How we see it goin' down: Celtics vs Cavaliers

Tip: 7PM Court: Quicken Loans Arena Watch it: CSNNE Hear it: WEEI

Referees: Bill Kennedy, Brian Forte and JT Orr

Spread: BOS -2.5

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The Matchup


Record: 36-34	Record: 22-47
On road: 12-23	At home: 13-21
Streak: Lost 5	Streak: Lost 5

Leaders	Leaders
Buckets: Pierce (18.7 ppg)	Buckets: Tristan Thompson (11.5 ppg)
Boards: Pierce (6.3 rpg)	Boards: Thompson (9.3 rpg)
Dimes: Pierce (4.7 apg)	Dimes: Shaun Livingston (3.5 apg)

For the Stat Geeks:	For the Stat Geeks:
Offensive Rating: 102.6 (24th NBA)	Offensive Rating: 105.1 (17th NBA)
Defensive Rating: 102.6 (7th NBA)	Defensive Rating: 109.7 (28th NBA)
Pace: 91.4 (18th NBA)	Pace: 92.2 (13th NBA)

Last time

The Celtics and Cavs have split the season series (1-1). Kyrie Irving dropped 40 points in the Cavs 95-90 victory on Jan. 22. The Celtics beat Cleveland, 103-91, thanks to a monumental effort from Jason Collins.

This time

Get it to: Paul Pierce

He’s the only guy who can straighten the course. I’m talking about Paul Pierce the facilitator, not Paul Pierce the lazy 3-point shooter.

Gotta stop: Tristan Thompson?

The poor Cavs are decimated with injuries. No Kyrie Irving. No Dion Waiters. Throw Anderson Varejao on the list too, even though he’s been out since December. Thompson excels around the basket and on the offensive glass; two areas where the Celtics are lacking.

The Wild Card: Will the Celtics bigs show up?

How bad was the Celtics front line last night against the Knicks? Chris Wilcox had 0 rebounds in 9 minutes. Jeff Green dropped the softest 19 and 10 you’ll ever see. And Brandon Bass… sigh. With Thompson, Tyler Zeller and Marreese Speights, the Cavs have some scrappy front court players who can inflict damage against our zombie bigs.