by Ian Tasso
Philadelphia has been teetering with mediocrity all season. The Celtics, regrettably, are fighting with it right now.
At 7:30 pm the 10-4 Boston Celtics will play host to the 5-9 Philadelphia 76’ers in a collision of two teams that have both been struggling of late – though Philly’s struggles stem much deeper than Boston’s do.
Despite the skewed skill levels, records and anything else that might separate a 10th place Philly team from a playoff bound Boston club, Wednesday night’s game carries a decent amount of intrigue – especially from the Boston perspective.
Of late, the Celtics have seemingly lost some of their championship swagger that led them to a 6-0 start. After dropping two straight to the Hawks and Pacers, Boston seemed to get back on track against Golden State in what was a pretty convincing win. But another slip up against the Magic and an overtime buzzer-beating win against the 3-10 Knicks, and the Celtics appear somewhat lost on the court again.
Center Kendrick Perkins attributed it to a lack of focus. But regardless of what’s been plaguing them, Boston needs to improve if they want to be considered the championship bound team they know they can be – and what better team to straighten it out against then the 76’ers.
Here’s what to expect come Wednesday night:
Recent Performance:
Common Ground – Despite the fact that Boston comes into Wednesday night’s match-up with its pocket full of recent struggles, they are still locked in at third place in the Eastern Conference. After starting the season 6-0, their recent blunders have caused concern, specifically with their focus. Center Kendrick Perkins described the Celtics as playing without determination and focus, citing sloppy practices as part of the reason they have been stumbling.
Still, even with dropping three of their last four, Perkins maintained confidence that Big Green will get back on track. After all, with their immense amount of talent, it’s hard to blame him. Philadelphia meanwhile has had a bumpy season right from the get-go. Recently though, they seem to be getting their feet under them. After narrowly defeating the Bobcats only one week ago, Philly nearly took down Memphis (102-97) and LeBron and the Cavs (97-91) on back-to-back nights. While both still are recorded as losses, they no doubt are improvements over double-digit losses to both Orlando and Boston at the beginning of the season.
Head to Head:
Familiar Faces – They see each-other more than a few times a season. So far in 2009, the division rivals have already crossed paths once, with Boston taking the cake easily, 105-74. Paul Pierce led the green in that game, scoring 21 points along with 8 boards and 4 assists.
Last season, Boston and Philly met up four times, with the Celtics sweeping all four by a combined total of 46 points.
Scouting Report:
Easier Said than Done – The Philadelphia offense is very simple. It runs through the 6-6 guard, Andre Iguodala. Philly goes where Iguodala goes.
That being said, it’s a lot easier to talk about how shutting him down will frustrate the 76’er offense than actually shutting him down. Still, the Celtics are known for their defense, thought it may be slipping of late. If there’s any time where Boston can try to regain their defensive prowess in search of immediate results, it would be Wednesday night, where they have a single goal: limit Iguodala. The recent emergence of first-year starting point-guard Lou Williams will make that a little bit more difficult for Boston, but they’ve shown in years past that they are able to do what needs to be done to take down Iguodala and the 76’ers – we’ll see if that holds true on Wednesday.
Key Statistic:
10/25 – The 40% that Boston shot from beyond the arc in their 107-105 OT victory over the Knicks on Sunday. It was a huge improvement over the 2-19 (11%) they shot in their loss to the Magic last Friday, something that Boston needs to see if they want to continue their success Wednesday night. Look for Ray Allen and Rasheed Wallace to get a lot of looks outside early as Philly tries to combat Kevin Garnett down low. But the numbers don’t lie – they better convert on those looks.
4/5 – The amount of major statistical categories that Andre Iguodala leads the 76’ers in – four out of five. He currently sits on top of the team in points per game (18.2), rebounds (6.5), assists (5.7) and steals (1.8). The only category he doesn’t lead? Blocks. He ranks sixth on the team in that. It’s no exaggeration that the Philly offense runs through number 9, which makes it that much more obvious what the Celtics have to do to win. But it also makes it that much more frustrating that it’s one of the hardest things in the game to do.
Health/Injuries:
Well Rested – Neither Philly nor Boston have any injuries that worry fans of either side. Jason Kapono of the 76’ers has been battling an ankle injury, but has only missed one game all season because of it. His minutes have been limited, but he appears to be nearing full strength after contributing six minutes in last nights loss to the Wizards. Also, second year forward Marreese Speights Philly's first round pick out of Florida, is out for the next 6-8 weeks after tearing his MCL against the Bulls on the 15th.
For the Celtics, it’s a very similar story. Aside from Glen Davis, who has been out since the beginning of the season, it’s been a few minor injuries and not much else. Paul Pierce seems to be all but 100% recovered from that minor knee strain he suffered last week, and Marquis Daniels is not at all worried about his wrist, which flared up after last Saturday’s loss to the Pacers.
Also good news on the injury front for Boston, as guard Tony Allen may be cleared to play in Wednesday night’s game, making his 2009-2010 season debut. It’s not yet known for sure if he’ll suit up, but Doc Rivers did say that Allen looked to be “very close, as close that he may play” this Wednesday.
Quotable:
Cause For Concern? – “Each game, one at a time, there’s reason why we lost but once again, I am not overly concerned because we make a shot here and a shot there and we get back into it. The big question for us is that KG is just not himself, I think everybody can see that and when will he? And then when will everybody just start making some shots? I think those are the big questions."
Some hefty words from Mr. Ainge. It appear Garnett’s inability to operate at 100% hasn’t gone unnoticed by the man at the top, and as we all saw last year, this Celtic team tends to only go so far as Kevin can carry them. Yes, the bench is deeper this season than in years past. And yes, Rondo and Perkins are playing much better. But at the same time, the Celtics are built on defense, and Kevin Garnett is their foundation.
It’s still very early in the season, and it’s important to remember that KG has only played competitive basketball for a few weeks now since those long months off, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on.
But for now, the Celtics just have to keep their eye on Philadelphia. I never thought I’d say this, but hopefully the momentum (?) they got from that overtime victory over the Knicks will help jumpstart a resurgence to greatness for the Green.
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