Game 9 Preview: Celtics at Nets

Celtics fans won't be able to see this matchup tonight.

There is indeed no rest for the weary.

The Celtics have taken their talents to Brooklyn and will tip off in just under an hour for a duel with the Brooklyn Nets in the first game of TNT's doubleheader.

The big headline coming into this one has been the status of Rajon Rondo. Rondo did test out the ankle earlier today, and mum was the word on his availability for the game all day. However, Rondo is not playing tonight and Leandro Barbosa will start in his place.

At Doc Rivers's pregame meeting with the media, he said of Barbosa starting, "Now 80% of the playbook is gone...at the least."

Some positive reassurance from Doc.

Here's a preview:

Projected lineups:

Celtics:
Leandro Barbosa
Jason Terry
Paul Pierce
Brandon Bass
Kevin Garnett

Nets:
Deron Williams
Joe Johnson
Keith Bogans
Kris Humphries
Brook Lopez

1. Getting on the glass: After getting completely obliterated on the boards last night, the Celtics face another tall task of trying to compete for rebounds against a big Nets team. With rebounding forces such as Kris Humphries, Brook Lopez, and Reggie Evans, the Celtics will need to find a way to challenge these big boys in the paint. May we see the long lost Darko Milicic or Jason Collins tonight? I think it's safe to assume that at least one of them will see some minutes tonight.

2. Life without Rajon: When Rondo went down for the game with 4:55 in the third quarter, many wondered how the team would react. Rivers threw Leandro Barbosa right into the fire, and he came out just fine. Barbosa had 16 points in nearly 22 minutes. He led the run down the stretch that gave the Celtics momentum. At his team's shootaround this morning, Nets' coach Avery Johnson told reporters that his team prepared for this game as if Rondo was going to play. Now that the change has been made this late, it'll be interesting to see if the Nets are thrown off guard by Barbosa.