Celtics (39-9) at Pacers (21-30) 2/12

at
Boston Celtics (39-9) at Indiana Pacers (21-30)
Tuesday, February 12
7:00 PM ET
TV: NBA LP ch 752, FSI, CSNHD
Sirius 121
Conseco Fieldhouse


Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Travis Diener

Shooting Guard
vs
Ray Allen vs Danny Granger

Small Forward
vs
Paul Pierce vs Mike Dunleavy

Power Forward
vs
Brian Scalabrine vs Troy Murphy

Center
vs
Leon Powe vs Jeff Foster




Off the Bench
Tony Allen, Big Baby Davis, James Posey, Eddie House, Scot Pollard, Gabe Pruitt

Injuries
Kevin Garnett, ab strain, out
Kendrick Perkins, day to day
Scot Pollard, ankle, day to day


Off the Bench
Kareem Rush, Marquis Daniels, Shawne Williams, Ike Diogu, Stephen Graham, Andre Owens

Injuries
Jermaine O'Neal, bone bruise, out
Jamaal Tinsley, knee, day to day

Key Matchups
vs
Paul Pierce PPG 20.4 RPG 5.50 APG 4.8 EFF + 20.08
Mike Dunleavy PPG 17.5 RPG 5.80 APG 3.4 EFF + 18.29
Paul Pierce is coming off a 35 point game against the Spurs. He has been picking up the slack with KG out and should continue that in this game. Look for him to have a big game against Dunleavy, who isn't a strong defensive player.

vs
Rajon Rondo PPG 10.2 RPG 4.50 APG 4.8 EFF + 14.27
Travis Diener PPG 6.0 RPG 1.20 APG 2.6 EFF + 5.65
Rajon Rondo has been playing very aggressively and has also picked up the slack with KG out. He should be able to beat Diener off the dribble and also should be able to disrupt the Pacers' offense.

Keys to the Game
Don't Let Down The Celtics are coming off a big win over the Spurs and it would be easy to let down for this game. They need to continue to play with urgency and treat every game as if it was a playoff game because the other teams are going to play that way against them.

Defend the Perimeter Jim O'Brien's offensive scheme is to have his players shoot if they are open. The Pacers average 8.86 3's per game. They are a threat from beyond the arc and hopefully the Celtics will have learned from the Raptors' game that you can't leave a 3 point shooting team open on the perimeter.

Attack the Basket The Pacers are in the top 3 teams with points allowed in the paint at 32.16. They are not a strong defensive team and so the Celtics should attack the basket and look to score inside whenever possible.

Game Notes
The Pacers have been struggling and it would be easy to take them for granted but any team can be dangerous on any given night as they all get up to play the Celtics. The Pacers are 3-7 in their last 10 but have won their last 2. They are 10-14 at home and 11-16 against Eastern Conference teams. Conseco Fieldhouse has been a tough place for the Celtics to play and they are only 5-10 there overall. In fact, on opening night 1999, the Celtics were the Pacers' very first victim there. This is the second of 3 games that these two teams will play this season. The Celtics won the first match up in November 101-86. Both teams are missing key players with Tinsley and O'Neal out for the Pacers and Perk and KG out for the Celtics. The Pacers allow more points than any other Eastern Conference team at 105.5 ppg. If the Celtics play like they did against the Spurs they should win this game easily. But, if they come in without a sense of urgency, the Pacers could pull this one out.