<div align="center"> <span style="font-size:24pt;line-height:100%">@</span> January 24, 2007 - 7:30 pm ET</div> <span style="color:#FF0000">Atlanta Hawks</span> <span style="color:#FFCC00">(13-26)</span> <span style="color:#FFCC00">PG</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Royal Ivey</span> <span style="color:#FFCC00">SG</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Joe Johnson</span> <span style="color:#FFCC00">SF</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Marvin Williams</span> <span style="color:#FFCC00">PF</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Josh Smith</span> <span style="color:#FFCC00">C</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Lorenzen Wright</span> <span style="color:#FFCC00">Key Bench Players:</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Josh Childress, Zaza Pachulia, Shelden Williams, Salim Stoudamire, Slava Medvedenko</span> <span style="color:#009900">Boston Celtics</span> <span style="color:#000000">(12-28)</span> <span style="color:#000000">PG</span> <span style="color:#009900">Delonte West</span> <span style="color:#000000">SG</span> <span style="color:#009900">Gerald Green</span> <span style="color:#000000">SF</span> <span style="color:#009900">Ryan Gomes</span> <span style="color:#000000">PF</span> <span style="color:#009900">Al Jefferson</span> <span style="color:#000000">C</span> <span style="color:#009900">Kendrick Perkins</span> <span style="color:#000000">Key Bench Players:</span> <span style="color:#009900">Rajon Rondo, Sebastian Telfair, Brian Scalabrine, Allan Ray, Leon Powe</span> Injury Report <span style="color:#FFCC00">ATL:</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Speedy Claxton will not play (left knee)</span> <span style="color:#FFCC00">ATL:</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Tyronn Lue will not play (groin soreness)</span> <span style="color:#000000">BOS:</span> <span style="color:#009900">Paul Pierce will not play (stress reaction in left foot)</span> <span style="color:#000000">BOS:</span> <span style="color:#009900">Wally Szczerbiak will not play (knees and ankles)</span> <span style="color:#000000">BOS:</span> <span style="color:#009900">Brian Scalabrine is probable (sprained MCL)</span> <span style="color:#000000">BOS:</span> <span style="color:#009900">Tony Allen is out for season (torn ACL/MCL)</span> <span style="color:#000000">BOS:</span> <span style="color:#009900">Theo Ratliff is out for season (back surgery).</span> Who To Watch Out For <span style="color:#FF0000">Joe Johnson</span> <span style="color:#FFCC00">Season Stats: 24.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.9 apg</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Josh Smith</span> <span style="color:#FFCC00">Season Stats: 12.8 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.6 spg, 2.7 bpg</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Josh Childress</span> <span style="color:#FFCC00">Season Stats: 13.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.6 apg</span> <span style="color:#009900">Al Jefferson</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 14.2 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 1.5 bpg</span> <span style="color:#000000">As A Starter: 16.0 ppg, 11.7 rpg, 1.6 bpg</span> <span style="color:#000000">Last 5 Games: 20.4 ppg, 14.8 rpg, 2.2 bpg</span> <span style="color:#009900">Gerald Green</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 8.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 0.8 apg</span> <span style="color:#000000">As A Starter: 13.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.3 apg</span> Rookie Watch <span style="color:#FFCC00">ATL:</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Shelden Williams</span> <span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: 5</span> <span style="color:#FFCC00">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">6.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg</span> <span style="color:#FFCC00">ATL:</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Solomon Jones</span> <span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: 33</span> <span style="color:#FFCC00">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">2.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg</span> <span style="color:#000000">BOS:</span> <span style="color:#009900">Rajon Rondo</span> <span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: 21</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#009900">4.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.1 spg</span> <span style="color:#000000">Last 5 Games:</span> <span style="color:#009900">6.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 5.6 apg, 1.6 spg</span> <span style="color:#000000">BOS:</span> <span style="color:#009900">Leon Powe</span> <span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: 49</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#009900">3.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 0.5 bpg</span> <span style="color:#000000">BOS:</span> <span style="color:#009900">Allan Ray</span> <span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: Undrafted</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#009900">5.5 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 0.5 apg</span> <span style="color:#000000">Last 5 Games:</span> <span style="color:#009900">11.4 ppg, 1.4 rpg</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Atlanta's X-Factor</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">Josh Smith</span> <span style="color:#FFCC00">Season Stats: 12.8 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.6 spg, 2.7 bpg</span> <span style="color:#FF0000">J-Smoov needs to really do his best with trying to defend Al Jefferson. Al's post moves may be a little too much for Smith, and I don't think he can hang with Al on the boards. But he needs to try and frustrate Al and disrupt him in the post. He has a really tough assignment, considering he's a combo forward while Al is a true big man.</span> <span style="color:#009900">Boston's X-Factor</span> <span style="color:#009900">Gerald Green</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 8.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 0.8 apg</span> <span style="color:#000000">As A Starter: 13.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.3 apg</span> <span style="color:#009900">In the past 3 games, Gerald really hasn't played well at all. He needs to have a good game to get not only Doc's confidence in him up, but his own confidence. LET'S GO, GERALD!</span> <div align="center">Key Matchup vs. <span style="color:#FF0000">Josh Smith</span> <span style="color:#000000">vs.</span> <span style="color:#009900">Al Jefferson</span></div> <span style="color:#000000">Al has been playing like a flat out star lately. Let's see if he can do it again, against a much more athletic defender in Josh Smith.</span> CelticBalla's Extra Thoughts/Notes I really want to see something from Gerald tonight, he NEEDS to play well tonight. I don't care if he doesn't score 20, I just want him to limit his sloppiness and play decent defense on Johnson (again, like he did last week). CelticBalla's Prediction We are going to win this one, I can feel it. To come out and play the Spurs the way we just did, without Paul and Wally, that has to give the players a huge boost of confidence. I'm predicting a win tonight, because Scal will play haha. Scal = showtime.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Madness @ Jan 24 2007, 04:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Whoever plays more minutes at PG is going to score 30+. Just watch.</div> First of all, I couldn't imagine Rondo scoring 30. Delonte can when he's hot, Bassy will barely play. But, you are definitely underestimating Royal Ivey. He is nothing on the stat sheet, and the average basketball fan probably wouldn't even know who he is, but he's not a bad player. He's tough, big PG, decent defender, and he rarely commits a turnover. He's just solid. But you are making him out to be a terrible defender like... um... Bassy.
Yeah, I could see West most likely scoring the most points tonight. Every other player has a tough matchup tonight. If we don't come out with a win, I don't know what up. We lost to the Spurs by 3 points, we should ATLEAST beat the Hawks by 5. Also, I just realized that Josh Smith is playing PF. Isn't he a little undersized to be playing PF. Wasn't he playing SF last time when they played? I know he did a good job containing Green close to the end of the game.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Madness @ Jan 24 2007, 05:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Yeah, I could see West most likely scoring the most points tonight. Every other player has a tough matchup tonight. If we don't come out with a win, I don't know what up. We lost to the Spurs by 3 points, we should ATLEAST beat the Hawks by 5. Also, I just realized that Josh Smith is playing PF. Isn't he a little undersized to be playing PF. Wasn't he playing SF last time when they played? I know he did a good job containing Green close to the end of the game.</div> - We lost to San Antonio by 4, not 3. No biggie, just correcting. - Just because we had a close game with the Spurs doesn't mean we should beat any other team. A new day is a new day, and you never know what you're going to get from a young team like this. I guarantee next time we play the Spurs, we don't have such a close game. Also note that Atlanta beat us last time we played. - Smith has been playing the 4, and Atlanta used the same starting lineup last week when we played them. - Gerald actually played well in the end of the game last week, and Josh Childress is the one who contested two of his shots (and blocked the big one). Also guys, Wally and Scal are expected to be back tonight.
LOL, damn I feel pretty stupid right now. You just corrected everything I said. Think about it though, It's the SPURS. Look at there three big men. Parker, Manu and Duncan. We did pretty good containing them not going off on us like crazy. I consider crazy like 35+ points. Hawks pretty much won on the last minute block. Rondo should of passed the ball inbounce but just fell with it. Good news to hear that Scal and Wally are coming. Hopefully Wallys knees come through tonight and help get us a win.
Gosh, looking at the starting lineups of these two teams is kinda funny IMO. Just look how young all of the players are besides Lorenzon Wright. Its crazy....But, I am HOPING that the Celtics win this one. They definitely have a chance. Big Al is going to have to have another big game, and I think that he is going to. Although Josh Smith might cause him problems with his athletic ability and shot blocking, I think Al is too strong for him. I couldnt agree with you more on the X-Factor. Gerald will be guarding Joe Johnson, and he is really going to have to do a good job. Also, he needs to get back in to his scoring groove tonight. Since Rondo has been playing so good as of late, Delonte is playing alot of time at the two which is leaving Gerald for less minutes. He needs to start out hot early and not look back from there...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (nba dogmatist @ Jan 24 2007, 06:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>if I remember right, gerald went off last game against atlanta. let's see if he can do it again.</div> He didn't necessarily "go off." He did have a great first half, but he was pretty much ice cold in the second half except the two big three's he hit in the 4th. He did end up with 20 or 22 points though. Allan Ray is the guy who went off that day. EDIT: Injury update from FSN. Wally will not play today. He had a pretty good practice yesterday, but he'll miss his 8th straight game tonight. Scal will suit up, but Doc says he'll only use him if they need to.
Best game of the year so far from Perk. His hook is falling, hes pulling some good post moves and playing good defense, 11/10 int he first half. But the Celtics played great team defense in the first half too. If it wasnt for the buzzer beater that would have been a franchise low for points in a half. Still holding them to 29 is pretty damn impressive. And Al hit the floor pretty damn hard and he limped it up and down the floor the last 40 seconds. Hopefully its just a stinger, but knowing Al, and the Celtics luck this season he's going to be out for a month.
We are doing good so far. Have a 15 point lead into halftime. Jefferson got banged up a little. Why are we getting blocked so many times though
Because they have a very very athletic front line, with Smith and Wright. Smith has impressed me with his defense so far, but nothing is falling for anyone on the offensive end for them.
:cry2:what's wrong with this team? gosh.gerald was horrible. kept settling for jumpers. it's like he thinks everything is just going to be handed to him. You have tou earn your points, buddy. I don't know if this has been his problem recently, but it's definitely what I saw tonight.big al played well, but god damn it, why the sh*t did he not tape his god damn mother f*cking ankles?!?! have we not learned our lesson before? holy sh*t this team has a few incompotent trainers.Delonte is a heck of a playmaker. a lot better than he used to be. I noticed that tonight. he's improved his ballhandling a lot, even tho he needs to go right more often. I liked his play on both ends, full of energy, good job delonte.Great game by Perk. Double-double in the first half is very impressive by his standards. he had a few very nice blocks too.
Jesus Motherf*cking christ. Al rolled his Motherf*cking ankle again. What the F*ck? F*ck ME!!! All we need is another Motherf*cking key f*cking injury, to our most f*cking promising young Motherf*cking player. Jesus f*cking chirst. This is complete bullsh**. And to top it off, we had a f*cking huge lead and we blew it completely. F*ck this f*cking bullsh**. We shot the f*cking ball 32% tonight. Now that I got that off my chest: Kendrick Perkins <u>15 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks on 6-9 shooting</u> Perk played awesome tonight. He had an outstanding first half, and had a double-double at the half. But he kept playing hard in the second half as well. Some of the passes he made out of the high post were tremendous. This was by far Perk's best game of the year. Hopefully this will continue. Delonte West <u>18 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal on 5-14 shooting, 0-2 3FG, 8-9 FT</u> Delonte had 5 assists in the first quarter, it was unbelievable. They weren't regular passes to an open shooter either, they were beautiful plays. He brought the hustle all night long. He didn't shoot well, but hey.. who the hell did shoot well? Al Jefferson <u>11 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks on 4-9 shooting</u> Al was playing great, as usual... until the friggen injury. First of all, he fell HARD before the ankle roll, but ended up being ok. Then, he ends up rolling his ankle on Marvin Williams' foot, and they are calling it a "mild ankle sprain." Whoopdie motherfuckin doo. Gerald Green <u>13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal on 4-16 shooting, 3-9 3FG</u> Gerald started off great. He knocked down shots, he hustled a ton, and he was extremely active. Then, he missed a couple shots and fouled a little bit. After that, it all went down hill completely. He settled for outside shots every single shot he took. Take it to the basket, Gerald, and don't take so many 3's! Ryan Gomes <u>4 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block on 1-11 shooting, 2-2 FT</u> 1-11 shooting says it all, he was terrible offensively tonight. Everything was short and off the front rim. Ryan's worst offensive game of the year. Rajon Rondo <u>5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks on 1-4 shooting, 3-4 FT</u> Excellent defense in the first half from Rajon. In the second half, there wasn't much he could do because Delonte played most of the 3rd quarter, and once he got in there, the entire team was playing terribly on both ends. He had nothing to work with, then he had to match up with Joe Johnson some tonight. That size mismatch is obviously tough for Rajon. Sebastian Telfair <u>5 points on 2-4 shooting in 12 mins</u> He only played 12 minutes, but when he was in there, he was very aggressive and he was slashing to the basket nicely. Leon Powe <u>4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block in 11 mins</u> Powe's hustle and defense was awesome. I love Powe. PLAY HIM MORE, especially on a night like this, where Gomes couldn't do anything. Allan Ray <u>1 point on 0-9 shooting, 0-4 3FG, 1-2 FT in 16 mins</u> Wow.. just wow. He got some clean looks, but his flow was just as good as the rest of the team: horrible. <div align="center">Player of the Game: Kendrick Perkins 15 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks</div> Side Notes - Get healthy soon, Al! PLEASE! - I'll cry if Gerald doesn't shoot above 40% on Friday. - I love Josh Smith. Next Game Friday (12/26/07) @ Toronto at 7:00 pm ET.
What's up with the Celtics these days? It seems like whenever they have a lead and they lose it they already think the game is over. They should play with a little bit more intensity when they're down and out, especially being that it IS their time to shine right now, since Pierce and Wally are out.
Hey, to make everyone feel "better," Philly and Memphis won last night. Philly now slightly has a better winning percentage and we are the bottom seed in the Eastern Conference. We now have the 2nd worst record in the NBA.
