Tip: 7:30pm Court: TD Garden Watch it: CSN Hear it: WEEI
Referees: Bill Kennedy, Olandis Poole and Gary Zielinski
The Matchup
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| Record: 8-9 (2nd Atlantic, 7th East) | Record: 12-5 (2nd Central, 3rd East) |
| At home: 5-5 | On road: 7-4 |
| Streak: Won 3 | Streak: Won 1 |
| Leaders | Leaders |
| Buckets: Pierce (17.0 ppg) | Buckets: Danny Granger (16.5 ppg) |
| Boards: Garnett (7.5 rpg) | Boards: Roy Hibbert (9.9 rpg) |
| Dimes: Rondo (9.4 apg) | Dimes: Darren Collison (5.4 apg) |
| For the Stat Geeks: | For the Stat Geeks: |
| Offensive Rating: 100.7 (20th NBA) | Offensive Rating: 101.6 (18th NBA) |
| Defensive Rating: 98.9 (4th NBA) | Defensive Rating: 99.1 (6th NBA) |
| Pace: 88.9 (27th NBA) | Pace: 90.7 (21st NBA) |
Last time
The Pacers lead the season series 2-0; 97-83 win in Indiana and an 87-84 victory in Boston.
This time
Get it to: Paul Pierce
Ride the hot hand. And Pierce might have a bit of a chip on his shoulder. He's missed 21 of 29 shots in two games vs Indiana this season.
Gotta stop: Roy Hibbert
Kevin Garnett is playing a high level of defense right now. He will need to continue that play against Hibbert. The Celtics need to keep Hibbert off the offense glass. See below.
The Wild Card: Rebounding, rebounding, and rebounding
Indiana is +19 in rebounding vs the Celtics. The Pacers have 35 offensive rebounds in two games. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know the Cs must box out and be aggressive on the boards.
How we see it goin' down
Will the Celtics be hung over tonight? They had to expend a lot of energy last night in Orlando and tonight is a back-to-back scenario. How fresh will Paul Pierce be after playing 45 minutes? There could be some reinforcements. Ray Allen will likely return to the lineup. Rajon Rondo remains questionable. But despite all those tired team signs, I like the Celtics tonight. Why? It's a numbers game. Can the Pacers really win 3 straight over the Cs? I say no.
Prediction: BOS 99 IND 89
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