Celtics (42-30) vs Suns (20-52)

[Parliament10]

on CSNE, FSAZ

Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, Arizona – (Boston Celtics, 4th in Eastern Conference)





Celtics Face Critical Five-Game West Coast Swing As NBA Playoffs Loom
by Darren Hartwell | Thu, Mar 24, 2016

http://nesn.com/2016/03/looking-ahead-celtics-face-critical-west-coast-swing-as-playoffs-loom/

The opportunity is there for the Celtics to finish the season strong, but it won’t be easy. Their next five games will come on the road against Western Conference opponents, starting with the Phoenix Suns on Saturday and continuing with three tough tests in the Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors. Then they’ll close out their season with three massive matchups against the Hawks, Hornets and Heat.

Boston will have to win some, if not all, of its remaining games without key swingman Jae Crowder, who isn’t expected to return until the middle of the team’s West Coast swing at the earliest. The Celtics won’t have much margin for error, either: The Heat’s next four games all are against surefire NBA lottery teams, while the Hawks and Hornets both are 8-2 in their last 10 contests.

The good news for Boston is it enters the home stretch with confidence: The C’s have won three consecutive after dropping four in a row since Crowder first went down. Boston also is benefiting from the white-hot play of point guard Isaiah Thomas, who has scored 20 or more points in 11 consecutive contests and is averaging 26.2 points per game in the month of March.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/leahysean/status/713393286598279168[/tweet]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=davsPQcIELw[/youtube]






Phoenix Suns Roster, 2015-16
http://www.foxsports.com./nba/phoenix-suns-team-roster



Updates (up to Gametime):
[tweet]https://twitter.com/celtics/status/713496419651309568[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/CelticsLife/status/713482531472031745[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/celtics/status/713782662666661888[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/AdamHimmelsbach/status/713783238003544064[/tweet]





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

A (*) denotes an additional Virtual Tie.
___________________________________________________________________________________




(8) Evan Turner
(7) Jared Sullinger
(6) Jae Crowder
(5) Avery Bradley
(4) Kelly Olynyk
(3*) Isaiah Thomas
(3) Marcus Smart
(1*) Stevens/Team

[24istheLAW]

Go Suns!

[galipeautim]

Will be fun to watch Devin Booker play and even more fun to see how many turnovers our backcourt can cause Knight and Booker to commit. I understand a lot of Celtics fans want the team to lose this game because of the Brooklyn pick, but we need to start this road trip out strong and this should be a double digit win. This is probably the worst team in the NBA since losing Bledsoe for the year and no Chandler makes this a game we absolutely should not lose.

[OFWGKTA]

This is a Win/win game for me after bron bron blew it against the Nets

[London2Boston]

Win/Win.....or Lose/Lose considering how depressing you are

[15th overall]

If the Celts hadn't been too cool to put effort into playing Brooklyn TWICE (plus that loss to the Knicks that enabled the Nets to catch them sleeping the next night), idk if I'd be openly rooting for a loss... but this is the bed they chose.

The outcome of just two games last season was the difference between us getting Rozier and this guy:

Spoiler:

Myles Turner would be the most valuable player on our roster right now and you could even argue he fits Brad's system moreso than any of of our current players do as a 7 foot shotblocker who can drain 3's. It hurts to think about.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH3_P6f2iRo[/youtube]

With the stakes even higher, I can't deal with another season of prospect remorse again... or Phoenix winning the lottery and trading for Blake or some other elite young player because they outcrapped Brooklyn on our watch-- leaving us to convince ourselves that Al Horford and other bits is an acceptable alternative.

[Banks2Pierce]

I want the win. A lot of math to sort through to figure out the % swings from series wins and lotto balls with either scenario. For example, if we lose and that makes us likely to be a 5th or 6th seed rather than the 3rd, our series chances probably fall 8-10% but the chances of getting a top 3 pick go up ~4-5%.

[rickrolled]

Must win game for Boston, first game of the roadtrip that includes several tough games.

[SMTBSI]

I feel like this is the very last remnant of the last two season's legacy. Hopefully, this is the last time I ever have to say this, but, must lose game. (As 15th says, this is the bed we chose to lie in, by not taking care of business against Brooklyn ourselves.)


I'm not asking for a season of tanking. Just one game. One game. Swallow our pride, take one for the franchise, and move on.



(This is all just sake-of-argument anyway. We won't throw this game. And I doubt we lose it conventionally.)

[Bleeding Green]

They'll win this but if Devin Booker hits a few fluke, off-balance threes and the Suns win by one I won't be that disappointed.

[Ben-N1ce]

notsureifiwantawin

[Froob]

Wouldn't be terrible if we lost...

[truth18]

Lose.

[Froob]

Avery Bradley is sick and did not travel and is questionable for tomorrow. Danny must have suggested AB take a game off. What next, Celtics "forgot" to buy IT a plane ticket?

[PierceFan4ever]

I really have no idea which scenario I prefer in winning or losing this game.

[OFWGKTA]

Hopefully the Suns can win tonight, then us winning tomorrow wouldn't be so bad. And if we lost tomorrow, that would basically give Brooklyn a stranglehold on the 3 seed.

[Parliament10]

Avery Bradley is sick and did not travel and is questionable for tomorrow. Danny must have suggested AB take a game off. What next, Celtics "forgot" to buy IT a plane ticket?

That sucks. Hopefully he can play the other 4 games out there.

I just put this in the OP.

[Froob]

#1 in 3 pt defense.

Spoiler:

[Green89]

Avery Bradley is sick and did not travel and is questionable for tomorrow. Danny must have suggested AB take a game off. What next, Celtics "forgot" to buy IT a plane ticket?

No AB means Marcus Smart starts. That could mean a 2/18 night and a loss for the C's. On the other hand, a starting lineup of Rozier, Smart, Hunter, Clarke, and Zeller would probably destroy these pitiful Suns. I really can't see any way we lose this one.

[ConstableGeneva]

Since I'm confident delusional we can beat the Warriors in Oracle, we can afford to lose this one. Let's go, Celtpicks!