Preview: Boston Celtics vs Sacramento Kings
After dealing with Whiteside and Drummond next up for the Boston Celtics is DeMarcus Cousins
The Boston Celtics get a third straight game against a deadly big man, and they split the first two match ups with Hassan Whiteside proving to be much less of a challenge on the Miami Heat than Andre Drummond was with the Detroit Pistons.
The Celtics are at full strength and while DeMarcus Cousins has the talent to destroy any defense in the league, they need to be able to avoid losing a second straight to a sub .500 team. Al Horford has done a great job as a rim protector. He has been arguably their best defender when on the court this season, and is finally giving the Celtics a player that can have an impact blocking shots. That being said, he has done nothing to help Boston’s rebounding woes, and if Cousins is getting second chance opportunities, it will not be an easy game.
The Sacramento Kings will certainly look to attack the Celtics will Cousins, and if they are not able to contain him, they will need a much better offensive effort than they put forth against the Pistons in order to secure a victory.
The Celtics need to get good offensive contributions from Avery Bradley and Isaiah Thomas at the same time. Bradley was scoreless in the first half, and did almost nothing before hitting three straight garbage time threes. Thomas, who kept the Celtics in it for the first three quarters, failed to close things out in the fourth with his fellow guard. Add on that Horford just took five shot attempts, and they need to be able to get things going against a much weaker defensive team in the Kings.
The Celtics should have no problem running against the Kings and they need to be hitting their open looks. Terry Rozier has been getting much more comfortable as a distributor, and after leading the team in assists against the Pistons, he should continue to be that kind of dynamic play maker, and he will have a great opportunity to shine against a weak second unit on the Kings.
The Kings are allowing opponents to shoot 36.4 percent from three, they have just 7.6 steals per game, and are the second worst rebounding team in the league. For once, the Celtics may actually have an advantage on the boards, but they will need a better effort from all their bigs. The Celtics have no just been getting out rebounded, but teams have been abusing the Celtics in that area, collecting almost any contested rebound that comes down.
There are a lot of weaknesses on the Kings that the Celtics will look to exploit, and there is no reason that they cannot make up for a dominant game from Cousins. Ty Lawson has been a borderline disaster this season. With under five assists per game, he has failed as a distributor and, somehow, he has been even worse as a scorer shooting at just 40 percent from the field. both Bradley and Smart could abuse Lawson, and even Thomas could hold his own in that matchup.
The one other player that the Celtics need to plan for is Rudy Gay. He has having a great year across the board and is well above his career average shooting anywhere on the court. The Celtics could use a signature defensive game from Jae Crowder, but there will also be help from Smart and Bradley if he needs it.
The Celtics have a lot of different players they can send at Gay, and there is no reason for them to not be able to figure out how to stop him from having a great impact on the game. That leaves Cousins as the once player that the Celtics should anticipate making up for in other areas, and that kind of one dimensional approach from opponents should lead to a much easier night.
The Celtics have done a great job of staying above .500 despite injuries and they now find themselves as the four seed in an incredibly cluttered middle of the eastern conference playoff picture. The Celtics will be heading onto the road after this game, and two straight loses to another team under .500 is unacceptable.
The Kings have not excelled in any one area, and the one man show with Cousins has continued. The Celtics have struggled with singular dominate big men in the past, but that was before they brought in Horford. Even if he does not step up the offensive aggressiveness, Horford will be the most important player in this game because of his defense alone. The Celtics need to make things as hard as possible on Cousins, and they cannot let the Kings find the kind of rhythm that allowed the Pistons to excel in their last loss.
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It is hard to imagine the Kings being as good across the board as the Pistons, who saw all their starters succeed and score in the double digits. The Celtics will not have as great a challenge against the Kings, but they will not cruise to a victory. The Celtics still struggle with consistency and they can start to fix that by taking care of the Kings at home.