The Hornets get tested big-time tonight when they square off with the defending champion Celtics in Boston (7 Central, ESPN). Boston have the NBA's best record at 21-2, they've won 13 straight overall, and 7 straight at home. Not gonna be easy.
Apparently new Hornet Antonio Daniels won't be available to play tonight, but everyone else should be locked and loaded.
Buckle up.
Linkage:
- Ryan's game preview
- Journals: I heart CP | Bobcats announcers | Your All-Star picks
- Lots of "Posey back in Boston" stories via our News Article and Lagniappe sections.
- Hornets-Celtics watch party info: Baton Rouge | Covington
- Celtics Blogs: Celtics247 | CelticsBlog | RedsArmy.com
86 thoughtful comments post your own
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 05:08 PM
Forgot to mention: I'll be watching the game from home tonight and checking in on the comments regularly. So, you know, hang around and talk to me.
www.ndoherty.com #1
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 06:33 PM
Interesting write-up on Kevin Garnett's trash talking today at TrueHoop:
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-37-45/Kevin-Garnett-s-Big-Mouth.html
www.ndoherty.com #2
Roc217
12/12/08 06:40 PM
TC article reporting no Tyson tonight. can this get any worse. sigh!
#3
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 06:47 PM
Damn, they just reported that on ESPN, too. That's a big blow for us.
Although... we did beat the Nuggets on the road without TC. I'm with Rohan that it feels good to be the underdog again.
www.ndoherty.com #4
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 06:50 PM
Just saw that the T-P also reported that Daniels might be available tonight after all. That'd be nice.
www.ndoherty.com #5
Roc217
12/12/08 06:51 PM
Tyson has yet to play when they are on a national channel. They are going against KG/Perkins though. I can see KG now barking at Hilton. UNREAL!
#6
Andrea
12/12/08 06:55 PM
why no TC?
#7
ticktock6
12/12/08 06:58 PM
*I* have neck spasms. I took 2 advil.
Where is the trainer?? Can't they shoot him up?
hornetshype.com #8
Mikey
12/12/08 07:14 PM
Cut me, Mick.
#9
Andrea
12/12/08 07:17 PM
So far, so good..loved Hilton's strong move against Perkins..i'll be checking in during commericals and halftime..TV is in a different room from the computer
#10
Mikey
12/12/08 07:17 PM
This may be a good game for Hilton to start. He can definitely out-athelete Perkins. Gotta hit the boards Hilton. I think he's got 2 rebounds so far.
#11
Andrea
12/12/08 07:28 PM
Nice to see Melvin being active early in the game especially with TC out
#12
Roc217
12/12/08 07:29 PM
What's with the sleeve on Chris? Wrong is it.
#13
mW
12/12/08 07:32 PM
Posey had no business making that 3.
www.hornetshype.com #14
Mikey
12/12/08 07:35 PM
We have nobody that can rebound. This can get ugly quickly.
#15
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 07:39 PM
Yeah, the rebounding is killing us. West and Chris both picked up late fouls in that quarter after the C's got an offensive board. Still, not a bad 12 minutes overall. We're matching their intensity so far. Let's see how the second units match up.
www.ndoherty.com #16
Mikey
12/12/08 07:40 PM
Sean Marks.... Designated Fouler
#17
Mikey
12/12/08 07:42 PM
Hey look... the kiwi can rebound a little.
#18
mW
12/12/08 07:42 PM
Why is Devin still guard #1 off the bench with Mo healthy?
www.hornetshype.com #19
mW
12/12/08 07:46 PM
At least we're shooting about 8% better from the field and about 46% better from deep (too offset poor rebounding).
www.hornetshype.com #20
Mikey
12/12/08 07:46 PM
i know ticktock is going crazy with this here Brandon Roy christmas story foot locker commercial, lol
#21
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 07:46 PM
Wow, Marks is actually playing really well in there. Who knew he could rebound like that?
... and then Byron takes him right out of the game. Those two minutes might have been the best of Sean Marks' career.
www.ndoherty.com #22
Mikey
12/12/08 07:50 PM
There we go... Turnover by Hilton. Now all is right with my world.
#23
NOH_Domination
12/12/08 07:55 PM
Hola fellas. Any of you talk on the espn convos?
#24
ticktock6
12/12/08 07:57 PM
Wait, Brandon Roy where? I was making a gin and tonic.
Also? Obligatory Hornets content: Devin Brown. Do not want.
hornetshype.com #25
mW
12/12/08 07:57 PM
Marks also missed a couple shots, got burned repeatedly on D, and committed a couple dumb fouls. Give me Ju-Ju.
www.hornetshype.com #26
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 08:03 PM
@ NOH: No, never tried it. Any good?
Man, I love Chris Paul. And David West is not one to shy away from Kevin Garnett and his intensity/insanity. (Instansity?)
www.ndoherty.com #27
Mark
12/12/08 08:04 PM
We need to be aggressive. Although we're not exactly foul-free ourselves, the Celts are in worse condition if their starters get into foul trouble.
Rebounds will be sparse for us (at least for right now w/o ceiling fan), so we need to capitalize and be efficient.
www.dogpile.com/ #28
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 08:04 PM
@ mW: Actually, this is one game where I'd rather not see JuJu. Every mistake will be costly tonight.
www.ndoherty.com #29
lilrip133
12/12/08 08:07 PM
I'm so sick of Devin Brown's automatic lead-sapping effect. If CP3 weren't the best player in the league, I don't know how the Hornets would even stay above water.
#30
saltandcarbon
12/12/08 08:09 PM
Having to listen to this via the interweb radio in drizzly old Melbourne, and to make it worse the Hornets radio network is out. I want my Hornets-schtick! Anyway, the Boston radio announcers are truly, deeply, revoltingly one-eyed. I mean like, rude about the skills of our guys. Like it's accidental they're playing in the NBA. Especially some dude called Clyde. Damn.
Anyway, GO HILTON! GO MEL! GO THE KIWI BEAN!
#31
ticktock6
12/12/08 08:11 PM
Also, I dearly hope the halftime plan includes how to run more plays for Peja.
hornetshype.com #32
NOH_Domination
12/12/08 08:11 PM
Looks to be an offensive shootout so far.
#33
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 08:12 PM
That was a very nice first half. Hilton has been very nice out there, even getting two offensive boards in the last 30 seconds. He's not the only bench guy that's stepped up either.
Pity Peja's being smothered on D. Hubie Brown is right; we need to run him off some picks. Paul Pierce has it easy guarding him right now.
www.ndoherty.com #34
Dejan16
12/12/08 08:12 PM
I like our defense so far in the game, but if we are going to win, peja has to get involved somehow, 2 shot attempts is not enough.
#35
NOH_Domination
12/12/08 08:13 PM
Totally agree Niall, but that is the only thing i can agree on with Hubie. How can he be an announcer, HE'S SOOOO BORING
#36
lilrip133
12/12/08 08:23 PM
i agree. we definitely have to get peja involved more or paul pierce is gonna kill us in the 4th. but much props to hilton armstrong. he can be up and down but he's playin his heart out this game
#37
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 08:24 PM
Really? Hubie is by far my favorite announcer. Most guys just describe the action, invent new words for awesome and throw out a few stats. Hubie actually gives insights as to why a team is struggling (beyond the obvious) and how they can improve. He'll point out small stuff that doesn't seem important but can make a big difference. I've heard too that before every game, he watches the previous three games of each team so he can get familiar with them. I feel like I always learn something listening to Hubie, whereas other announcers usually make me dumber.
www.ndoherty.com #38
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 08:26 PM
BTW, everyone check out lilrip133's Journal post before it gets lost in the shuffle: http://www.hornets247.com/journals/2008/12/12/devin-brown-why
Thanks for posting that, lilrip133, and welcome to Hornets247.
www.ndoherty.com #39
lilrip133
12/12/08 08:30 PM
thanks doherty. glad to be here and I appreciate the love; although I'm understanding now that I was in error, since seemingly Antonio Daniels is not available for play tonight.
#40
mW
12/12/08 08:37 PM
Minute ago blatant block by Garnett as he's in the defensive circle. No call. You can't choke on the whistle just because someone is the DPY.
www.hornetshype.com #41
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 08:38 PM
I think he's available because he's suited up, but it'd be too much to ask him to go out there and run the offense tonight.
www.ndoherty.com #42
mW
12/12/08 08:47 PM
Devin Brown again? After Byron said the drive and kick is something they can't stop? Why not put in Mo? What the hell?
www.hornetshype.com #43
lilrip133
12/12/08 08:47 PM
That's the other thought I had. But at the same time, Devin Brown is so bad, I STILL think Daniels could come out and at least run the pick and roll offense well enough to not completely lose the work the Hornets have done. This is not looking too good right now. We're not even making Pierce work on D and in turn he's tearing us a new one.
#44
darkprince89
12/12/08 08:47 PM
we're falling behind in the 3rd.. not good..
#45
Mikey
12/12/08 08:48 PM
Big game... Peja disappears
#46
Mikey
12/12/08 08:49 PM
We're still battling though.
#47
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 08:53 PM
Peja will disappear every time we ask him to stand in a corner or get free by himself. CP and West can get theirs no matter what, but Peja isn't that type of player. Which is exactly why he's so valuable -- he gives us a different look -- we just need to utilize him better.
www.ndoherty.com #48
NOH_Domination
12/12/08 08:57 PM
We need to run plays for Peja
#49
Andrea
12/12/08 08:58 PM
Down 5 heading into the 4th, I can live with that but the rebounding has to be better if we even want a chance to win down the stretch..Does David have 5 blocks or am I just really bad at math because I think I counted 5....?
#50
NOH_Domination
12/12/08 08:59 PM
Peja isn't playing much defense on Pierce, but it'd help if Pierce had to run off some screens on defense rather than standing in the corner with Peja and resting so he can score the next time down the court.
#51
mW
12/12/08 09:02 PM
Well, Niall, there's Ju-Ju. Hope I was right.
www.hornetshype.com #52
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 09:08 PM
Me too, mW. We're on very thin ice here.
www.ndoherty.com #53
lilrip133
12/12/08 09:09 PM
sometimes i think i belong as a philly or ny fan, cuz i find myself booing way too often for my own team a la eagles fan style lol. but this game has really got me frustrated. peja's one of the best off screens and we won't so much as give him one. and if west would be involved in more off ball screens for peja we'd get more from peja and west would get some better looks at the rim.
#54
ticktock6
12/12/08 09:09 PM
Terrible. Utilization. Of. Our. 3 point. Shooters.
Like, where are they?
hornetshype.com #55
lilrip133
12/12/08 09:12 PM
non existant. theyre chilling in the corner talking about dinner later on with the celtics' leading scorer
#56
Mikey
12/12/08 09:13 PM
They are just better than us, period. We're fighting, but its just not happening tonight.
#57
mW
12/12/08 09:14 PM
Peja's been totally taken out of this game by his inability to defend Pierce.
www.hornetshype.com #58
Mikey
12/12/08 09:17 PM
Hope this pisses our guys off for the game on Sunday.
#59
lilrip133
12/12/08 09:18 PM
i disagree mikey. 4 of us are fighting. when you look at our offensive possesions watch either one of the corners. inevitably there is one person who literally does not move the entire possession. how we can expect to win playing 4-v-5, without our big man, is stupid. at least we could be running the dudes baseline or have them running pick and pops or something. i mean, peja and rasual butler are both BIG small forwards.
#60
lilrip133
12/12/08 09:20 PM
and rasual butler standing, wiping his hands on his shorts in the corner... again.
#61
Andrea
12/12/08 09:21 PM
We need STOPS..not "foul them" stops actual defensive stops
#62
Mikey
12/12/08 09:22 PM
Wow... Doc Rivers is not going to be happy with the Celtics Free Throw percentage. They should be winning this game by 20+, but they can't make a free throw. We need somebody to get going and start making shots. Boston has decided that we're not getting any offensive rebounds.
#63
Dejan16
12/12/08 09:23 PM
idk byron scott, coaching stlye is messed up, why didnt we see peja and posey in more at the same time, this way posey gaurds pierce and peja can gaurd allen or someone.
#64
Mikey
12/12/08 09:25 PM
Can we not foul them ONCE this quarter! This quarter is going to last so long we'll miss our game on Sunday.
#65
mW
12/12/08 09:27 PM
@lilrip133: it makes sense if the guy in the corner is Mo or Peja, who can hit the shot. Or Butler. Not Brown.
www.hornetshype.com #66
lilrip133
12/12/08 09:28 PM
i dont think we want peja on allen either. the celtics really are a match up problem for us. any team with prolific scorers at the 2 and 3 with a good back to the basket 4 is gonna give us issues on defense. but i think the other problem is, byron scott's coaching system is predicated on fast break offense ONLY. with no tyson chandler, there goes the start of your fast break from the standpoint of defensive rebounding and creating turnovers with shot blocking. he doesnt have much of a half court set system period. he runs pick and roll offense with no offball movement.
#67
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 09:32 PM
CP won't quit. 7 point game.
www.ndoherty.com #68
lilrip133
12/12/08 09:35 PM
ugh.. we're really missing tc right now
#69
Mikey
12/12/08 09:36 PM
Well... at least we're seeing what Champions do... They get rebounds when it matters.
#70
lilrip133
12/12/08 09:37 PM
man i waited all week for this game... at least the steal streak is still alive and the record breaking game will be on espn
#71
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 09:38 PM
We played tough. Not very smart, but definitely tough.
Must go write me a recap.
www.ndoherty.com #72
Mikey
12/12/08 09:46 PM
I'm not completely disappointed. You can build off this game. Missing our leading rebounder, shooting terrible from deep, still kept it interesting. Incidently, Jason Kapono is scortching hot from 3 right now. We are going to have our hands full on Sunday.
#73
mW
12/12/08 09:54 PM
I still do not think this Celtic team is necessarily better. They were tonight. Okay. But all night announcers were saying the Celtics couldn't stop penetration and kick-outs, and what do we do? Ignore the play that is our #1 play along with the pick and roll and pick and pop. Inexplicable. The only guy they did it with was Posey, who couldn't hit tonight. Butler was so-so. Never with Peja, and Mo barely got burn. But at least Marks and Brown got their time.
Ask yourselves this. Is a championship team going to be built around 6th and 7th men Brown and Marks? Or should it be Butler/Peterson and Ju-Ju? I know what I think.
Oh. And we missed our last 11 three point attempts. As usual. We're really only a few shots away from victory. Consider, we lost by 12, yet hit 14.3% from deep. We hit our average of about 40% (#1 in the league) and we win this game. End of story.
www.hornetshype.com #74
Andrea
12/12/08 10:02 PM
I agree with Mikey. I'm not totally disappointed but I am a bit upset at some of the same things that we always talk about like the lack of movement on offense. On the bright side, we forced 16 TOs and ONLY managed to be -6 on the boards without our best rebounder (who's only averaging 7.8). Still feel like this was a "win-able" game even without TC. We actually outscored their bench by 5 but the difference between the benches is that Boston brought the intangibles. I'll stop there because for whatever reason, I feel a rant coming on
#75
mW
12/12/08 10:07 PM
Rant it up louisianagyrl. We played a fairly subpar game and were still in it. There's a lot to be upset about. I will say this, I'm more convinced than ever that this team can go deep in the Playoffs. They just have to figure out which guys will be pulling the weight come May. E.g. Peterson, not Marks.
www.hornetshype.com #76
Diane
12/12/08 10:07 PM
I just can't understand why Coach Scott didn't put all the starters in for the 4th quarter - they all played pretty decent in the 1st. Geeeez.
Very weird ending to this game.
#77
Roc217
12/12/08 10:12 PM
I like the fight in the players. they were just over matched. Only 2 threes hurt bad. nobody could hit one. I agree that peja wasn't given any plays. Where were the screens to get him open. Paul must've been phsically beat with what he had to fight through to get into the paint. Celtics just made the plays. And the ticky tack calls at the end helped their cause. I can't believe after some mauling that wasn't called throughout the game, at the end CP bumps Perkins huge a** and gets a foul. I didnt like the substitutions either. They really need to learn how to cut to the basket. All that standing around is not working. This team is more than just pick n roll and DWest post ups. He needs to utilize the players correctly.
#78
mW
12/12/08 10:18 PM
@ Roc217: I definitely don't think we were overmatched tonight, just outplayed. Or maybe outcoached.
www.hornetshype.com #79
Andrea
12/12/08 10:24 PM
@mW: I can agree with you on the outcoached part
Not necessarily this game in particular, but seriously, do he and the coaching staff realize that we have a lot of things on offense in particular that just are not working? I'm waiting for the changes. I've been waiting ever since our playoff loss to the Spurs. I think we were great tonight in transition but the half court offense just does not look good if we're not hitting the 3s. Hell, even when we are hitting them it still doesn't look good
#80
two_tone
12/12/08 10:46 PM
a few more points from the from the wing players would have really helped. i 'm not mad about the loss. they played tough and that will go a long way this season if kept up. i guess the armstorng starting streak was broken. he still played well.
#81
lilrip133
12/12/08 10:56 PM
mW you make some great points. the lack of playtime peterson got in comparisson to marks and brown made no sense whatsoever, and yes, this was a completely win-able game. Not only did we "only" lose by 12, but it was truly more like 7. The last 5 were simply foul shots at the end and not answering at the other end of the court. I still would like to see better coaching in the halfcourt set, and I think that we're still just one or two pieces away from a championship team. We need a reliable starting two guard to give us weaponry and spread the floor to on the pick and roll. And we can't only expect to spread the floor by having two shooters standing on the perimeter. There has to be the threat of a swingman who can dive with the roll and score at the bucket to provide variety on the offensive end
#82
Roc217
12/12/08 11:07 PM
I only say overmatched because of their lack of depth on the frontline compared to C's. I know they didnt get outrebounded by much but just the physical nature of the Celts was too much at key times of the game. But with nothing from Peja/MoPete/Butler they just could not get over the hump. Outcoached i agree. I just dont know what byron is thinking sometimes.
#83
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 11:14 PM
I agree with pretty much all the points being made here, but I just want to point out that the Celtics missed a lot more free throws tonight than they usually would, and they usually take better care of the ball, too. Oh, and Ray Allen shot just 2-8 from the floor. So you can say that we would have been closer if we hit our normal percentage from three or whatever, just keep in mind that it works both ways.
www.ndoherty.com #84
Niall Doherty
12/12/08 11:16 PM
Oh, and thanks to everyone for keeping the conversation going here tonight. This might be the most comments we ever had on one post.
www.ndoherty.com #85
mW
12/12/08 11:59 PM
And one.
www.hornetshype.com #86