GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NBA: NEW YORK (4-9) at BOSTON (11-2)

NBA: NEW YORK (4-9) at BOSTON (11-2)

<h3>Celtics look to get back on track vs. Knicks</h3>

<div class="pre">New York (4-9) at Boston (11-2) 8:00 pm EST</div>

BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Boston Celtics try to get back on trackThursday when they face the New York Knicks.


The Celtics lost for just the second time this season Tuesday,enduring a 109-104 overtime setback to the Cleveland Cavaliers.Ray Allen scored 29 points to pace the Celtics.


After opening the season with nine straight wins, the Celticshave lost two of their last five but still own the best recordin the NBA and are the only team in the league with threeplayers averaging more than 19 points.


The Knicks ended an eight-game losing streak with back-to-backwins against the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz in their last twogames.


Stephon Marbury has combined for 47 points in the two victorieswhile playing nearly 70 minutes overall.


Marbury appears to be back in the good graces of Isiah Thomas<div class="pre">after the two feuded earlier this month.</div>

 

Re: NBA: NEW YORK (4-9) at BOSTON (11-2)

Looking forward to this one. We just lost a tough OT game - and the Knicks are totally unpredictable. We should win, especially at home. But it's not the gimme it looks like.</p>

 

Re: NBA: NEW YORK (4-9) at BOSTON (11-2)

<p align="center"></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><st1lace><st1lacename><strong style=""><span style="color: black">4-9 </span>[/b]</st1lacename></st1lace><strong style=""><span style="color: black"></span>[/b]<strong style=""><span style="color: black"> @ </span>[/b]<strong style=""><span style="color: black"></span>[/b]<strong style=""><span style="color: black"> 11-2<o></o></span>[/b]
<st1:date year="2007" day="21" month="11">Thursday, November 29, 2007</st1:date> &ndash; <st1:time minute="30" hour="19">8:00 pm ET</st1:time>
TD BankNorth Garden (Boston, MA<st1lace><st1:state></st1:state></st1lace>)
Game aired on TNT</p>

In the midst of a four-game in six-night swing, the Celtics will play their first game of a back-to-back tonight at home vs. the brewing rivalry of the New York Knicks. Throughout the past few years, the Celtics and Knicks have gotten chippy with each other in each meeting, even in this year&rsquo;s preseason. After the Celtics wiped the floor with <st1:state><st1lace>New York</st1lace></st1:state> and blew them out by 40 points at the TD BankNorth Garden on October 17, the Knicks came back roughly two weeks later to defeat the C&rsquo;s at <st1lace><st1lacename>Madison</st1lacename> <st1lacename>Square</st1lacename> <st1lacetype>Garden</st1lacetype></st1lace>. Throughout that game, tension was driven. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett got into it with Jamal Crawford after he fouled Ray Allen in transition, both Tony Allen and Eddie House were ready to rumble with Nate Robinson, and Eddy Curry got into yet another verbal feud with Kendrick Perkins. While fighting isn&rsquo;t encouraged, it sure is great to see the early signs of a little rivalry cooking up. Whether you condone trash talk or not, things like this is good for basketball.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Knicks haven&rsquo;t gotten off the start they had hoped, however. At 4-9, the record doesn&rsquo;t even tell you the half of all the problems the organization is having. Guys are continuing to play selfish ball, both Randolph and Curry are still out of shape, and Stephon Marbury absolutely lost his cool when he learned Isiah Thomas would be benching him for a couple games. Rumor has it, he punches were thrown. Knicks fans are booing them at MSG. Reggie Miller, who picked <st1:state><st1lace>New York</st1lace></st1:state> as his early sleeper team, recently called the Knicks &ldquo;a joke.&rdquo; After all the anticipation this summer of how talented this team is with Zach Randolph on board, the Knicks are in the same position &ndash; maybe worse.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With that said, let&rsquo;s hope the Celtics stomp the laughing stock of the NBA tonight. The Celtics can&rsquo;t let the Knicks walk around thinking that can beat them. After the Knicks won the October 22 preseason matchup, they got awful cocky in their post-game interviews (Quentin Richardson in particular). They now have their chance to prove themselves &ndash; in a regular season matchup on national television (TNT). <st1:city><st1lace>Boston</st1lace></st1:city> remains undefeated on their home floor in this young season, so Isiah Thomas&rsquo; club will certainly have their work cut out for them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It won&rsquo;t be an easy task for the Boston Celtics, who lost their second game of the season in an overtime matchup in <st1:city><st1lace>Cleveland</st1lace></st1:city> this past Tuesday, however. Even with all the internal issues and unmanageable egos, the New York Knicks are not to be taken lightly. Say what you want about them, make your jokes &ndash; this team has a ton of talent. You&rsquo;ve got two beasts inside in Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry, one of the most talented guards in the league in Stephon Marbury, a perimeter scorer that can light it up for 40 in Jamal Crawford, a sharpshooter in Quentin Richardson, Mr. Intangibles in David Lee, and energy guys off the bench in Nate Robinson and Renaldo Balkman. That&rsquo;s a lot of talent, and a lot to handle. No NBA team should be taken lightly.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Celtics are 11-2, but they certainly haven&rsquo;t been as picture perfect as they were earlier in the season. The offense often becomes stagnant on multiple occasions in each game, the energy level hasn&rsquo;t been even half as high as it was two weeks ago, and the team is making too many mental mistakes. With <st1:city><st1lace>Orlando</st1lace></st1:city> right on <st1:city><st1lace>Boston</st1lace></st1:city>&rsquo;s tail at 13-3, the Celtics (both players and Doc Rivers) better make adjustments ASAP if they want to keep the seniority rights in the Eastern Conference. We know they are capable of it, now it&rsquo;s about going out there and doing it. What better way to get back up on that horse with a win against the Knicks?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o></o></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong style="">Projected Starters<o></o>[/b]</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong style="">C[/b] Eddy Curry / Kendrick Perkins
<strong style="">PF[/b] Zach Randolph / Kevin Garnett
<strong style="">SF[/b] Quentin Richardson / Paul Pierce
<strong style="">SG[/b] Jamal Crawford / Ray Allen
<strong style="">PG[/b] Stephon Marbury / Rajon Rondo</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o></o></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong style="">Key Matchup: [/b]Eddy Curry vs. Kendrick Perkins<strong style=""><o></o>[/b]</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Plain and simple, Kendrick Perkins needs to make sure he stays out of foul trouble and gives Garnett a hand in defending the inside. Zach Randolph or Eddy Curry is enough to handle by their lonesome, but KG was forced to defend both of them all game long in the last Celtics/Knicks preseason meeting. That can&rsquo;t happen tonight. Perk needs to play smart basketball and make sure Eddy Curry doesn&rsquo;t make him look foolish in the post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o></o></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong style="">Celtics X-Factor:[/b] Big Men</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Again, one of the biggest reasons the Celtics lost the October 22 preseason matchup in <st1:state><st1lace>New York</st1lace></st1:state> was because both Kendrick Perkins and Scot Pollard were unavailable (nursing injuries). Kevin Garnett was forced to defend the likes of Zach Randolph or Eddy Curry every second he was on the floor, and it noticeably drained a lot of stamina out of his body by the time the fourth quarter started. He wasn&rsquo;t as effective offensively at the end of the game as he was in the beginning because he needed to put all of his energy into putting a body on two of the thickest big men in the Eastern Conference. Perk needs to make sure he stays out of foul trouble tonight, Pollard needs to give the team serviceable minutes, and even Glen &ldquo;Big Baby&rdquo; Davis could give the C&rsquo;s a lift with his size.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o></o></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong style="">Injury Report<o></o>[/b]</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong style="">NYK[/b] &ndash; Jerome James (recovering from foot surgery)
<strong style="">BOS &ndash;[/b] Tony Allen (bruised right thigh &ndash; day-to-day)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o></o></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong style="">Celtics Keys to the Game<o></o>[/b]</p>
<ul type="disc" style="margin-top: 0in;">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="">The Play of the Bigs
<li class="MsoNormal" style="">Energy (where has it been?)
<li class="MsoNormal" style="">Ball Movement
<li class="MsoNormal" style="">Limit Turnovers
<li class="MsoNormal" style="">Attack, Don&rsquo;t Settle
[/list]

 

Re: NBA: NEW YORK (4-9) at BOSTON (11-2)

Should be a fairly easy game for us, and we need to win since the game is on national tv. lol</p>

GO CELTICS!!!</p>

 

Re: NBA: NEW YORK (4-9) at BOSTON (11-2)

Predictionserk will play around 25 minutes, KG will be stuck guarding the Curry and we'll get eaten on the boards.We'll still win.

 

NBA: NEW YORK at BOSTON

<div class="pre">NEW YORK VS BOSTON - INACTIVES

NEW YORK BOSTON

PLAYER NAME REASON PLAYER NAME REASON
J JAMES KNEE INJURY T ALLEN THIGH BRUISE
R MORRIS COACH'S DECISION
W CHANDLER COACH'S DECISION</div>

 

Re: NBA: NEW YORK (4-9) at BOSTON (11-2)

Should be easy. Aside from that Thanksgiving embarassment last year we own the Knicks at home. 111-92 Celtics</p>

 

NBA: NEW YORK at BOSTON

<div class="pre">NEW YORK AT BOSTON - PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS


NEW YORK BOSTON

F Quentin Richardson F Kevin Garnett
F Zach Randolph F Paul Pierce
C Eddy Curry C Kendrick Perkins
G Stephon Marbury G Ray Allen
G Jamal Crawford G Rajon Rondo

OFFICIALS: Luis Grillo
Joe Crawford
Ron Olesiak</div>

 

NBA: NEW YORK at BOSTON

<div class="pre">NBA NEW YORK 3
BOSTON 10 8:54 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>

 

NBA: NEW YORK at BOSTON

<div class="pre">NBA NEW YORK 7
BOSTON 16 5:13 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>

 

NBA: NEW YORK at BOSTON

<div class="pre">NBA NEW YORK 7
BOSTON 20 2:31 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>

 

NBA: NEW YORK at BOSTON

<div class="pre">NBA NEW YORK 16
BOSTON 27 END, 1ST QTR</div>

 

NBA: NEW YORK at BOSTON

<div class="pre">NBA END 1ST QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
NEW YORK 16 16
BOSTON 27 27 END 1ST QTR

HIGH SCORERS AFTER 1ST QUARTER

NYK - QUENTIN RICHARDSON 5, ZACH RANDOLPH 4,
STEPHON MARBURY 2
BOS - RAJON RONDO 10, RAY ALLEN 6, PAUL PIERCE
4</div>

 

NBA: NEW YORK at BOSTON

<div class="pre">NBA NEW YORK 16
BOSTON 27 8:53 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NBA: NEW YORK at BOSTON

<div class="pre">NBA NEW YORK 18
BOSTON 37 5:57 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NBA: NEW YORK at BOSTON

<div class="pre">NBA NEW YORK 26
BOSTON 46 2:41 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NBA: NEW YORK at BOSTON

<div class="pre">NBA NEW YORK 31
BOSTON 54 HALFTIME</div>

 

NBA: NEW YORK at BOSTON

<div class="pre">NBA HALFTIME 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
NEW YORK 16 15 31
BOSTON 27 27 54 HALFTIME

HIGH SCORERS AT HALFTIME

NYK - QUENTIN RICHARDSON 7, JAMAL CRAWFORD 6,
STEPHON MARBURY 4
BOS - PAUL PIERCE 12, RAY ALLEN 11, RAJON
RONDO 10</div>

 

NBA: NEW YORK at BOSTON

<div class="pre">NBA NEW YORK 31
BOSTON 65 8:35 LEFT, 3RD QTR</div>

 

Re: NBA: NEW YORK (4-9) at BOSTON (11-2)

65-31. Loving this.</p>