ok guys, Celtics are rested fine and have Delonte West and Glen Davis
back. they looked pretty good in the last outing, beating Indiana by 12.
The bench is coming around. Troy Murphy, Jeff Green, Carlos Arroyo
all becoming more adept in the system. I am particularly impressed with
Arroyo as a backup PG. It's a nice switch especially because it allows
West to be a more comfortable shooter and defender while Arroyo is
setting up Baby on the inside, Green, West.
Shaq is travelling with the team on this 3-game road set. He probably will
not play until it ends in New York, but just having the big guy with the team
will be a positive motivator for the starting unit.
Rockets beat Boston at Boston on January 11 by 108-102, but
Kevin Garnett did not play that game. I don't have to tell anyone how
much Garnett's defensive leadership matters to Boston. They were very
lethargic in that game, did not appear hungry at all. Along with this,
the other reasons that Houston edged the Garnett-less Celtics were
Shane Battier's defense and Aaron Brooks's offense ( 24 points ).
Neither are on the roster anymore.
Pierce was held to 5-12 shooting behind Battier's stellar defense, but he will be guarded by Chase Budinger tonight, which is a total mismatch.
We've got the playoffs coming so guys are really buckling down," forward Paul Pierce said. "We just want to finish off the season on a good note. So this is a very important trip for us to try to get all of these wins." - Paul Pierce