The essentials:
Wizards (0-1) at Celtics (0-0)
8 p.m.
TD Banknorth Garden
Comcast Sports Net and ESPN
Last year:
November 4: Wizards 124, Celtics 117.
January 20: Wizards 115, Celtics 110.
January 28: Wizards 105, Celtics 91.
Notable Celtics numbers (all are 2006/07):
26th in expected winning percentage (.355).
13th in pace factor (90.7 possessions per game).
28th in offensive efficiency/offensive rating (104.3).
18th in defensive efficiency/defensive rating (108.9).
Key links
Celtics Blog.
Red's army
Green Bandwagon
LOY's Place
Celtics 17
Celtics 247
Celtics Blog blog preview.
LOY's Place blog preview.
Celtics 17 blog preview.
Red's Army blog preview.
Celtics 24/7 blog preview.
Green Bandwagon blog preview.
An outstanding scouting breakdown of Gilbert Arenas
Green Bandwagon declares war on Gilbert Arenas.
Competition discussion: Boston
Starting lineups:
Celtics
PG: Rajon Rondo.
SG: Ray Allen.
SF: Paul Pierce.
PF: Kevin Garnett.
C: Kendrick Perkins.
Wizards
PG: Gilbert Arenas.
SG: DeShawn Stevenson.
SF: Caron Butler.
PF: Antawn Jamison.
C: Brendan Haywood.
Tonight's lines:
Wizards at Celtics: Celtics by 2.5.
Over/Under on Big 3 scoring: 80 points.
Wednesday was very disappointing, but the nice part is the team has a chance to redeem itself on national TV tonight against the New Big 3.
Since Kevin Garnett is playing, I'm expecting a lot of Andray Blatche tonight in some shape or form. There's really no excuse for not seeing more of him tonight.
To clarify what I was saying yesterday, I was so concerned about seeing Songaila because I'm thinking about the big picture here. There were a lot of reasons why the Wizards lost today, but the main one was because the defense, who had played very solidly for three quarters, showed all of the bad habits we saw last season. It was Eddie's decision, in light of that, to play Songaila over Blatche in the final few minutes that concerned me greatly. This team absolutely needs Blatche to take that step forward this season, but if you don't put him in a game where his skills are desperately needed, then how can he ever make that step? You have to live with mistakes there for the good of this team's future.
Alright, enough talk. This is an open game thread, so debate whether Doc Rivers has worse in-game substitution patterns than Eddie Jordan here.
GO WIZARDS!