NBA Preview: Boston Celtics and New Jersey Nets to meet tonight; Rajon Rondo not yet recovered
The Boston Celtics are looking forward to their meeting with the New Jersey Nets tonight at 7:30 pm at the TD Garden, Boston, MA.
Injuries
Injury reports show that two players won’t be participating in this game. Quinton Ross has a calf injury so he won’t be there to play for the Nets and Jermaine O’Neal has a knee injury and won’t be present to rescue (if needed)
the Boston Celtics.
Replacements
Nate Robinson is playing in for Rajon Rondo and is filling in nicely so far.
The Celtics are quite in control of the game as they have Robinson and they are quite happy about it. They will look forward to their dominance over the Nets again on Wednesday night. Robinson had an eminent contribution in a win
against the Atlanta Hawks this Monday. He scored 16 points and a season-high 10 assists as the Celtics made 99 against the meagre 76 made by Atlanta. Just a night before that, the Celtics had lost to the Hawks 102-101 despite Robinson’s season-high contribution
of 22 points.
"Guys were (ticked) off," Paul Pierce said later; he scored 13 points on Monday. He is at the lead of the Celtics with an average of 19.9. "That's the way we should be every night. We should never have to use losses
to motivate us."
Rajon Rondo being missed
The Celtics are not sure if Rondo has recovered enough to return and play against the Nets. The player missed two games due to a strained left hamstring and he is being sorely missed because of his 14.3 assister per game contribution.
He has an average of 18 points, 9.2 assists and has been shooting 67.2 percent in his previous six meetings with the New Jersey Nets.
Brook Lopez and Devin Harris to support the Nets against the Celtics
The Nets are going to rely on centre Lopez and guard Harris to win consecutive games for the first time since the beginning of the season 2-0. Both the players contributed to the 107-101 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday. Lopez
made a 12 of 19 and scored a season-high 32 points and nine rebounds and Harris scored 27 points and grabbed nine assists.
Lopez has an average of 18.3 points per game and is leading the Nets with that statistic, and Harris is second with his 17.6.
"They've been challenged behind the scenes," Coach Avery Johnson said. "Two guys that we rely heavily upon came through. Now what I'm showing them is if they can consistently have that aggression and that attacking
attitude, it makes us a better ball club. They don't have many nights with this team where they can take off."
Terrence Williams suspended
Williams, who was breaking team rules repeatedly, was suspended (for some mystery offence this time). The player had an average of 6.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
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