Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce may be the resident future Hall-of-Famers on the Celtics roster, but Rajon Rondo has arguably become their most important player.
When: 7:30 pm; Tuesday, October 16th, 2012Where: TD Garden; Boston, MA
TV: NBA TV
The Nets head to Boston to take on the Celtics tonight at the TD Garden, looking to start off the preseason with a 3-0 record. Tonight's inter-division matchup won't nearly have the intensity of yesterday's Barclays Center debut as Avery Johnson announced earlier that none of the team's starters will play at all, with Coach Johnson wanting to let them rest and recover from the team's first-ever home game in Brooklyn.
That means the Nets will boast a starting lineup of C.J. Watson, Keith Bogans, Josh Childress, Reggis Evans, and Andray Blatche for the evening. Interestingly enough, four of those five weren't with the team last year, showing how much the bench has been turned over from the 2011-12 campaign. Another thing of note is that Nets' Georgian power forward, Tornike Shengalia, is likely to make his team debut in Boston, and will probably play around 20 minutes.
As you all probably know, the Nets won last night against the Wizards in the first NBA game ever played at the team's new home in the Barclays Center. However, the Celtics weren't as fortunate. They got absolutely gob-smacked by the 76ers in Philly on Monday night, losing by 32 in a poor all-around effort that Doc Rivers, coach of the Celtics, had to be extremely disappointed with. Boston committed 20 turnovers, shot a dreadful 61% from the free throw line, and allowed nearly 50% shooting by the opposing 76ers squad.
Now for the segment of tonight's Game Preview that you've all been waiting for....Josh Burton's Obscure Player on the Opposing Team's Preseason Roster! Originally, I was going to have Celtics' forward Dionte Christmas as tonight's opposing player but since he was waived earlier today, but now it's.......Jason Collins! Collins, who played for the Nets from 2001-08, was a fan favorite and played for both the Nets' Finals teams in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. He was a defensive stalwart who could also knock down the occasional mid-range shot, leading to Nets' play-by-play man Ian Eagle affectionately giving him the moniker of Set-Shot Willie for his distinctive shooting motion.
Probable Lineups
NETS- Watson (PG), Bogans (SG), Childress (SF), Evans (PF), Blatche (C)
BOS- Rondo (PG), Courtney Lee (SG), Pierce (SF), Sullinger (PF), Garnett (C)
Final Thoughts
Without the starters playing tonight, I'm looking forward to seeing Shengalia's debut as well as I'm excited to see some more of Mirza Teletovic, who didn't play well in limited time last night. I guess you could call tonight's game a Eurostash kind of night for me.
Random Prediction: Tornike, nicknamed "Toko", hits his 1st NBA shot. It's gonna be a three, if the Basketball Gods comply that is.
