Game 38 Preview: Hornets at Celtics

Emotions will surely be running high tonight as Doc Rivers
will coach against his son Austin.

Doc Rivers will have to do something he's never done before: he will have to watch his son sit on the bench and not be able to do anything about it while he coaches the opposing team. Austin Rivers has only averaged 4.3 minutes a game over his last three, so there actually is a real possibility that he may not even see any action in this highly-anticipated matchup. Regardless, this will also be the first time Doc will coach against his son in a professional game, something that he said yesterday he is not looking forward to doing. 

Tonight's contest is a collision between two red-hot teams in the Celtics (20-17) and the New Orleans Hornets (12-26). New Orleans has won five of it's last six games and seven of it's last eleven, beating teams such as the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets along the way. They are coming off a 111-99 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers last night. New Orleans has gotten a much-needed boost with the long-awaited return of shooting guard Eric Gordon, who made his season-debut back on December 29 and has led the Hornets to a 6-3 record in the 9 games he has played in his return. He is the Hornets' leading scorer at 16.9 points per game.

On the other hand, the Celtics continue their season-long five-game homestand and will look to extend their winning streak to seven games. 

Here's a preview:

Projected lineups:

Hornets:

Greivis Vasquez

Eric Gordon

Al-Farouq Aminu

Anthony Davis

Robin Lopez

Celtics:

Rajon Rondo 

Avery Bradley

Paul Pierce

Brandon Bass

Kevin Garnett

Keys to the game:

1. Efficiency: Over their last three games, New Orleans is only allowing 92.3 points per game. The Celtics have their work cut out for them. The good news for Boston is that they're shooting 46.4% from the floor this season, which is good for sixth in the league. Furthermore, during their current six-game winning streak, Boston is shooting 48.5%. The Celtics need to continue their trend of being efficient on the offensive end in order to take care of business tonight.

2. All guards on deck: Once again, the backcourt needs to step up and play it's very best in order for the Celtics to continue their winning ways. The starting guards from both sides have their hands full tonight. New Orleans' Greivis Vasquez and Eric Gordon combine to form one of the highest-scoring starting backcourts in the NBA. The two have combined for 33.4 points per game in the month of January, which has accounted for nearly 35% of their points. Of course, we all know by now the impact that Avery Bradley has made on this team, and Rajon Rondo is coming off his 26th-career triple-double. If you're looking for an area that might determine the outcome of this one, look at the production of the guards, and whichever duo has the advantage, their team will probably come out on top.