In his weekly appearance on WEEI, Doc Rivers spoke about the Celtics defensive approach to Carmelo Anthony, aka The 2013 NBA Scoring Champion, and momentum:
On stopping Anthony: “We do have to limit the other guys, but I don’t subscribe to the theory that he’s going to get what he’s going to get. He may get it, but we have to make him work for it, and if he gets it, it has to be 40 points on 40 shots, not 40 points on 15 shots.”
On playing a hot team like the Knicks: “The playoffs are a restart, they always are, no matter how well you’re playing, and the Knicks are playing unbelievable right now. … I go back to the 2010 year with the Cavs; they were playing unreal, going into the playoffs. They played great in the first round and then when we got them in the second round, they basically beat us pretty good in Game 1, then all of a sudden we beat them in Game 2 and all of a sudden they weren’t hot anymore, they were worried. That’s how quickly it changes.”
The match-ups are intriguing. The Celtics new line-up is big; Bradley, Pierce, Green, Bass and Garnett. The Knicks have been running small with Felton, Prigioni, Shumpert, Melo and Chandler as starters. Prigioni (ankle) is questionable for Game 1. Knicks coach Mike Woodson could stay small and start Jason Kidd (a starter in 48 games this season) or move Shumpert to shooting guard and play Steve Novak(?).
UPDATE: I’m reading now that Woodson is considering starting Chris Copeland. Jason Kidd will definitely come off the bench.
On the Celtics side, I’m curious about who guards Melo. If Garnett guards Chandler, who can Bass cover besides Melo?
A quick refresher on the Scoring Champ’s playoff record:
He has won just 31.5 percent of his playoff games — the lowest career winning percentage for a player averaging 20 or more regular-season points per game in NBA history, according to Elias.
And he’s just 1-8 in two postseasons with the Knicks, including a 2011 sweep at the hands of the Celtics.
That t-shirt (courtesy ESPN sports business reporter Darren Rovell) is so… Melo.
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