How we see it goin' down: Celtics vs Heat

Tip: 8:00 PM Court: TD Garden Watch it: CSN, TNT Hear it: WEEI

Referees: Monty McCutcheon, John Goble and Courtney Kirkland

The Matchup


Record: 37-27 (1st Atlantic, 4th East)	Record: 46-18 (1st Southeast, 2nd East)
At home: 22-9	On road:18-13
Streak: Lost 1	Streak: Won 1
Leaders	Leaders
Buckets: Pierce (19.7 ppg)	Buckets: Lebron James (27.2 PPG)
Boards: Garnett (8.3 rpg)	Boards: James (7.9 RPG)
Dimes: Rondo (11.6 apg)	Dimes: James (6.2 APG)
For the Stat Geeks:	For the Stat Geeks:
Offensive Rating: 99.3 (24th NBA)	Offensive Rating: 105.3 (4th NBA)
Defensive Rating: 96.2 (2nd NBA)	Defensive Rating: 97.1 (4th NBA)
Pace: 92.5 (22nd NBA)	Pace: 93.7 (14th NBA)

Last time

The Celtics are 2-0 2-1 vs Miami this season. Two weeks ago they shot a ridiculous 60% in a 115-107 victory in Miami. Earlier this month, Rajon Rondo busted out another triple-double in a 91-72 thrashing in Boston.

This time

Get it to: KG/Brandon Bass

With Chris Bosh on the bench, the Celtics will have a major advantage against the Miami bigs. Dexter Pittman has been starting for Bosh and could get the nod again tonight. According to the ESPN scouting report, Pittman lacks mobility and is a liability in pick-and-roll defense. I see Bass and Garnett raining jumpers with Pittman on the court.

Gotta stop: Udonis Haslem

I'm having a hard time finding Miami's biggest offensive threat. I thought about Mario Chalmers, but I'm fairly confident Avery Bradley can harass him into a poor shooting night. Haslem can be a pain in the ass on the boards. Even though Miami's Big 3 will be on the bench, the Celtics still need to rebound.

The Wild Card: Who will play?

Miami will sit LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Ray Allen, Mickael Pietrus and Greg Stiemsma will sit for the Celtics. Rajon Rondo is questionable. Paul Pierce and KG will play, but Doc will likely keep their minutes down. When you are mixing and matching so many different players, it's hard to predict the outcome.