Lakers versus Celtics. 1/31/10

[Celtics_Champs]

3:30 on ABC.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

[Ben-N1ce]

One of the worse rebounding teams against one of the best and with the way the C's are currently playing they will be lucky to not lose by more than 10. The most glaring thing I see about the C's is that against sub .500 teams they are only 12-5 while LA and Cavs are 18-1 ORL 15-3. Those are the wins you have to get to move up in the standings and they haven't been getting it done.

[BRUNiNHO91]

Well..if we win, it could be the turning point of our season. If we lose, we will be stuck in the same boat as we have been for the last month or so. I expect a close game, no way will they blow us out. But it will be hard to win. (IMO, we have bigger chances of winning this game, than we did against the Hawks though)

[IEcelticfan]

sportsbook.com says PICK'EM and i know their squad shd be the favorites and on paper yeah they are. i really really wanna say we win 93-89 but as much as i hate to admit it, la in a squeaker *sigh*

BUT I HOPE I'M DEAD WRONG!!!!

[BillessuR6]

Win or lose I don`t believe we can get another ring unless a big upgrade is made. I hope a potential win will not mask our real weaknesses and make us believe that we can go all the way...

I have a feeling we will beat LA today...it is about time we finally play a good game!

[Scalamental]

This would be nice, have been looking forward to this for a while. Perks been in a real pissy mood, I expect him and artest to go at it. Fingers crossed.

[canman1971]

Should be a good game, but I have my doubts. This team just has not been able to put together a solid 48 minutes. They get too gassed it appears. I hope I am wrong, but as thebirdman said, this team has weaknesses and should not be overlooked if the Cs win. Our bench just out and out sucks right now. No energy, athleticism, consistency. Just old players for the most part or one trick ponies such as House. For all his faults, Sheed is really the only dependable guy, and that is pretty much defensively.

[Lewis35]

Hate to say it but I am not looking forward to this game. In 07/08 for the first time we had the big three going up against the Lakers for the first time. 08/09 the celtics were putting up their winning streak against the Lakers. They lost on Christmas so the game in February was a game the celtics probably looking forward toward as a revenge game.

Lakers are playing great and the celtics are floundering with poor rebounding, a weak bench and second half collapses and have been playing sub 500 ball (7-10 record) for over a month. If the Celtics won against the Magic and Hawks I would be extremely excited to see if the celtics can beat another top team to get back to their winning ways and make a statement.

I don't see any way in the world the celtics win this. What we here are have two teams headed in two different directions. I think it will be close for about 40 minutes before the Lakers pull away and win by at least 10.

Lastly, if they do win somehow I don't see how anybody can feel better about this team than they did after the Hawks beat them on Friday. Today, lose by 50 or win by 50 celtics need to make some changes.

[SichtingLives]

How many consecutive games can this team play like crap and implode in the second half? Something's gotta give, might as well be today.

How about a big game from Paul and Rondo, Ray shoots 50%, Perk does work on the glass, KG gives us 16 and 8 with some good D, the bench plays at least mediocre enough not to blow a lead and we don't allow 15+ offensive rebounds. Is that asking too much?? I don't think so.

[SichtingLives]

Hate to say it but I am not looking forward to this game. In 07/08 for the first time we had the big three going up against the Lakers for the first time. 08/09 the celtics were putting up their winning streak against the Lakers. They lost on Christmas so the game in February was a game the celtics probably looking forward toward as a revenge game.

Lakers are playing great and the celtics are floundering with poor rebounding, a weak bench and second half collapses and have been playing sub 500 ball (7-10 record) for over a month. If the Celtics won against the Magic and Hawks I would be extremely excited to see if the celtics can beat another top team to get back to their winning ways and make a statement.

I don't see any way in the world the celtics win this. What we here are have two teams headed in two different directions. I think it will be close for about 40 minutes before the Lakers pull away and win by at least 10.

Lastly, if they do win somehow I don't see how anybody can feel better about this team than they did after the Hawks beat them on Friday. Today, lose by 50 or win by 50 celtics need to make some changes.

Hey look at it this way, if they win today it could give them the boost of confidence they need to break out of this funk, and if they get destroyed it only makes Danny push harder for a difference making trade.

Trades or not, this team and the core of this roster are going to be here in the playoffs and they are the guys who need to step up. It's never too early or too late to start playing with some balls.

[BRUNiNHO91]

Ray and Rondo are key today. We know Paul is going to bring it, and if KG feels good he will too. Perk always brings it. Ray and Rondo have been sucky lately. Hopefully they show up.

Kobe needs 48 pts to pass Jerry West I believe...look for him to go Jamaal Crawford+Joe Johnson+Last Years playoffs Ben Gordon on us today...

[celticfan42487]

Can't say I have any confidence going into this game.

We're 3 games under .500 for this month. And it's all very deserved losses.

And LA got Ron Artest to matchup with Pierce and LeBron... and he will.

We'll see how those matchups play out during the game.

[TheOGJabroni]

Well..if we win, it could be the turning point of our season. If we lose, we will be stuck in the same boat as we have been for the last month or so. I expect a close game, no way will they blow us out. But it will be hard to win. (IMO, we have bigger chances of winning this game, than we did against the Hawks though)

This.

[Banks2Pierce]

A win today makes us all forget about all the struggles.

Lakers know the right way to play Rondo so that worries me. Rondo will need to have confidence in the jumper or we will have to have our other guys taking tough shots. Lakers have 3rd best d in the league now. Not the same old Lakers.

Our team D is pretty solid on stars like Kobe and Lebron, but I fear Ray will allow Kobe to easily get to the 10 feet area between the guards and the bigs and kill us from there.

Underrated part of the day is that the garden will probably care for the first time this season. Few pinkhats in the crowd, and even if there are, they know the magnitude of this rivalry.

Salvatore being on this game makes me extremely aggravated and honestly want to go down to the NBA offices and drop Stern.

[BRUNiNHO91]

A win today makes us all forget about all the struggles.

Lakers know the right way to play Rondo so that worries me. Rondo will need to have confidence in the jumper or we will have to have our other guys taking tough shots. Lakers have 3rd best d in the league now. Not the same old Lakers.

Our team D is pretty solid on stars like Kobe and Lebron, but I fear Ray will allow Kobe to easily get to the 10 feet area between the guards and the bigs and kill us from there.

Underrated part of the day is that the garden will probably care for the first time this season. Few pinkhats in the crowd, and even if there are, they know the magnitude of this rivalry.

Salvatore being on this game makes me extremely aggravated and honestly want to go down to the NBA offices and drop Stern.

At least it's not Joey Crawford..he's the worse. I **** hate that scum...he makes me miss that bitch Violet or Rose or w/e the hell her name was.

[ryaningf]

Feeling a win today--yeah, it's irrational, but you deep down our problems are fixable ones based on effort and focus, which means it's not hopeless and maybe the desperation of the situation combined with the visitation of the current champs pulls this team from the doldrums for at least one game.

Rondo's bad game on Friday was precipitated by the fact that he tweaked his hammy on Thursday. Doesn't make me confident he's going to have a Rondo game today--and we'll need a Rondo game to be competitive.

Look for KG to have another positive step forward in his latest comeback. I'll even go as far to say that he'll be the difference down the stretch, hitting key jumpers and making big defensive plays that decide the game.

Someone''s gonna surprise off the bench today--maybe Baby, perhaps some TA defense, or 'Sheed from deep

[Slartibartfast]

The Lakers D is tough this year. We need Rondo to be a scorer to have a chance, IMHO.

[Ben-N1ce]

The Lakers D is tough this year. We need Rondo to be a scorer to have a chance, IMHO.

The think is they actually know how to play Rondo. They give him the J and use help D on anyone he passes the ball to. Similar to Orl. He's got to hit that 15 footer.

[kmgarnett21]

No way we win this game.