Starting tonight the next six games of the Boston Celtics are against teams with young athletic frontlines.  Recent history has seen the Celts struggle against the Bobcats, whom they play tonight and the Chicago Bulls on Friday night.

This is where the absence of Glen Davis and the need for Shelden Williams to be a more aggressive presence on the court for Boston arises.  He can’t afford to be bounced around like a piñata and be almost victimized by a point guard trying to dunk.

Boston like the Cleveland Cavaliers are built for playoff style basketball and it has yet to be seen how Kevin Garnett’s knee will hold up.  Will Rasheed be able to keep up with the younger legs?

It may be fitting that the orange clad Charlotte Bobcats be the first to enter the confines of Causeway Street.  Last year, the Celtics needed a miracle shot from Allen, and two overtimes to win games against Charlotte.

Gerald Wallace, the demolition man, takes advantage of his quickness over Pierce; Felton Spencer is a rugged point guard who simply out-muscled Rondo.

Boris Diaw’s ability to hit the threes, handle the ball and his passing gave him a slight edge over Garnett.

Omeka Okafor got his double-double and Radja Bell hit timely threes; Okafor has since been traded for Tyson Chandler and Bell is out for at least a few months with an injury.  Of course, Larry Brown, the NBA coaching nomad has branded playing basketball the right way in the psyche of the players.

Charlotte now presents a totally different set of problems for Boston. Chandler is a more athletic, mobile and defensive minded center.  Being a legitimate seven foot doesn’t hurt either.  He is better suited for Larry Brown’s defensive schemes. His help and recovery skills will help put more pressure on the offense. 

They’ve also improved their bench with the addition of Flip Murray and Steven Graham.  Graham will be starting because Murray has ended up on the injured list also.

As you can tell the Bobcats have their own injury concerns as well as Chandler getting his timing back after his own injury woes.

This very well could be a trap game for the Celtics and Charlotte could steal one if the Celtics aren’t focused.  Last night’s win in Cleveland was a salvo for their battered psyche; after more than three years of blowout games they were able to break through.

This is a perfect game to see just how much the Celtics are willing to push through any team or thing that will stand in their way.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 3:58 pm and is filed under Most Recommended, News Headlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.