Celtics (15-4) at Thunder (10-8)
Game time: 8pm, Ford Center, Oklahoma City, OK. TV – CSN. Radio – WEEI-AM (850).
Team Leaders
Scoring
Bos: Pierce – 18.5 Thunder: Kevin Durant – 27.7
Rebounding
Bos: Perkins – 7.6 Thunder: Durant – 7.7
Assists
Bos: Rondo – 9.2 Thunder: Russell Westbrook – 7.2
Who'll go off: Kevin Garnett & Kendrick Perkins. I like their chances against Nenad Krstic and Jeff Green. Krstic is questionable (ankle) so we might see more of Nick Collison or Etan Thomas and neither are a threat to slow the Beast or KG.
Who needs to be stopped: Russell Westbrook. Is Kevin Durant good enough to beat the Celtics by himself? Only if he goes off for 50. If the Cs, primarily Rajon Rondo, can slow Westbrook and force him into turnovers, that will limit the damage done by guys not named Durant.
The C's will lose if… They are too sloppy on offense. The Thunder are a good defensive team. They rank ahead of the Celtics in opponents FG% and 3 FG%, and are 7th in the league in Points Against – 94.9.
Wildcard: All signs point to a Celtics let-down. Final game of a road trip. Second game of back-to-back. They are facing a lesser opponent after playing a nationally televised game against a top team. The Celtics will need a 110% effort (mentally and physically) to win this game.
Prediction: Thunder 99 – Boston 92
After the jump….the Thunder Girls.
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