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Amar's Stoudemire, who missed the second half of game 2 with back spasms, didn't practice on Thursday but is expected to play in this game.  Chauncey Billups had his sore knee drained also didn't participate in practice and is listed as questionable for this one.  If he can't go, expect Toney Douglas to once again get the start.  Ronny Turiaf is also dealing with soreness in his knee but is expected to play.   Shaquille O'Neal traveled with the team to NY but is expected to miss this game.  He may play on Sunday, but then again, he may not.

In the first game, Stoudemire starred for the Knicks with 28 points and 11 rebounds while Anthony struggled somewhat.   In the second game, with  Billups out and Stoudemire going out in the first half,  Carmelo Anthony was outstanding with 42 points and 17 rebounds, practically carrying the team all by himself.  Paul Pierce has said that he has to be better defensively on Anthony to prevent another performance like that in this game.  For the Celtics, in game 1, Ray Allen stepped up with 24 points and 6 rebounds.  In game 2, we finally saw the aggressive Rondo once again as he scored 30 points and dished out 7 assists.

The Celtics can expect the Knicks to come out swinging and if they don't put forth a better effort, they might not be so lucky to pull this one out at the end.  The Celtics bench, although with more talent than the Knicks bench, has been out played in the first 2 games.  The Celtics must get more from Big Baby, Jeff Green and Delonte especially.  In both games, the starters have built a lead only to have it disappear when the starters go out for a rest.  The bench must produce more in this game.

We know that the Celtics can play much better.  The Knicks also can improve if they can get a good game from both of their stars on the same night.  The Celtics have to improve their defense and their execution throughout the game and not just at the end.  If the Celtics finally play a complete game, instead of turning it on and off throughout the game, they should get a win without the need for last second heroics. 

New York Knicks (0-1) at Boston Celtics (1-0)
Round 1 Game 2
Tuesday, April 19
7:00 PM ET
Playoff Game #2, Home Game #2
TV:  TNT, CSN-NE, MSG, TSN
TD Garden
Referees:  Joe Crawford, Bennett Salvatore, Michael Smith
The Celtics enter this game up 1-0 because of a last second Ray Allen three.  That's the way you want to sneak out road wins and not the way to win at home.  After a very sluggish start, they finally flipped the switch in the second half and played unselfishly on offense and clamped down on defense.  Hopefully the switch is still on and the Celtics will get off to a strong start in this one.  

There are some question marks to begin this game.  First, Chauncey Billups went out at the end of game 1 and is listed as questionable for this game.  After practice on Monday, Doc said they are preparing two game plans:  one for if Billups plays and one for if he doesn't.  If Billups can't go, Toney Douglas is expected to get the start.  This may benefit the Knicks in the long run in that Douglas is a better defender and a better shooter from the perimeter than Chauncey.  

The Celtics bench didn't show up in game 1.  The 4 players who came off the bench for the Celtics  posted a total of 8 points and 8 rebounds.  They must improve their effort and output in this game if the Celtics expect to get a win.  The Celtics have 2 of the worst refs in the league officiating this game and so anything can happen in this game, depending on what agenda they bring into the game.  The Celtics need to come into the game focused and play team ball and most importantly lock down defense from the opening tip until the final buzzer.