New York has won seven straight and has padded their lead in the Atlantic Division to 7 games over the Celtics.
Boston has a bit of momentum, as they have won two straight and look to get a much-needed road win against a playoff team.
Both Kevin Garnett and Courtney Lee made the trip to New York, but Garnett is not expected to play. Lee, however, is probable for tonight's game.
Here's a preview of this Easter showdown:
Projected lineups:
Celtics:
Avery Bradley
Jordan Crawford
Paul Pierce
Jeff Green
Brandon Bass
Knicks:
Raymond Felton
Pablo Prigioni
Iman Shumpert
Carmelo Anthony
Kenyon Martin
Keys to the game:
1. Hello, Mr. Smith: J.R. Smith has had a lot to do with the Knicks' recent success. Smith has averaged 26.4 points during the seven-game winning streak. He erupted for 32 points in 34 minutes off the bench last Tuesday against the Celtics. What's amazing about Smith's season has been the fact that he has played in all of New York's 71 games thus far but has not started a single one. What's also remarkable that he has failed to score in double digits in only 9 of those 71 games. The Celtics have to make shutting down Smith their primary objective. That doesn't mean they shouldn't pay attention to Carmelo Anthony, but Anthony is a super star, and super stars"always get theirs" as Doc Rivers always says.
2. Setting the pace: Rivers was unhappy with the Celtics lack of pace during their last matchup with the Knicks. Part of that was due to defense, but that mostly came from Boston's high volume of turnovers. The Celtics turned the ball over 20 times last Tuesday. That cannot happen again, especially at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks will capitalize on each of Boston's mistakes, so Boston needs to take tremendous care of the ball in order to dictate the pace of the game.
No comments:
Post a Comment