Celtics (43-30) @ Clippers (45-27)

[Parliament10]

on NBAt, PT, CSNE

@ Staples Center, Los Angeles, California – (Boston Celtics, 4th in Eastern Conference)






Clippers vs. Celtics - 3/28/16 NBA Pick, Odds, and Prediction
Randy Chambers | March 27, 2016

http://sportschatplace.com/nba-picks/2016/03/28/clippers-vs-celtics-3/28/16-nba-pick-odds-and-prediction

The Boston Celtics look to build on their solid four-game winning streak. The Boston Celtics are averaging 106 points on 44 percent shooting and allowing 102.3 points on 43.9 percent shooting. Isaiah Thomas is averaging 22.1 points and 6.5 assists while Avery Bradley is averaging 15.1 points and 2.7 rebounds. Jae Crowder is grabbing 5.1 rebounds and Jared Sullinger is dishing 2.3 assists. The Boston Celtics are shooting 33.4 percent from beyond the arc and 79.2 percent from the free throw line. The Celtics are allowing 32.9 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 45 rebounds per game. The Boston Celtics have lost four of their last six road games.

The Los Angeles Clippers look for consistency after splitting their last 14 games. The Los Angeles Clippers are averaging 104.6 points on 46.2 percent shooting and allowing 101.1 points on 43.9 percent shooting. Chris Paul is averaging 20 points and 9.9 assists while J.J. Redick is averaging 16.8 points and 1.7 rebounds. Jamal Crawford is dishing 2.2 assists and DeAndre Jordan is grabbing 13.9 rebounds. The Los Angeles Clippers are shooting 36.2 percent from beyond the arc and 69.4 percent from the free throw line. The Clippers are allowing 34.4 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 41.9 rebounds per game. The Los Angeles Clippers have won five of their last seven home games.

The Celtics are 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games playing on 1 days rest and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 road games. The Clippers are 0-6 ATS in their last 6 vs. Eastern Conference and 6-2-2 ATS in their last 10 Monday games. The underdog is 10-4 ATS in the last 14 meetings.

Defense Dominates Again as C's Log 4th Straight W
By Marc D'Amico | Celtics.com | March 26, 2016



http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar/post-032616-defense-dominates-again-as-cs-log-fourth-straight-w

PHOENIX – Remember that renowned defense the Boston Celtics showcased over the first few months of the NBA season? Well, it appears to have returned.

Boston logged its fourth straight win Saturday night in Phoenix, but more importantly, it logged its third straight dominant effort at the defensive end.

Phoenix managed to score 99 points but shot a measly 43.5 percent from the field during Boston’s 102-99 victory. Such marked the third instance in as many games during which Boston’s opponent scored fewer than 100 points while shooting 43.5 percent or less from the field.

Los Angeles Clippers Roster, 2015-16
http://www.foxsports.com/nba/los-angeles-clippers-team-roster



Updates (up to Gametime):
[tweet]https://twitter.com/BstnCelticsNews/status/714539522197860352[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/FantasyLabsNBA/status/714514919685664768[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/Chris_Reichert/status/714091600956133376[/tweet]





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Victory Cigar
(14) Isaiah Thomas
(7) Avery Bradley
(6) Evan Turner
(4) Jae Crowder
(3) Stevens/Team
(2) Kelly Olynyk
(2) Marcus Smart
(2) Amir Johnson
(2) Jared Sullinger
(1) Tyler Zeller

Ties go to the Team.
___________________________________________________________________________________




(9) Evan Turner
(7) Jared Sullinger
(6) Jae Crowder
(5) Avery Bradley
(5) Kelly Olynyk
(4) Isaiah Thomas
(4) Marcus Smart
(2) Stevens/Team
(1) Amir Johnson

[ConstableGeneva]

The Clippers are vulnerable and are on a downswing having won only 3 of their last 9 games (Knicks, hot-and-cold Rockets, and 2-pt win vs. Portland). They'll be coming off a back-to-back and are heavily reliant on Chris Paul. Our bench unit will be key to victory as theirs stink. Lock down CP3, keep DJ away from the paint, and we're golden. Keep that win streak rolling! **** LA! Let's go Celtics!

[Froob]

Wow Clippers record isn't that much better. Let's embarrass these clowns. We only raise titles and retired numbers and they raise selfies. Enough said.

[Green89]

We need to do everything we can to get a win, as our toughest back to back of the year is the next two games after this.

[truth18]

Clip city **** city.

[LarryBirdsFingr]

Clip city **** city.

lol fukin turd city

[Afam]

Clip city **** city.

Lol. We hang championship Banners, they hang division titles.

[jirrit]

We can win this one! Any news on Crowder?

[Parliament10]

We can win this one! Any news on Crowder?

[tweet]https://twitter.com/AdamHimmelsbach/status/713783238003544064[/tweet]
Jae Crowder is not supposed to play Monday night, and is day-to-day after that.

[BRUNiNHO91]

Would be a massive win if we got it. Let's hope we pull it off!

[Afam]

The Celtics need to be winning games like this to be taken seriously as a playoff team. Also it helps in attracting good free agents. Furthermore, the Celtics need to find away to either beat the Warriors ,or keep the game close and not lose by a huge margin .

[Parliament10]

The Celtics need to be winning games like this to be taken seriously as a playoff team. Also it helps in attracting good free agents. Furthermore, the Celtics need to find away to either beat the Warriors ,or keep the game close and not lose by a huge margin .

We went into OT with them, earlier in the season.
But, I don't see us beating them in the Playoffs, should we make it that far.

[Afam]

The Celtics need to be winning games like this to be taken seriously as a playoff team. Also it helps in attracting good free agents. Furthermore, the Celtics need to find away to either beat the Warriors ,or keep the game close and not lose by a huge margin .

We went into OT with them, earlier in the season.
But, I don't see us beating them in the Playoffs, should we make it that far.

I agree that the Celtics can't beat the Warriors in the playoffs. But we need to start beating good teams to draw the attention of good free agents ,and let them know we're not that far off from being a championship team. They can be the missing piece .If the Celtics advance far in the playoffs , don't you think it would draw the attention of Kevin Durant ? . The Celtics beating bad teams doesn't convince anyone that they're a legimate playoff team/to be taken seriously , but beating good teams will do that.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Well I won't be watching the next 3 games because of the late starts.

Celtics have not been playing well lately. Yes I know Crowder has been out but many teams have injuries at this point in the season.

Celtics struggled against the sixers and magic, the beat the raptors with their best player out and barely beat one of he worst teams in the NBA on Saturday. I don't see how they win tonight, or even the next two games after for that matter.

[galipeautim]

Well I won't be watching the next 3 games because of the late starts.

Celtics have not been playing well lately. Yes I know Crowder has been out but many teams have injuries at this point in the season.

Celtics struggled against the sixers and magic, the beat the raptors with their best player out and barely beat one of he worst teams in the NBA on Saturday. I don't see how they win tonight, or even the next two games after for that matter.

The answer to how they win has less to do with the Celtics and more to do with the Clippers:

1) Clippers have been playing worse than us of late. They have finally shown signs that they are not a great team without Blake Griffin. Very possible they are now in wait-til-Blake-is-back mode now that he has a set return date.
2) Clippers have very little incentive to play well tonight. They are essentially slotted into the #4 slot in the playoffs, which would draw a very favorable matchup with the Grizzlies.
3) Clippers are playing the back-end of a back-to-back and have a slim roster to begin with. Decent chance Doc Rivers takes the opportunity to rest some players against his former team.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Well I won't be watching the next 3 games because of the late starts.

Celtics have not been playing well lately. Yes I know Crowder has been out but many teams have injuries at this point in the season.

Celtics struggled against the sixers and magic, the beat the raptors with their best player out and barely beat one of he worst teams in the NBA on Saturday. I don't see how they win tonight, or even the next two games after for that matter.

The answer to how they win has less to do with the Celtics and more to do with the Clippers:

1) Clippers have been playing worse than us of late. They have finally shown signs that they are not a great team without Blake Griffin. Very possible they are now in wait-til-Blake-is-back mode now that he has a set return date.
2) Clippers have very little incentive to play well tonight. They are essentially slotted into the #4 slot in the playoffs, which would draw a very favorable matchup with the Grizzlies.
3) Clippers are playing the back-end of a back-to-back and have a slim roster to begin with. Decent chance Doc Rivers takes the opportunity to rest some players against his former team.

I just find it hard to believe that Doc doesn't want to beat his former team after losing the last one. Personally with 9 games left I think it is to early to start resting guys.

While the Grizzlies are a good match up the Blazers could surpass them and end up getting the 5th seed.

[galipeautim]

Well I won't be watching the next 3 games because of the late starts.

Celtics have not been playing well lately. Yes I know Crowder has been out but many teams have injuries at this point in the season.

Celtics struggled against the sixers and magic, the beat the raptors with their best player out and barely beat one of he worst teams in the NBA on Saturday. I don't see how they win tonight, or even the next two games after for that matter.

The answer to how they win has less to do with the Celtics and more to do with the Clippers:

1) Clippers have been playing worse than us of late. They have finally shown signs that they are not a great team without Blake Griffin. Very possible they are now in wait-til-Blake-is-back mode now that he has a set return date.
2) Clippers have very little incentive to play well tonight. They are essentially slotted into the #4 slot in the playoffs, which would draw a very favorable matchup with the Grizzlies.
3) Clippers are playing the back-end of a back-to-back and have a slim roster to begin with. Decent chance Doc Rivers takes the opportunity to rest some players against his former team.

I just find it hard to believe that Doc doesn't want to beat his former team after losing the last one. Personally with 9 games left I think it is to early to start resting guys.

While the Grizzlies are a good match up the Blazers could surpass them and end up getting the 5th seed.

Doc still loves the Celts and likes to see them doing well. I don't think he will bench his players, but I don't think he's any more excited to beat the Celtics than any other team.

I can't see the Grizzlies passing LAC when they are behind 4+ games and are without two of their all-stars (Conley and Gasol) and will likely miss games from their third star (Randolph). I find it more likely that Portland passes Memphis.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Got an alert on my phone saying Crowder is returning to practice on Wednesday and is hoping to play against the GSW on Friday.

[ConstableGeneva]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/nbastats/status/714557818670419968[/tweet]Can tie record tonight. Also, get the win. I'm surprised Pierce isn't on that list.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/nbastats/status/714557818670419968[/tweet]Can tie record tonight. Also, get the win. I'm surprised Pierce isn't on that list.

I'm actually even more surprised that Bird tops the list, seeing as how talented his teammates were, plus the fact that he loved passing so much.