How we see it goin' down: Celtics vs Rockets

Tip: 8PM Court: Toyota Center Watch it: CSNNE Hear it: 98.5 The Sports Hub

Referees: Mike Callahan, Derek Richardson, Gary Zielinski

Line: Houston – 10.5 (o/u 199.5)

The Matchup


Record: 4-7	Record: 7-4
On road: 2-4	At home: 4-0
Streak: Lost 3	Streak: Won 2

Leaders	Leaders
Buckets: Green (15.5 ppg)	Buckets: James Harden (25.2 ppg)
Boards: Faverani (6.2 rpg)	Boards: Dwight Howard (14.2 rpg)
Dimes: Crawford (4.5 apg)	Dimes: Harden (5.2 apg)

For the Stat Geeks:	For the Stat Geeks:
Offensive Rating: 100.0 (26th NBA)	Offensive Rating: 108.4 (5th NBA)
Defensive Rating: 103.7 (11th NBA)	Defensive Rating: 105.8 (21st NBA)
Pace: 94.2 (15th NBA)	Pace: 97.6 (6th NBA)

Last time

The teams split (1-1) the season series last year.

This time

Get it to: Jordan Crawford?

Hand him the keys and get out the way. Houston plays at a frenetic pace and they will essentially force the Celtics to run. Crawford’s shooting has dipped the last two games (8-26) but his season TO/A ratio is a fantastic 3-1. I love watching Jordan Crawford pass the ball. I repeat, I love watching Jordan Crawford pass the ball.

Gotta stop: Dwight Howard

It appears Brad Stevens is going with Vitor Faverani in the starting lineup. He might foul out in 4 minutes… or he might dominate if he has an arsenal of fart jokes for Houston’s 7-foot goofball. The problem with collapsing on Howard is that the Rockets love to jack up 3s. Kris Humphries better loosen up those elbows.

The Wild Card: Chandler Parsons vs Jeff Green

If the Celtics have any chance in this game, Green MUST outplay Parsons. Chandler is averaging 21 ppg over his last 5, while Green is shooting 4-18 in his previous two.