The Celtics, coming off a great road win over the Knicks/David Stern, will head home tonight to face the low-life Suns. For the first time in a while, I feel confident that the Celtics will win tonight. The C's are at home, they are on a hot streak, they have Rondo back, and they are playing a weak opponent. Not in terms of record, the Celtics are probably one of the best teams in the eastern conference. At the pace they're going at, I expect them to win a lot more games. Here are tonight's five things:
5. USE THE HOME COURT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE:
The Celtics, despite winning tough games in both Atlanta and New York, are not a great road team. The C's are just 7-11 on the road, but are 10-6 at the garden. We know that they have the crowd backing them up, and that they have always played better in Boston. It hasn't been a big deal this year since they seemed to be losing everywhere to everyone, but the tides are turning.
4. DON'T PLAY DOWN TO YOUR COMPETITION:
The Suns are just 12-24. They are second to last in their conference and an embarrassing 2-15 on the road. If you thought we had it bad after the Grizzlies game, you were wrong. Those folks in Arizona don't have a lot of sports to be excited about. The Celtics need to stay focused and treat it like they did the Knicks game. The Suns are still professional.
3. KEEP REBOUNDING:
The Suns don't have a ton of big men and I'm not going to ignore that this is probably going to be a win. But, the most important part of the game remains the ability to rebound. This takes no explaining.
2. KEEP THE CONSISTENCY:
In the last few games, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett have had big performances. They just need to keep it up because the last thing they need now is a loss to one of the worst teams in the league.
1. TRY TO GIVE SOME STARTERS REST:
If the Celtics can get a big lead, which I expect them to, they need to give guys like Rondo and Pierce rest. They don't need any injuries right now and they need to keep up their momentum.
Tip-off for tonight's game is at 7:30 pm ET. Live game updates can be seen here.
