<div align="center"> <span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">31-43</span> <span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%">@</span> <span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">59-15</span> Wednesday, April 2, 2008 - 7:00 pm ET TD BankNorth Garden (Boston, MA) Game aired on ESPN & CSN</div> With a win tonight, the Celtics can reach the 60-win plateau for the first time since the 1985-1986 season, in which they won the championship. Fittingly, the opponent for tonight’s potential milestone-reaching outing is Larry Bird’s Indiana Pacers. Talk about irony. The Pacers, however, need to make sure they do everything in their power to come away with an upset victory at the TD BankNorth Garden. Indiana currently stands at ninth place in the Eastern Conference with a 31-43 record, and is three games behind the eighth-seeded Atlanta Hawks for the final playoff spot. With just eight games remaining on their schedule, Pacers star Jermaine O’Neal insists that the Pacers need to virtually “win out” to make the playoffs. That may be true, as Atlanta is currently one of the hottest teams in the NBA and has come out victorious in eight of their last 10 outings. Tonight’s game will be played on the national stage on ESPN (as well as our long-time friends at CSN), and also don’t forget that the game time has been changed from 7:30 to 7:00 pm ET. Projected Starters C Jeff Foster / Kendrick Perkins PF Troy Murphy / Kevin Garnett SF Mike Dunleavy Jr. / Paul Pierce SG Danny Granger / Ray Allen PG Flip Murray / Rajon Rondo Key Matchup: Danny Granger vs. Paul Pierce Granger is one of those long, athletic swingmen that can bother Paul Pierce. Granger is also no cake-walk to defend himself, as he has greatly extended his shooting range this season and is a terrific slasher. The captain will have his work cut out for him tonight. Celtics X-Factor: Rajon Rondo There is absolutely nobody on Indiana’s roster that is going to be able to stop Rondo’s penetration, especially Flip Murray. As long as Rajon comes into tonight’s game with a mindset to attack, he should be able to break down Indiana’s perimeter defense like there’s no tomorrow. Injury Report IND – Jamaal Tinsley (sore left knee – out) BOS – Scot Pollard (torn tendon in left ankle – out for season) Celtics Keys to the Game • Ball Control • Close Out On Shooters • Rebounding • Attack, Don’t Settle
I was at the game, besides the lady in front of us (and wasting 100 bucks on two 30 dollar tickets), the game wasn't that exciting...except for the 6 beers, the pizza, nachos and peanuts... Then again, you can't say "waste 100 dollars" when you get win number 60 for the first time since '86.
