Cavs (43-29) at Celtics (22-50) 4/1

at

Cleveland Cavaliers (43-29) at Boston Celtics (22-50)
Sunday, April 1, 2007 • 6:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #73 • Home Game #37
NBALP DTV 753, FSN
TD Banknorth Garden • Boston, MA




Probable Starters

PG Rondo PPG 5.5 RPG 3.40 APG 3.6 EFF + 8.31
SG West PPG 11.9 RPG 3.00 APG 4.5 EFF + 12.67
SF Green PPG 9.7 RPG 2.50 APG 0.9 EFF + 7.52
PF Jefferson PPG 15.7 RPG 11.00 APG 1.2 EFF + 20.46
C Perkins PPG 4.3 RPG 4.90 APG 1.2 EFF + 8.37

Off the Bench

Gomes/Powe/Ray/Telfair

Injuries
Pierce, elbow day to day
Scalabrine, hamstring out
Allen, knee out
Szczerbiak, ankle out
Olowokandi foot out

Notes: The Celtics played a very lackluster game against the Sixers and if they play with the same intensity against the Cavs, it will be a blowout.

Last Meeting The Celtics last meeting with the Cavs was on 1/3 and the Cavs won 107-104. The Celtics started West, Allen, Gomes, Wally and Al. Tony was the Celtics high scorer with 22. Al added 18 points and 12 rebounds. Green came off the bench for 21 points. James scored 32 points and Ilguaskas had 27 points and 11 rebounds. The Cavs have won 7 in a row over Boston.





Probable Starters

PG Hughes PPG 14.7 RPG 3.90 APG 3.5 EFF + 11.65
SG Pavlovic PPG 8.1 RPG 2.10 APG 1.4 EFF + 7.14
SF James PPG 27.3 RPG 6.80 APG 6.0 EFF + 25.45
PF Gooden PPG 11.2 RPG 8.40 APG 1.0 EFF + 14.36
C Ilgauskas PPG 11.8 RPG 7.80 APG 1.5 EFF + 15.35

Off the Bench

Varejao/Gibson/Snow/Marshall

Injuries
None

Notes: Cavs are playing the second of back to back games, coming off a 112-108 win over the Bulls.

Key Matchups
vs
Gerald is going to have his hands full trying to guard LeBron who loves playing against the Celtics.

vs
With Pierce out, Al is once again our #1 option on offense and he will need to play well against Gooden.

Keys to the Game:
Energy We need to play with energy, going after loose balls and crashing the boards and taking the ball to the basket instead of settling for jumpers.

Defense We won't beat them if we try to outscore them. We have to play defense and stop them from scoring.

Rebound When we rebound well, it usually transfers to the rest of our game, giving us second chance points and limiting theirs.

Patience on Offense We need to pass the ball and run the offense and not just settle for quick jumpers. We need to play team ball and not have each player try to win it himself.

Cavs' are playing really well right now and playing with purpose.
gonna be tough to hang with them.

With no Paul I don't expect the C's to do very well.

Great game from the 3 Pillars (Jeff, Perk, Green). No LeBron, but no Pierce either. Should give the team and fans a lot of confidence moving forward.