from Paul Pierce. Also, the Celtics need to limit the impact that rookie center Greg Monroe makes on the game for the Pistons.

The Pistons only recently moved Monroe into their starting lineup, and the athletic rookie big man has proved he can be a huge difference maker with his size, athleticism, defense, and rebounding. Having KG back will be huge for the Celtics on the boards, but Monroe is great at hunting down offensive rebounds and finishing the play with an easy bucket. The Pistons are still relatively easy to stop, especially when they're on the road, and clamping down on them early should get Boston the win tonight. Also, no matter how effective Monroe proves to be on offense, Shaq and Garnett should have no problem getting underneath him for easy buckets and trips to the foul line when he's on defense, as this athletic rookie will not be able to stop the very big and very strong all star pair of big men in Boston's starting lineup.

Defense Wins Championships

A big game for the Celtics tonight, but an even bigger one for the Knicks when they face off at Madison Square Garden at 7 pm. The two hottest teams in not just the Atlantic division, but in the Eastern Conference are a combined 19-1 in their last twenty games and the Celtics will be looking to push their win streak to 11 games. Amare Stoudemire has scored 30+ points in eight consecutive games, however the key to this game will be Stoudemire's defense, as well as the pace of the game.

The Knicks and Celtics have opposite mindsets on the court, and sport opposite strategies as the Knicks love to points up as many points as fast as possible in an attempt to outrun and outscore their opponent, while the Celtics are mainly dedicated to defense and a smooth, organized, steady paced offense. The Knicks are young, extremely athletic, and stacked with offensively talented players who can all take on the scoring load when given the opportunity. The Celtics are stacked with all-star veterans who are all playing great right now due to their tough consistent defense, and explosive playmaking ability of Rajon Rondo. All eyes will be on the surging Knicks to see if they can keep their winning streak alive against Boston's Eastern Conference Champs, and prove that they could still be near the top of the conference come playoff time. Carmelo's eyes certainly will be.

The Celtics need to set the pace for this game, and make sure that their focus is to score more points than the Knicks rather than scoring as many points as possible. The Knicks outran and outplayed many mediocre teams with their ability to put up points in bunches, with huge performances from players like Stoudemire, Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, and rookie Landry Fields. Their most recent victory against Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets proved that they can even beat playoff teams when they get into big scoring battles, and made Carmelo express interest in joining the Knicks after the high scoring game, which featured 254 points. However, unlike the Nuggets, Boston's veterans as well as Rajon Rondo will slow down the pace of this game in order to run their offense effectively, as well as to prevent New York from scoring over 100 points.

The Knicks will be gunning to score, and Amare will be looking to put up 30 for the ninth consecutive game. However, even if he does, the Celtics should come out on top for this one because they will be able attack the dismal defense that is the New York Knicks' from so many different angles. This game is largely a display of great offense vs. great defense, and anyone playing for Doc Rivers will be the first to tell you that defense wins championships. The Celtics really just need to go out and execute the way they do every night, slow down New York's offense, and attack the paint on offense. The Knicks often let their opponents score practically at will in the hopes that they can make it up on the offensive end, and Boston should be able to take advantage behind the playmaking of Rondo, and scoring ability of the Big Three. The Garnett-Stoudemire matchup should be interesting, and I expect both to put up a lot of points as Stoudemire is too explosive for Garnett to single-handedly contain, and Stoudemire does not play enough defense for Garnett to not take advantage of. Keep an eye on Semih Erden in the middle, who will probably be helping out a lot on Stoudemire. Erden plays extremely tough, contests every shot, and is great at making his presence known in the paint. With Erden starting at center last game, the Bobcats only put up 62 points against the Celtics, and Erden played 40 solid minutes with 4 blocks and a game-high plus/minus of +34. If Amare's point streak ends tonight, it will be largely because of Erden's tough play and ability to contest nearly every shot in the paint. In this battle of offense and defense, the Celtics' tough veteran defense should prevail, while their offense will have no problem putting up points against the Knicks.