Friday, January 21
7:30 p.m. Eastern
NBA League Pass
Boston finishes up a stretch of nine home dates in ten games (including six home games in a row) against the Utah Jazz, themselves in the middle of a five-game road trip that has begun ominously with losses to Washington and New Jersey (combined record: 23-59).
Utah is led by the excellent Deron Williams at point guard, one of the few at the position who can be said to be better than Boston's Rajon Rondo. Williams is big and strong, shoots the jumper well coming off of ball screens, and excels at getting to the line on penetration. Williams is also an excellent passer who is again among the league leaders in assists, as he has been for all but the first of his six professional seasons. Rondo seems to find something a little extra for his battles with the league's elite, so expect a fun matchup here. Williams was more or less average in two games against Boston last year, but his size and strength bring to mind Derrick Rose, who the Celtics have had a fair amount of trouble with in this and recent seasons.
Williams' old partner in picking and popping, Carlos Boozer, left in the off-season for Chicago, leaving a spot open at power forward for Paul Millsap, a RwH favorite from his college days at Louisiana Tech. Always an outstanding rebounder, Millsap turned heads with his early season offensive outburst, including a 46-point explosion in a dramatic road victory over the Miami Heat. He's struggled in the last three games, apparently with some foul trouble, but he's definitely a guy Kevin Garnett has to pay attention to.
Utah center Al Jefferson's season has followed something of the opposite pattern to Millsap's. After coming over from Minnesota in the offseason, the hard-working Jefferson really struggled to find his rhythm. He's started to come around, shooting at least 50 percent from the field in each of the last six games. Jefferson, of course, spent the first three years of his career in Boston before being thrown to the Wolves in the Kevin Garnett deal. He's an earnest, humble guy who loved being a Celtic and the fans recognize that, so I expect a warm reception for Big Al J from the Garden crowd -- if not from Shaquille O'Neal.
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