The Pelicans kick off a 5 game road trip in Boston tonight, opening a slate of games against a fairly easy schedule.  As part of the trade that netted the Pelicans Quincy Pondexter, Boston sent out their leading scorer, Jeff Green, and replaced him with . . . butkus.  Or Tayshaun Prince.  Which may be the same thing at this point in Prince’s career.

That means that Boston will be trying out new things tonight to figure out who will be creating baskets on the wing.  That means the scouting report for Boston may be useless, and we should see more minutes for Evan Turner and Jae Crowder.

Still, Boston hasn’t been very good this season even with their leading scorer, and they have their strengths and weaknesses, which feed into my:

Keys to the Game

• Switch everything.  Other than Jared Sullinger’s huge butt, there isn’t much on the Celtics that could cause a mismatch if you swapped bigs and wings defensively.  The Celtics guards aren’t quick, skilled ball handlers, and their bigs aren’t overpowering.  Switch, cut them off, let them shoot.
• Play solid transition defense.  The Celtics run the second highest pace in the league.  In the wins they have, fast break points have a large influence on their success.  Limit them, you limit their ability to score dramatically.
• Drive, drive, drive.  The Celtics allow a lot of shots at the rim.  The Pelicans should take those shots.

Enjoy the game!

3 Comments