How we see it goin’ down: Celtics – Knicks

Tip: 1:00 PM     Court: TD Garden   Watch it: ABC  Hear it: WEEI

                           Referees:  Scott Foster, Eric Lewis, Olandis Poole

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The Matchup

Record: 18-17 (2nd Atlantic, 7th East)	Record: 18-18 (3rd Atlantic, 8th East)
At Home: 13-8	On the Road: 7-9
Streak: Won 3	Streak: Won 1
Leaders	Leaders
Buckets: Pierce (17.5 ppg)	Buckets: Carmelo Anthony (21.5 ppg)
Boards: Garnett (8.1 rpg)	Boards: Tyson Chandler (9.7 rpg)
Dimes: Rondo (9.8 apg)	Dimes: Jeremy Lin (6.1 apg)
For the Stat Geeks:	For the Stat Geeks:
Offensive Rating: 100.4 (25th NBA)	Offensive Rating: 101.5 (21st NBA)
Defensive Rating:  98.8 (3rd NBA)	Defensive Rating: 99.8 (6th NBA)
Pace: 89.6 (26th NBA)	Pace: 93.9 (2nd NBA)

Last time

Paul Pierce had 30 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in a 2 point win at home.  Kevin Garnett scored 11 4th quarter point and Rajon Rondo had 7 points and 7 assists in his first game back from his wrist injury

This time

Get it to:  Paul Pierce

Thank you Gerald Green for getting Paul back on track.  Now it's time to let him take advantage of Carmelo Anthony's lazy defense and keep the roll going.  Plus, Knicks fans HATE Pierce… hate him… so it would be a lot more fun if Pierce kills them again

Gotta stop:  Jeremy Lin

It's time to bring this kid back to earth.  He's turnover prone, so the Celtics should pick this kid up just as he crosses half court and try to make him make some bad decisions.  Maybe that zone press they worked on would be a nice little weapon to use.  Lin is fast and he's deceptively strong for a thin guy… so he can get to the rim and finish.  Keep him out of the lane and pressure him… and get ready to get out on the break.

The Wild Card:  New York's bench

They didn't have Baron Davis throwing alley oops to JR Smith last time around.  The Celtics second unit will have its hands full with the Knicks bench.  If Iman Shumpert, Davis, Smith, and Steve Novak come out and start going off, this will be a long night.

How we see it goin' down

Call me crazy, but I like the little roll the C's have got going.  The competition has gotten slightly better in each of the 3 wins, and now the C's face their toughest challenge of the post-All Star break schedule.  I think the C's keep things going today, though not as convincingly as Friday night.   I see Lin having a 6 or 7 turnnover game and the Celtics holding on for a 99-95 win.