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The Boston Celtics, fresh off an overtime win over Milwaukee last night in Beantown, catch a late night/early morning flight to Cleveland for tonight’s tiff against the Cavs. The Celtics are 6-6 but have won 4 of their last 5.
The Bucks did not have Giannis last night and the Celtics were at home, but the Bucks still took them to OT. The Bucks started four guards and a center.
It appears we are catching the Celtics at a good time, not only because they are playing the second night of a back-to-back after playing an overtime game last night, but also because they are missing leading scorer Jaylen Brown, averaging 25.6 ppg on 49.3% from the field. That’s a lot of points to make up.
Last night Tatum, Robert Williams, Smart, and Schroder all played 41-42 minutes. The other starter, 35-year-old Al Horford, played 30 minutes. They don’t have much of a bench with Schroder starting for Brown. Their bench combined for 17 of the team’s 122 points last night.
The Celtics are without their leading scorer and had to play an overtime game last night and then catch a flight. The Cavs also played last night but they should be much fresher. Against a team as tough to score on as the Cavs they could get frustrated, and with not much of a bench they could run out of gas in the second half.
The Celtics are 16th in scoring, but that’s with Brown getting 25 a game. They’re 20th in points in the paint and 22nd in fast break points. They’re 24th in effective field goal percentage. They rank 22nd in both 3-point percentage and 2-point percentage. They’re just an average offense across the board. I don’t see anything they do particularly well or badly.
Defensively they rank 18th in scoring. The one area they excel is shot blocking where they lead the NBA in block percentage. That’s mainly due to Al Horford with 2.3 blocks per game and Robert Williams with 1.9. Those two provide almost 50% of the team’s blocks. At 35 the 6’9” Al Horford ranks 3rd in the league in blocked shots per game despite playing just 29 minutes.
The Celtics rank 7th in effective field goal percentage so I’m not sure why they are 18th in scoring defense. They foul a lot, ranking 28th in opponents’ free throws per play. They’re below average in defensive rebounding and allowing points in the paint (despite all those blocked shots).
Jayson Tatum averages 23.5 ppg but is only shooting 39% from the field and 33.7% on 3’s He averages 22 shots per game. Last night he jacked up 25 shots, 13 of which were 3's. He made five of them. Tonight he'll be tired and rather than trying to work his way into the paint and deal with Frobley he'll probably be hunting 3-point opportunities on every possession.
Shooting guard Romeo Langford is averaging 19 minutes off the bench since Brown got hurt. He’s shooting 47.4% from deep so the Cavs need to be aware of that.
Dennis Schroder scored 38 points against the Bucks last night, going 16-for-27. He only made 3 from deep, making 13 two-pointers. With no rim protection by the Bucks he made a lot of layups and floaters. He’s only 6’1” so he should have more trouble finishing tonight against the taller Cavs. He shoots threes with his feet on the floor so he needs a lot of space to get them off. I’m optimistic the Cavs won’t let him go crazy again tonight, especially since he played 41 minutes.
Robert Williams III, 6’9”, 237, is their center. He averages 10.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game on 74.3% shooting. He’s only hitting 61% of his free throws so it’s better to foul him than allow a dunk.
Al Horford does a little of everything, averaging 12.7 pts, 8.8 boards, 3.3 assists, and 2.3 blocks in 32 minutes. It will be interesting to watch the matchup of power forwards between the grizzled 35-year-old and the Cavs’ brilliant 20-year-old rookie. Horford takes a lot more shots than Williams so the Cavs may put Allen on Horford since Allen has more experience.
I don’t see any keys to the game other than to play hard from the start and wear the Celtics down. The Cavs need to focus on making Tatum take contested shots and not letting Schroder get blow-bys where he can score on layups, floaters, or dish off lobs to Williams or Horford. Garland needs to stay in front of him.
The Celtics defend the 3-point shot very well, ranking 8th. They’re 15th against the 2-pointers and 21st in preventing points in the paint. They foul more than average so the Cavs should probably take it inside and try to get them in foul trouble like they did last night with Stewart. This is a game the Cavs need to win because the Celtics will probably be better on Monday after having a day off.
From the cbssports.com Power Ranking which has the Celtics 16th:
Amid all the Marcus Smart drama this week, the Celtics turned in a thoroughly dominating performance against the Heat and took care of the Raptors, with their only loss coming on a Luka Doncic step-back, game-winning 3-pointer as time expired. They also lost Jaylen Brown for a least a few games due to hamstring tightness, but the Celtics made up for his absence with six players averaging double figures, led by Jayson Tatum's 21.3 points per game on 55 percent 3-point shooting.
The Bucks did not have Giannis last night and the Celtics were at home, but the Bucks still took them to OT. The Bucks started four guards and a center.
It appears we are catching the Celtics at a good time, not only because they are playing the second night of a back-to-back after playing an overtime game last night, but also because they are missing leading scorer Jaylen Brown, averaging 25.6 ppg on 49.3% from the field. That’s a lot of points to make up.
Last night Tatum, Robert Williams, Smart, and Schroder all played 41-42 minutes. The other starter, 35-year-old Al Horford, played 30 minutes. They don’t have much of a bench with Schroder starting for Brown. Their bench combined for 17 of the team’s 122 points last night.
The Celtics are without their leading scorer and had to play an overtime game last night and then catch a flight. The Cavs also played last night but they should be much fresher. Against a team as tough to score on as the Cavs they could get frustrated, and with not much of a bench they could run out of gas in the second half.
The Celtics are 16th in scoring, but that’s with Brown getting 25 a game. They’re 20th in points in the paint and 22nd in fast break points. They’re 24th in effective field goal percentage. They rank 22nd in both 3-point percentage and 2-point percentage. They’re just an average offense across the board. I don’t see anything they do particularly well or badly.
Defensively they rank 18th in scoring. The one area they excel is shot blocking where they lead the NBA in block percentage. That’s mainly due to Al Horford with 2.3 blocks per game and Robert Williams with 1.9. Those two provide almost 50% of the team’s blocks. At 35 the 6’9” Al Horford ranks 3rd in the league in blocked shots per game despite playing just 29 minutes.
The Celtics rank 7th in effective field goal percentage so I’m not sure why they are 18th in scoring defense. They foul a lot, ranking 28th in opponents’ free throws per play. They’re below average in defensive rebounding and allowing points in the paint (despite all those blocked shots).
Jayson Tatum averages 23.5 ppg but is only shooting 39% from the field and 33.7% on 3’s He averages 22 shots per game. Last night he jacked up 25 shots, 13 of which were 3's. He made five of them. Tonight he'll be tired and rather than trying to work his way into the paint and deal with Frobley he'll probably be hunting 3-point opportunities on every possession.
Shooting guard Romeo Langford is averaging 19 minutes off the bench since Brown got hurt. He’s shooting 47.4% from deep so the Cavs need to be aware of that.
Dennis Schroder scored 38 points against the Bucks last night, going 16-for-27. He only made 3 from deep, making 13 two-pointers. With no rim protection by the Bucks he made a lot of layups and floaters. He’s only 6’1” so he should have more trouble finishing tonight against the taller Cavs. He shoots threes with his feet on the floor so he needs a lot of space to get them off. I’m optimistic the Cavs won’t let him go crazy again tonight, especially since he played 41 minutes.
Robert Williams III, 6’9”, 237, is their center. He averages 10.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game on 74.3% shooting. He’s only hitting 61% of his free throws so it’s better to foul him than allow a dunk.
Al Horford does a little of everything, averaging 12.7 pts, 8.8 boards, 3.3 assists, and 2.3 blocks in 32 minutes. It will be interesting to watch the matchup of power forwards between the grizzled 35-year-old and the Cavs’ brilliant 20-year-old rookie. Horford takes a lot more shots than Williams so the Cavs may put Allen on Horford since Allen has more experience.
I don’t see any keys to the game other than to play hard from the start and wear the Celtics down. The Cavs need to focus on making Tatum take contested shots and not letting Schroder get blow-bys where he can score on layups, floaters, or dish off lobs to Williams or Horford. Garland needs to stay in front of him.
The Celtics defend the 3-point shot very well, ranking 8th. They’re 15th against the 2-pointers and 21st in preventing points in the paint. They foul more than average so the Cavs should probably take it inside and try to get them in foul trouble like they did last night with Stewart. This is a game the Cavs need to win because the Celtics will probably be better on Monday after having a day off.
From the cbssports.com Power Ranking which has the Celtics 16th:
Amid all the Marcus Smart drama this week, the Celtics turned in a thoroughly dominating performance against the Heat and took care of the Raptors, with their only loss coming on a Luka Doncic step-back, game-winning 3-pointer as time expired. They also lost Jaylen Brown for a least a few games due to hamstring tightness, but the Celtics made up for his absence with six players averaging double figures, led by Jayson Tatum's 21.3 points per game on 55 percent 3-point shooting.
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