How we see it goin' down: Celtics at Cavs

Tip: 7:00pm Court: Quicken Loans Arena Watch it: CSN Hear it: WEEI

Referees: Joe Crawford, Bernie Adams, and Karl Lane

The Matchup


Record: 9-10 (2nd Atlantic, 7th East)	Record: 8-11 (4th Central, 9th East)
On road: 3-4	At home: 3-4
Streak: Lost 1	Streak: Won 2
Leaders	Leaders
Buckets: Pierce (17.8 ppg)	Buckets: Kyrie Irving (17.9 ppg)
Boards: Garnett (7.5 rpg)	Boards: Anderson Varejao (11.0 rpg)
Dimes: Rondo (9.4 apg)	Dimes: Irving (4.8 apg)
For the Stat Geeks:	For the Stat Geeks:
Offensive Rating: 100.6 (21st NBA)	Offensive Rating: 100.6 (22nd NBA)
Defensive Rating: 98.7 (4th NBA)	Defensive Rating: 104.1 (22nd NBA)
Pace: 89.1 (27th NBA)	Pace: 92.7 (9th NBA)

Last time

The Celtics let an 11-point lead slip away over the final 4 minutes in Sunday night's 88-87 loss to the Cavs.

This time

Get it to: Paul Pierce

While Pierce has been a Mr. Do It All in Rajon Rondo's absence, his turnovers have increased. He needs to maintain his aggressive nature as a point forward, but he must eliminate the cutesy crap. I look for Pierce to rebound in a big way.

Gotta stop: Anderson Varejao

Have a love/hate relationship with this guy. One of those players who annoys the crap out of me, but I would love to have wearing green. He's averaged 14.6 points (69% FG) and 10.2 rebounds in his last five regular-season games against the Celtics. even during subpar performances, Varejao always seems to make a critical hustle play. Jermaine O'Neal should play and maybe he can help limit Varejao and the Cavs from scoring 54 points in the paint again.

The Wild Card: Mychel Thompson vs Ray Allen

The Cavs will likely be without guards Anthony Parker and Daniel Gibson. Rookie Mychel Thompson, who has played a total of 9 minutes in two games this season, could get the start. I can't find a scouting report on this kid, but I'm hoping the Celtics find ways to get Ray Allen the ball.