http://www.nba.com/games/20090208/SASBOS/preview.html Spurs-Celtics Preview By KATE HEDLIN, STATS Writer The San Antonio Spurs will have a well-rested lineup when they visit the defending NBA champions. With four of their top five scorers having not played in five days, the Spurs will look to end a three-game losing streak against the Boston Celtics as the last two NBA champions meet on Sunday. San Antonio (33-15) hasn't played since a 104-96 loss to Denver on Tuesday in which Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Michael Finley and Manu Ginobili all sat out after the Spurs' stars played heavy minutes in an overtime win at Golden State the night before. While Duncan, Parker and Finley were just getting extra rest, Ginobili had the night off because of a bruised hip. Coach Gregg Popovich said he expects Ginobili to play against the Celtics (42-10). The Spurs, who have completed two games of an eight-game road trip, hope the extra layoff will help them hand Boston just its second loss in 15 games. "I think it was a good decision for us," Duncan said Friday. "Hopefully it pays off for us." San Antonio has lost three straight to Boston after winning the previous 18 matchups. Duncan, who the Spurs took with the first pick of the 1997 draft after winning the lottery over the Celtics, had won all 17 career games versus Boston before March 17, 2007. Duncan and the Spurs will need to be at their best on Sunday against the surging Celtics. The defending NBA champs, who have the third-best record in the league behind the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers, rebounded from their one-point overtime loss to the Lakers on Thursday with a 110-100 win over the New York Knicks on Friday. Paul Pierce scored 26 points, Ray Allen added 22 and Kevin Garnett had 15 points and 11 rebounds in his second game back after missing the previous two with the flu. Boston rallied after being down by four points at the end of the third quarter. "It was a big win," said Pierce, who is averaging 28.0 points in the last four games. "I thought we were mentally and physically drained coming into this game, especially after the tough loss. It took us a while. We got off to a slow start, but this team continues to find ways to win." The Celtics, who are holding opponents to 92 points per game - second-fewest in the NBA - have given up 100 in five of their last seven games. Their defense might have a better showing against the Spurs. Neither Boston nor San Antonio has broken 100 points in the last four matchups between the two. Pierce and the Celtics are 24-3 at home this season, with all three losses coming against teams from the Western Conference (Denver, Houston and the Lakers) by an average of 4.7 points. "It'll be a good challenge for us," San Antonio's Roger Mason said. Mason led the Spurs with 26 points on Tuesday as San Antonio had its four-game winning streak snapped. The Spurs had also won eight of their previous nine. While Popovich was looking to give his players some needed rest during the extended road trip, he's hoping the time off didn't slow down Ginobili's recent surge. Ginobili, who missed the first month of the season because of an ankle injury, is averaging 15.8 points this season after a career-best 19.5 in 2007-08. He's averaging 28.0 points in his last three games, going 35-of-36 at the free-throw line during that stretch. "In a season where I'm not shooting well, I need to get some easy baskets," said Ginobili, who scored a season-high 32 points on Monday against the Warriors.
http://www.nba.com/games/20090208/LALCLE/preview.html Lakers-Cavaliers Preview By MATT BECKER, STATS Senior Writer To say it's been an eventful week for LeBron James and Kobe Bryant would be an understatement. After each topped the headlines for their performances at Madison Square Garden, Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers beat the defending champions on the same day James criticized the league for disrespecting a teammate. If that wasn't enough, James also was stripped of his rare feat at the Garden. To cap off this extraordinary week, the league's two most dynamic players get the opportunity to square off Sunday when James' Cavaliers (39-9) and Bryant's Lakers (40-9) meet at Quicken Loans Arena in a matchup featuring the best team from each conference. Bryant, the league's reigning MVP, opened this week by setting a Madison Square Garden record with 61 points in Los Angeles' 126-117 win at New York on Monday. Not to be outdone, James, a front-runner for this season's MVP, scored a season-high 52 points while adding 11 assists and 10 rebounds in Cleveland's 107-102 win at MSG on Wednesday. "I don't go out there for the numbers, I just play my game," James said. "You guys seen every phase of my game, the scoring, the rebounding, the assists and defensively just trying to attack the opposing team." That triple-double lasted for only two days, though, as the NBA stripped James of one of his 10 rebounds after reviewing game tape on Friday. If his triple-double had stood, it would have been the first 50-point game in a triple-double since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975. Instead, it was the second time the Cavaliers were upset by a league decision in as many days. On Thursday, commissioner David Stern selected Boston guard Ray Allen to replace injured Orlando guard Jameer Nelson instead of Cleveland's Mo Williams at next week's All-Star game in Phoenix. Williams, who is averaging 17.1 points and has become James' sidekick, was originally left off the All-Star roster in a vote by Eastern Conference coaches. "That's how they always treat us," said James, a five-time All-Star averaging 28.5 points. "They wouldn't take me (as an All-Star) if they didn't have to. "You look at all the teams with some of the better records in this league. Look at the Lakers, they have two All-Stars. Orlando, two (initially three) All-Stars. Boston, two (now three) All-Stars. San Antonio, two All-Stars. All the good teams in the league that have really good records and you look at us with just one All-Star. It's a total smack in the face." Cleveland, which has won eight of its last nine games, boasts the top record in the East and can take over the league's best record by defeating Western Conference-leading Los Angeles. The Lakers, who have won nine of 10, already defeated the Cavs 105-88 on Jan. 19, and would own the tiebreaker for home-court advantage in the finals - if they both make it - with a victory Sunday. Winning at Cleveland won't be easy, though, as the Cavs have won all 23 games at Quicken Loans Arena this season. They've also won four straight home games over the Lakers since a 111-106 overtime loss on Feb. 4, 2004. Neither James nor Bryant had stellar performances in their meeting at Staples Center three weeks ago. James had 23 points on 9-of-25 shooting, nine rebounds and four assists, while Bryant finished with 20 points on 9-of-22 shooting, 12 assists and five turnovers. Bryant, an 11-time All-Star averaging 27.5 points, suffered a dislocated right ring finger, but stayed in the game Pau Gasol, Los Angeles' other All-Star, led the Lakers with 22 points and 13 boards in the win over the Cavs, and has stepped up his game since center Andrew Bynum was lost for eight to 12 weeks to a knee injury. Gasol had 24 points and 14 rebounds in Thursday's 110-109 overtime victory over Boston, snapping the Celtics' 12-game win streak in a rematch of last season's NBA finals. The 7-footer is averaging 28.7 points on 70.8 percent shooting and 14.3 boards in three games since Bynum got hurt. "(Gasol) was huge," said Bryant, who had 26 points and 10 rebounds. "He played strong. He played physical. That's what happens. A team against you is playing physical with you, so you have to play physical right back." The Lakers snapped a five-game losing streak to the Cavs with the win three weeks ago, and have not swept a season series from them since 2003-04 - James' rookie season.
Spurs-Celtics: Old champs take shot at new champs Jeff McDonald BOSTON — When the Spurs walk into the TD Banknorth Garden this morning, they will be sure to take notice of the redecorating job the building's primary occupants undertook over the summer. A 17th Boston Celtics championship banner will be hanging in the rafters, accentuating the feng shui. The Spurs might also notice an addition to the Celtics' traditional green-and-white uniforms — a nice, big invisible bull's-eye where the numbers should be. Spurs forward Tim Duncan, owner of four NBA titles himself, knows this look well. “It's definitely different being the defending champion,” Duncan said. “People come in every night, and you've got a target on your back. It doesn't matter who it is or what team you're playing, they're always going to bring their best against you.” Especially if that team happens to be the previous NBA champion. The Spurs, the league's 2007 title-winner, resume their rodeo road trip today with a high-noon showdown against the newly crowned Celtics. It is a red-letter date the Spurs have had circled on their calendar in Celtic green for some time now, ever since Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Co. officially supplanted them as king of the NBA hill last June. “It's going to be a great game, a great challenge,” Spurs guard Tony Parker said. “We're going to be very motivated, and they're going to be very motivated.” As if the Spurs needed more in the motivation department. Much of the basketball-playing world already seems to have ordained an NBA Finals rematch between the Celtics and Lakers. No matter that the Spurs are still very much in the conversation among the league's elite. At 33-15, they are in second place in the Western Conference behind the Lakers, and head into today's game holding a 31/2-game lead over New Orleans in the league's toughest division. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich says he seldom uses his team's “under-the-radar” status to inspire his players. He wouldn't be surprised, however, if they use it to inspire themselves. “It probably does bug them, because they're human beings,” Popovich said. “It never materializes into somebody saying, ‘We never get respect.' But they play for that.” The Spurs can forget about getting the Rodney Dangerfield treatment in Boston. The Celtics, who at 42-10 trail only Cleveland in the Eastern Conference, have had this game earmarked as well. “Everybody talks about the Lakers,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “I'm amazed people keep forgetting about the Spurs. They're just a fundamentally sound, great basketball team.” Boston center Kendrick Perkins went a step further, intimating he was relieved it was the Lakers, and not the Spurs, who came out of the Western Conference last season. “I think if they had made it, it would have been a tougher (NBA) Finals,” Perkins said. From afar, the Spurs recognize the formula the Celtics used to hang their 17th championship banner last summer. It is much the same formula the Spurs used to hang four since 1999. The Celtics surrounded their three stars with productive role players — 3-point gunner Eddie House, grappling big man Glen “Big Baby” Davis, the since-departed James Posey and since-inactive Sam Cassell — and leaned hard on an attack-dog defense. Led by Garnett, the league's reigning defensive player of the year, the Celtics' defensive dominance hasn't waned. Boston ranks first in the league in field-goal percentage defense (42.5) and second in scoring defense, allowing just 92.3 points a game. Popovich is quick to label the Celtics “the best defensive team we'll face all year.” “They focus on defense, no question,” said Spurs guard Roger Mason Jr., who faced Boston four times with Washington last season. “That's the anchor of their team. That's the reason they won the championship last year.” The Spurs will witness the fruits of that labor this afternoon. Indeed, the Celtics have another banner in the rafters, but they won't be the only team in the gym with a target on their backs. “You can't ever count the Spurs out,” Perkins said. “They're going to come with it. They're a championship team.”
“Pierce and the Celtics are 24-3 at home this season, with all three losses coming against teams from the Western Conference (Denver, Houston and the Lakers) by an average of 4.7 points.” when did the rockets do that, i seriously can't remember LOL
Wow, what a great afternoon to relax and watch some good, old fashioned GREAT sports. Both of these NBA games are incredible and i'm also currently watching the Pens/Red Wings Stanley Cup Finals rematch on NBC too.
I believe the Celtics will win and I want them to win of course, but I believe the Lakers will win. I feel like this is another year for Kobe to win the MVP. This game could honestly determine a lot for the MVP voting. Lakers with no Bynum ending the Cavs' Home streak? Pretty tough to do.
I think this game will depend on the spurs' 3pt%. It seems the celtics give them open 3s, but don't let parker or manu to attack the rim.
SAS 60 : 52 BOS half time I think the celtics' defense strategy wasn't successful. They allowed the spurs to take outside shots, and the spurs was shooting well. And, they were not able to stop Manu attacking the rim. But, the spurs' defense was not that impressive as well. As usual, they had trouble for the PnR defense.
How could you forget? McGrady played the prior (disastrous) game against the Sixers. People were pretty much fed up with him at that point. So he sits out against the Celts and the Rockets got the win in Boston. This was during the Celtics' 2-7 slide. Regarding today's game, I can't believe the Spurs scored 60 points in the 1st half. The Celts have really become a yoyo this season where the level of defensive effort is totally unpredictable. When they bring the defense, they are almost unbeatable. When they don't, 60 point halves against them are possible.
