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Boston Celtics: Pelicans Present Special Challenge

By Joshua Bateman

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 19: DeMarcus Cousins #0 and Anthony Davis #23 of the New Orleans Pelicans are seen during the game against the New Orleans Pelicans on December 19, 2017 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 19: DeMarcus Cousins #0 and Anthony Davis #23 of the New Orleans Pelicans are seen during the game against the New Orleans Pelicans on December 19, 2017 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins can cause a lot of problems for the Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics are finally getting back on the court and they are finally going to have a normal schedule the rest of the way. They do not have to start things up against a powerhouse team, but the New Orleans Pelicans present a lot of problems to the Celtics, that maybe no other team in the league can.

The Pelicans have not quite seen the success the envisioned when they put the duo together, but Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins are still one of the most talented duo of bigs in the history of the NBA. The Pelicans are just two games above .500, but that is not at all what the Celtics are going to be thinking about.

It does not need to be said how important it is that Al Horford is good to go for this one, because he is one of the only bigs in the NBA who has the kind of defensive versatility to at least attempt to slow down one of the two monsters on the Pelicans.

The odd part is that the Pelicans are getting phenomenal seasons from both Cousins and Davis, although Davis has been in and out of the lineup, but they are still just a fringe playoff team. They have not quite put everything together, and know that they will be limited by Rajon Rondo‘s lack of shooting, but they still have what might be the hardest duo in the NBA for the Celtics to handle.

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The Celtics do go into this knowing they have one of the most effective defensive duos in their front court this season. Aron Baynes next to Horford has disrupted pretty much every team the Celtics have faced, the problem is that it leaves something to be desired having one less shooter on the offensive end.

The Celtics want to have an opportunity to play five three point shooters, but there is little to no chance that Daniel Theis, Semi Ojeleye, or Marcus Morris is going to have any chance at slowing that duo along with Horford, meaning the Celtics could be the team out of their true comfort zone in this one.

Obviously, this is not a game that the Celtics are going to win in the front court, but they need to be able to at least slow that duo down at times, or they could easily blow this game. Fortunately, Horford has quite the track record of slowing down versatile bigs this season.

There is a case to be made that Horford has not had to defend a single big better than either Davis or Cousins, but he has slowed down Giannis Antetokounmpo enough to allow the rest of the team to defeat the Bucks, and he has taken out the likes of Kristaps Porzingis and Joel Embiid for full games this season.

The point is that the Celtics really cannot afford to have a bad game from Horford. Even if they are not going to win that battle overall, they need to prevent them from absolutely destroying the game, because if that is the case the Celtics should have more than enough to take them down.

This may be one of the most difficult particular battles for the Celtics, but because of the team around them, it should not be too hard to slow them down enough to let the rest of the team take over.

The Celtics know that they will dominate the battle of the guards. There is no doubt that Marcus Smart or Jaylen Brown have all the strength to handle anything Rondo wants to do, especially taking into account that they do not have to respect him as a shooter.

Kyrie Irving should be able to run free, but if the Celtics do not get a massive advantage from their back court, you can forget about this game. The Celtics can feel good about any other matchup and should get a boost from their depth, meaning it should really come down to how much of this game the two of them are able to destroy. The only problem with the depth is that much of it is undersized, and if the Celtics’ bench is really limited because of size problems the Celtics could be in some trouble.

This is a game the Celtics know they should win, and they’ve had more than enough time to get fresh and prepare for them. The Raptors and Cavaliers have left the door open for them to establish a great lead in the East, but that lead could disappear quickly if they are not able to win these kinds of games.

Next: Boston Celtics Need to Build on Lead in East

The Celtics may be taken out of their comfort zone because of the unprecedented size, but they have been good enough to make up for that during this recent seven game winning streak.

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