How we see it goin' down: Celtics vs Heat

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

Referees: Danny Crawford, Mark Lindsay and Gary Zielinski

Spread: MIA -4.0

The Matchup


Record: 20-23	Record: 28-12
At home: 13-9	On road: 10-9
Streak: Lost 6	Streak: Won 4

Leaders	Leaders
Buckets: Pierce (18.8 ppg)	Buckets: LeBron James (26.4 ppg)
Boards: Garnett (7.2 rpg)	Boards: James (8.1 rpg)
Dimes: Rondo (11.1 apg)	Dimes: James (7.1 apg)

For the Stat Geeks:	For the Stat Geeks:
Offensive Rating: 101.9 (27th NBA)	Offensive Rating: 111.5 (2nd NBA)
Defensive Rating: 103.4 (9th NBA)	Defensive Rating: 105.2 (12th NBA)
Pace: 91.2 (19th NBA)	Pace: 91.2 (20th NBA)

Last time

The Heat beat the Celtics 120-107 in the season opener. The Celtics bench was awful and LeBron James practically scored a point per minute. The best player in green that night? Brandon Bass.

This time

Get it to: Rajon Rondo

He’s still the key to beating Miami. Push the tempo, penetrate in the half-court and find the open man, and hit the 17-foot jumpers once they back off. Despite the team’s horrific skid, Rondo is playing well – 18.8 ppg, 8.8 reb, 10.4 apg over the last 5 game. He’s coming off back-to-back triple-doubles (1 assist and 2 rebounds short of having 4 straight triple-doubles).

Gotta stop: Chris Bosh, Ray Allen and Mario Chalmers

I still think the best way to approach Miami is to not converge on LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Stick with Bosh, Allen and Chalmers and force them to take contested shots. File under: easier said than done.

The Wild Card: Jeff Green

What are the odds Paul Pierce breaks out of his shooting slump on the afternoon he has to guard LeBron James? Green must play well, on both ends of the floor, for the Celtics to win. And by “well” I mean – 20 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals.