Here are five things to watch out for when the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers meet at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Quicken Loans Arena.
Like many teams approaching the All-Star game, the Boston Celtics are beginning to feel the effects of the season-long grind.
It’s fortunate that Boston, which has won seven of its last eight, is not facing any major injuries right now. A few of its players, however, are certainly banged up.
Jae Crowder, for example, has injured the same right leg on two separate occasions during the last three games. Luckily for the C’s, he’s a hard-nosed type of player who has little issue pushing through the pain.
“I’m a little banged up but it’s a part of it,” Jae Crowder said Wednesday night after Detroit forward Marcus Morris fell on the back of his leg. “It’s about that time of the season where a lot of guys are getting nicks and knacks.”
Isaiah Thomas has also been experiencing wear and tear, as it has become customary for him to receive lengthy postgame massages. He says he’s just about ready for the All-Star break, which is right around the corner.
“This is the point where you kind of want that break,” Thomas said Wednesday night. “Guys are banged up, but it happens to everybody and you just have to keep pushing through till break comes.”
That break will begin on Thursday, but Boston has appointments with four opponents first.
The first foe on the Celtics’ list is the Cavaliers, who will host them tonight.
Cleveland beat Boston handedly, 89-77, when the two squared off at TD Garden on Dec. 15. That win included a 49-31 second-half drubbing.
Boston’s primary struggle during that contest was matching up against Cleveland’s physicality, and that’s not surprising considering the Cavs’ size advantage.
The Cavaliers have an average weight of 231 pounds, which according to Basketball-Reference.com, makes them the heaviest team in NBA history. When they faced Boston last time, the Cavs’ starting lineup had an average weight of 240 pounds, compared to the Celtics who averaged out at 220 pounds.
Cleveland’s size advantage enabled it to crush Boston in the paint, 44-24.
The Celtics may have been dominated inside the last time they met the Cavs, but they’ve been cruising in that category of late.
Boston outscored New York in the paint on Tuesday, 58-28. The following night it drubbed Detroit in that category, 54-26.
That’s an insane 112-54 advantage in the paint over the last two games, which has to give the Celtics confidence heading into a matchup tonight that is bound to be physical inside.
The Celtics play at the fastest pace (101.1 possessions per game) in the Eastern Conference. Their pace dropped significantly, however, when they played Cleveland in December.
The Cavs slowed the C’s down, and as a result, Boston had its lowest scoring output of the season.
Evan Turner says that needs to different this time around.
“I think first game we played them this year our offense wasn’t too great and they got going and they hit some shots,” said Turner. “We have to make them uncomfortable, and we have to be clicking and our pace has to be great.”
Unlike Boston, the Cavaliers haven’t played at a fast pace for the majority of the season.
Newly appointed head coach Tyronn Lue is attempting to change that, however. The former Celtics assistant coach has made it a major point that he aims to get the Cavs in better shape so that they can become a more fluid, faster-paced machine.
His philosophy seems to be affecting Cleveland’s performance already. The Cavs have won five of their last six and scored at least 110 points in each of those victories. That included a 117-103 rout over the top defensive team in the league, the San Antonio Spurs.
Helping with that offensive production has been Kyrie Irving, who returned to the team in mid-December after missing the first month and a half of the season recovering from a fractured knee. The point guard has averaged 17.2 points 4.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game since his return.
Irving was not in Cleveland’s lineup when it faced Boston in December, so that means the C’s have one more weapon to worry about this time around.
