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Boston Celtics (0-3) at New Orleans Pelicans (0-2)Monday, October 27, 20258:00 PM ETRegular Season Game #4 Road Game #3TV: NBCSB, Gulf Coast Sports, NBA-LPRadio: 98.5 Sports Hub, WWL 870 AM, Sirius XMSmoothie King Center
The winless Celtics take on the winless Pelicans in New Orleans. Boston is playing in the second of back to back games while the Pelicans have not played since Friday. This is the first of 2 games between these teams this season. They will meet for a 2nd, and final, time in Boston on April 10. The Celtics won the series 2-0 last season. The Celtics are 28-21 overall all time and they are 12-13 in games played in New Orleans.
Like the Celtics, the Pelicans have had a few changes since last season. They traded Kelly Olynyk and CJ McCallum to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Jordan Poole and Saddiq Bey. They added Kevon Looney as a free agent and lost Bruce Brown to Denver as a free agent. They also added Jeremiah Fears with the 7th pick in the draft, Derik Queen with the 13th pick and Micah Peavy with the 40th pick.
The Celtics are split about evenly between returning and new players. They have 9 returning players and 8 new players on the team this season. Gone are Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Jrue Holiday and Luke Kornet. New players include Anfernee Simons, Josh Minott, Chris Boucher, Hugo Gonzalez, Luka Garza, Max Shulga, Amari Williams, and Ron Harper, Jr. The Celtics have a core of good players returning along with some young players who are excited to show what they can do.
After playing the Pistons on Sunday and the Pelicans on Monday, they will then return home for one game against the Cavaliers before going on the road to Philadelphia for their first NBA cup game. Then it’s two games back at home against Houston and Utah before 2 games in Orlando and then, at Philadelphia once again. Then they have 2 more games at home against the Grizzlies and the Clippers.
The Pelicans opened on the road in Memphis and then hosted San Antonio for their home opener. After this game against the Celtics, they will have a 3 game road trip through Denver, the LA Clippers, and Oklahoma City. After one game at home against Charlotte, they will go on the road again against Dallas, San Antonio and Phoenix before a 5 game home stand.
Jayson Tatum remains on the injury list as he rehabs from the Achilles injury. Jaylen Brown is back on the injury list as questionable with the hamstring injury. The Pelicans have 2 players out and 1 player questionable. Kevon Looney is out with a knee injury. Dejounte Murray is out as he rehabs from an Achilles tear. Zion Williamson is questionable with a foot injury.
After starting the same lineup for the first 2 games, Joe started Hugo Gonzalez against the Pistons. I’ve included the same starting lineup from the Pistons game, but starters and rotations are still fluid for the Celtics and we may or may not see the same starters, especially since Zion Williamson is the Pelicans’ starting power forward. I’ve listed the Pelicans starters from their game notes, which were also their starters from Friday’s game.
Probable Starting MatchupsPG: Derrick White vs Jordan Poole
SG: Payton Pritchard vs Herb Jones
SF: Jaylen Brown vs Trey Murphy III
PF: Hugo Gonzalez vs Zion Williamson
C: Neemias Queta vs Yves Missi
Celtics ReservesAnfernee SimonsJosh MinottXavier TillmanJordan WalshSam HauserLuka GarzaBaylon ScheiermanChris Boucher2-Way PlayersRon Harper, JrMax ShulgaAmari WilliamsInjuries/OutJayson Tatum (Achilles) outJaylen Brown (hamstring) questionable
Pelicans ReservesJose AlvaredoSaddiq BeyJeremiah FearsJordan HawkinsDeAndre JordanMicah PeavyDerik QueenKarlo MatkovicTwo Way PlayersTrey AlexanderHunter DickensonBryce McGowens
Injuries/OutKevon Looney (knee) outDejounte Murray (Achilles) outZion Williamson (foot) questionable
Key MatchupsHugo Gonzalez vs Zion WilliamsonWilliamson is averaging 27 points, 9.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 4.0 steals in his first games so far. He is shooting 46.2% from the field with no 3 pointers. Gonzalez started at power forward against the Pistons and he may or may not start in this game. Whoever Joe starts here will have his hands full against Williamson.
Derrick White vs Jordan PoolePoole is averaging 19 points, 2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists while shooting 41.2% from the field and 37.5% from the field. It will be crucial for the Celtics to defend him well and keep him from having a big game.Honorable MentionJaylen Brown vs Trey Murphy IIIMurphy is averaging 18.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.5 assists while shooting 42.4% from the field and 28.6% from beyond the arc. Jaylen Brown is coming off a big game against the Pistons and hopefully will be able to play well in this game as well.Keys to the GameRebound – I’m putting rebounding as the biggest key to winning since the Celtics have lost their first 3 games largely because they weren’t able to rebound. The Celtics led the league with 52 rebounds per game in the preseason, but they only averaged 39.0 in their first 3 games, which is 25th. The Knicks out rebounded them by 17 and the Pistons out rebounded them by 17 and put up 32 second chance points. They simply have to fight harder to grab rebounds. Much of rebounding is effort as evidenced by Payton Pritchard grabbing 10 rebounds against the Pistons. Every Celtic has got to crash the boards and fight for every rebound.
Defense – As always, defense is a key to winning this, and every, game. The Celtics were second in the preseason with a defensive rating of 100.2. They struggled on the defensive end against both the 76ers, Knicks and Pistons and slipped to 22nd with a defensive rating of 116.8. The Pelicans are 15th with a defensive rating of 114.8. The Celtics must make defense a priority if they hope to win this season.
Consistency – The Celtics have been able to build a lead in all 3 of their games so far. They led by 13 against the 76ers, 8 against the Knicks and 17 against the Pistons. However, they weren’t able to keep or build on those leads. They allowed the 76ers to out-score them 42-30 in the 4th quarter. They allowed the Knicks to out score them 42-14 in the 2nd quarter and they allowed the Pistons to outscore them 36-25 in the 2nd quarter and 34-23 in the 3rd quarter. They need to play hard and well on both ends of the court for all 4 quarters and not allow the Pelicans to have a big quarter to bury them.
Pick up the Pace – After a lot of talk about playing faster in the preseason, the Celtics slowed it down in their first 3 games. They were 7th in pace in the preseason (106.13) but they are 25th after their first 3 games (97.5) Their best hope this season is to play fast and hard. They need to play faster and harder in order to get back to winning.
X-FactorsBack to Back On the Road – The Celtics are on the road once again and playing on the 2nd night of back to back games. The Celtics are younger this season than last and sometimes young players struggle more on the road than they do at home. They need to overcome the distractions of playing on the road and in front of a hostile crowd and stay focused on playing the right way. Fatigue may be a factor since the Celtics played the night before and the Pelicans haven’t played since Friday.
Officiating – Officiating always has the possibility to be an x-factor. Every crew calls the game differently. Some call every bit of contact while some let them play. Some favor the home team and some call it evenly and some are just bad. Hopefully the Celtics get a crew that calls it even and lets both teams play. However the game is called, they need to focus on the game and not allow bad or no calls to take that focus away.
