Walsh: "How much time do you spend on defense in practice?"
D'Antoni: "Defense?"
Celtics (9-4) vs. Knicks (3-9)
Game time: 1pm, MSG. TV – CSN, Radio – WEEI-AM (850)
Team Leaders
Scoring
Bos: Pierce – 18.6 Knicks: Al Harrington – 19.3
Rebounding
Bos: Garnett – 7.6 Knicks: David Lee – 9.5
Assists
Bos: Rondo – 8.8 Knicks: Chris Duhon – 6.3
Who'll go off: Everyone. What's the remedy for the Celtics offensive woes? The New York Knicks – they're allowing teams to shoot 49%. I'm hoping Rajon Rondo responds from his poor play against the Magic, pushes the tempo and gets the Celtics in a passing state of mind.
Who needs to be stopped: The Knicks' role players. I wouldn't worry so much about the big guns – Al Harrington and David Lee. But if guys like Larry Hughes, Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari are allowed to score, then this will be a close game.
The C's will lose if… they get outrebounded. The Knicks are going to jack up a lot of shots, and the Celtics, as a team, need to rebound the ball. If you give a team too many chances, eventually some of those wild three pointers will fall.
Wildcard: The Celtics collective state of mind. Will we see guys passing up open shots? Not reacting instinctively because they are focused so much on Doc's game plan? Bottom line – I don't want to see the players 'overthink' it.
Prediction: Celtics 107 – Knicks 90
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