<div align="center"> <span style="font-size:24pt;line-height:100%">@</span> February 9, 2007 - 7:30 pm ET</div> <span style="color:#000099">New Jersey Nets</span> <span style="color:#999999">(23-27)</span> <span style="color:#999999">PG</span> <span style="color:#000099">Jason Kidd</span> <span style="color:#999999">SG</span> <span style="color:#000099">Vince Carter</span> <span style="color:#999999">SF</span> <span style="color:#000099">Antoine Wright</span> <span style="color:#999999">PF</span> <span style="color:#000099">Mikki Moore</span> <span style="color:#999999">C</span> <span style="color:#000099">Jason Collins</span> <span style="color:#999999">Key Bench Players:</span> <span style="color:#000099">Bostjan Nachbar, Marcus Williams, Eddie House, Cliff Robinson, Josh Boone</span> <span style="color:#009900">Boston Celtics</span> <span style="color:#000000">(12-36)</span> <span style="color:#000000">PG</span> <span style="color:#009900">Delonte West</span> <span style="color:#000000">SG</span> <span style="color:#009900">Paul Pierce</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, Gerald Green, Brian Scalabrine, Sebastian Telfair</span> Injury Report <span style="color:#999999">NJ:</span> <span style="color:#000099">Richard Jefferson will not play (recovering from ankle surgery)</span> <span style="color:#999999">NJ:</span> <span style="color:#000099">Nenad Krstic is out for season (torn ACL)</span> <span style="color:#000000">BOS:</span> <span style="color:#009900">Wally Szczerbiak will not play (sprained left ankle)</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:#000099">Jason Kidd</span> <span style="color:#999999">Season Stats: 14.4 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 8.8 apg, 1.7 spg</span> <span style="color:#000099">Vince Carter</span> <span style="color:#999999">Season Stats: 24.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 4.4 apg</span> <span style="color:#009900">Paul Pierce</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 26.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 4.3 apg</span> <span style="color:#009900">Al Jefferson</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 14.0 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 1.4 bpg</span> <span style="color:#000000">As A Starter: 15.3 ppg, 11.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg</span> <span style="color:#009900">Ryan Gomes</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 12.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.8 apg</span> <span style="color:#000000">Last 5 Games: 17.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.0 apg</span> Rookie Watch <span style="color:#999999">NJ:</span> <span style="color:#000099">Marcus Williams</span> <span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: 22</span> <span style="color:#999999">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#000099">7.1 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 3.0 apg</span> <span style="color:#999999">NJ:</span> <span style="color:#000099">Josh Boone</span> <span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: 23</span> <span style="color:#999999">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#000099">2.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg</span> <span style="color:#999999">NJ:</span> <span style="color:#000099">Hassan Adams</span> <span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: 54</span> <span style="color:#999999">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#000099">3.5 ppg, 1.4 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">5.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.3 spg</span> <span style="color:#000000">As A Starter:</span> <span style="color:#009900">13.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 8.0 apg, 2.3 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">2.8 ppg, 2.7 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">5.1 ppg, 1.2 rpg</span> <span style="color:#000099">New Jersey's X-Factor</span> <span style="color:#000099">Mikki Moore</span> <span style="color:#999999">Season Stats: 8.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg</span> <span style="color:#999999">As A Starter: 11.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg</span> <span style="color:#000099">Obviously, having no Krstic is a big loss for New Jersey, especially when they need someone to handle a guy like Al Jefferson on the block. With Moore's athleticism and length, I think he could disrupt Big Al a little bit, believe it or not. We'll see how well he plays defensively and on the boards, because we are also a good rebounding team.</span> <span style="color:#009900">Boston's X-Factor</span> <span style="color:#009900">Gerald Green</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 9.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.0 apg</span> <span style="color:#009900">No Wally now. Gerald needs to step up offensively. He has been so up and down lately, mostly down in the past couple weeks, he needs to get it going.</span> <div align="center">Key Matchup vs. <span style="color:#000099">Jason Kidd</span> <span style="color:#000000">vs.</span> <span style="color:#009900">Rajon Rondo</span></div> <span style="color:#000000">Good playmaker, outstanding rebounder for a guard, excellent defender, quick, very good ballhandler, very heady player, needs to work on his jump shot - that describes both of these guys. Of course, Rondo will never be at the same level as J-Kidd (top 10 PG of all-time), but he will be a very good player, and he is starting to really turn it on lately. He earned a starting job (injuries or not), and he has played well lately every night. Rajon will really need to step up to the challenge against Jason Kidd tonight, but I think this is going to be a great matchup because they play basically the same way.</span> CelticBalla's Extra Thoughts/Notes - We are on a 16 game losing streak, as you all know. If we lose this game, we'll finally get Green 17!!! Oh, too bad it's 17 losses, not banners. - Rondo is a much better player than Marcus Williams, and Rondo should be starting for the Rookie team. - PAUL PIERCE IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CelticBalla's Prediction We are going to win this game! If we don't, we'll have some trouble getting a win any time soon. Sunday we play in Minnesota and Wednesday we play Milwaukee (Redd is expected to be back by then). Then, we have a BRUTAL 5-game west coast swing after the All-Star break (@ Sacramento, @ Phoenix, @ LA Lakers, @ Utah, @ Houston). LETS GO CELTICS! EDIT: Pierce is back, we win! YES!!!
This scares me, Kidd and Carter may be able to stomp all over Rajon and West, both of our backcourt players are small and I can see Vince and Kidd running straight through them, I would like to see Green come out on Carter, not because of defensive abilities, he is just a better size matchup for Carter. Assuming whoever plays in SG for the C's, Carter will be driving a lot, we should see it to be ok with Big Al protecting our post. Hmm, think I may actually put some money on the Celtics for this one (gotta love legal gambling/drinking/smoking age in Australia is 18).
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (envygreen @ Feb 9 2007, 02:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>This scares me, Kidd and Carter may be able to stomp all over Rajon and West, both of our backcourt players are small and I can see Vince and Kidd running straight through them, I would like to see Green come out on Carter, not because of defensive abilities, he is just a better size matchup for Carter. Assuming whoever plays in SG for the C's, Carter will be driving a lot, we should see it to be ok with Big Al protecting our post. Hmm, think I may actually put some money on the Celtics for this one (gotta love legal gambling/drinking/smoking age in Australia is 18).</div> Exactly, Vince Carter is going to kill Delonte tonight, just like he did in preseason when he was matched up with him. I agree that Gerald should start at the 2 tonight because of the size/athleticism, but it will probably be Delonte.
Great. Going to this game tonight, hopefully I won't leave depressed again and won't want to drive my car off the Zakim Bridge. Pull one off Celts, just one.
Well I agree that this is their chance to get a break in between streaks. However, since they're tanking it, I like the Nets to win this one, Vince goes off for over 30.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ginger Jesus @ Feb 9 2007, 03:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Well I agree that this is their chance to get a break in between streaks. However, since they're tanking it, I like the Nets to win this one, Vince goes off for over 30.</div> Yeah, we are tanking so badly that Paul Pierce might come back tonight.
On FSN a couple of minutes ago, Greg Dickerson reported that Pierce is expected to play tonight. He was just shooting around and he was talking to reporters and all that good stuff. He said it leads him to believe that he is playing. EDIT: YES!!! PIERCE IS PLAYING TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ugh. Another day, another loss (17 straight). It was great to see The Truth back out there though, even though he had a bad shooting night (pretty expected). But this game was just bad... again. We shot the ball HORRIBLY (31%), we committed way too many stupid turnovers, and the defense was terrible. Delonte was stroking it tonight, and I was very happy with that. I was happy that he was taking all those shots. He wasn't passive tonight, he was taking the shots that were there, and he kocked them down. He did turn the ball over way too much, however. Big Al was a beast on the boards, as usual, but the team didn't go to him as much as they should have. You could see the major frustration in Al tonight. He was called for a reach and he screamed, with a Grinch-like face, "that's fu*kin bullsh**!" I have never seen that from Al. Some of you think, "Well, it's because of the call." No... it's because of the call and the fact that we are playing this poorly. I'm glad to see that out of Al. But on the game, Big Al played SO damn hard tonight (as usual), but again.. he played with a pissed off attitude. That's good. Rajon made some terrific hustle plays tonight. That's expected, but you still have to credit him for it night in and night out. He couldn't get any of his runners to fall, and he passed up about 4 mid-range jumpers, but he created opportunities for others. The stat sheet says 5 assists, but it could have been around 10-11 if this team didn't shoot so damn poorly. Gomes' shot was way off tonight. I guess he's allowed to have one off night, huh? Scal did hit a couple shots, but he just kept chucking the 3's like there was no tomorrow. Come on Scal. Gerald made too many mental mistakes. He just didn't look too good out there tonight. I'm glad that he didn't settle for jumpers tonight, he was taking it to the basket (and he didn't shoot poorly). But, he made about 4 bad mistakes on the fast break. Three bad passes and one miscommunication issue. Player Stat Lines <span style="color:#009900">Delonte West: 21 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 6 turnovers on 8-16 shooting, 2-5 from 3 Al Jefferson: 13 points, 17 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks on 5-13 shooting, 3-3 FT Rajon Rondo: 6 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals on 1-7 shooting, 4-6 FT Paul Pierce: 9 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal on 4-16 shooting, 1-2 from 3 Ryan Gomes: 9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists on 2-8 shooting, 5-5 FT Brian Scalabrine: 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists on 2-8 shooting, 2-7 from 3 Gerald Green: 7 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block on 3-5 shooting Kendrick Perkins: 1 point, 3 rebounds, 1 steal on 0-1 shooting Sebastian Telfair: 4 points, 1 assist on 2-4 shooting</span> Next Game: Sunday (2/11/07) @ Minnesota at 6:00 pm ET. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RaptorFan#1 @ Feb 9 2007, 10:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Man, 17 games, I thought you guys were going to pull it off, how did Pierce fair?</div> Well, he didn't move all that well and he shot 4-16 in 20 minutes. I mean, nobody expected him to do much anyway. He has missed 24 straight games and he only practiced about 2-3 times in that period. He's obviously not in game shape right now and he doesn't have much lift on his jumper. I'm not worried one bit, he needs time to get back out there and get into shape again (before the injury he was in great shape).
So I was at the game tonight. Great time... It was surprisingly full, especially for a team on a 17 game losing streak. The crowd was there, just dead, there was nothing to cheer for. I was sitting in the premium, just under the boxes, and I looked up and saw Pierce on the TV, and saw a caption under him and I was like ummmmmm, and I bolted up closer and saw he was playing and busted everywhere. It was awesome to see him play tonight, even though he played poorly.
Well Celtics lost again and Paul Pierce probabaly brought more fans out to the arena but he really struggled as he only scored 9 points in 20 minutes and went scoreless in the first half. The Nets were finally not involved in a close game, but I'm really not sure when the Celtics are going to be able to win.
Pierce looked terrible last night. I can already tell that he isn't 100 percent with his elbow. If I was him, I'd sit out a couple more games. Almost injured his elbow.
^^ No...He was just rustyif he sits out more games he'll be more rusty and we'll continue to loseWatch him on Sunday..he'll be fine
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Madness @ Feb 10 2007, 10:08 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Pierce looked terrible last night. I can already tell that he isn't 100 percent with his elbow. If I was him, I'd sit out a couple more games. Almost injured his elbow.</div> Did you honestly expect Pierce to be anywhere near game shape? He hasn't played an NBA game since December 20th and he has only practice a couple times since then. He's not in shape, he has no lift, and he's obviously going to be rusty. But yes, Pierce did hit his elbow last night under the basket. He went to the bench and he even tapped Doc on the shoulder and said "my shoulder." What does Doc do? He puts him back in the game. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Watch him on Sunday..he'll be fine</div> No, playa, he won't be.
Pierce played more that I expected him to. Even though he played badly, like I said, it was great to just see him in there. It'll all come back as he plays more, and continues to move toward 100%. Just having him out on the floor is a bonus at this point.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (yankshater213 @ Feb 10 2007, 02:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Pierce played more that I expected him to. Even though he played badly, like I said, it was great to just see him in there. It'll all come back as he plays more, and continues to move toward 100%. Just having him out on the floor is a bonus at this point.</div> Yeah, and did you notice Pierce getting doubled last night anyway? That alone is a huge plus. Too bad none of our players could shoot a basketball into the Atlantic Ocean last night, except Delonte.
