Boston Celtics: A Look At The C’s Upcoming Road Trip
The Boston Celtics are 15-13 on the road this season, and the team will start off the second half of the season on a three-game Western Conference road trip.
The Boston Celtics are currently 32-23 and they are 9-7 against the Western Conference this season. The Celtics will start off with a three-game Western Conference road trip after the all-star break, and their first game is against the Utah Jazz on Feb. 19. After the game against the Jazz, the Celtics will take on the Denver Nuggets on Feb. 21 and then the Minnesota Timberwolves on the next night.
These games might not seem like that big of a deal on paper, but the Celtics need to take some of the momentum they had going into the all-star break and continue to roll during these three games. Everything was starting to click for the Celtics heading into the all-star break, especially their offense and they are a going to need to start off strong against a pretty good Utah Jazz squad.
The Celtics have already played both Minnesota and Denver earlier in the season, and they defeated both the teams at home. The Celtics have not played the Jazz once this season, so how will Boston fare against the Jazz, who were one of the hottest teams in the NBA before the all-star break?
How Do The Celtics Matchup With The Jazz?
The Celtics will take on the Jazz on national television Friday night, and both teams will be fully healthy. The Jazz are known for their big and powerful frontcourt that consists of Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors, but they can also hurt you on the wings with Gordon Hayward and Rodney Hood.
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Coach Brad Stevens is going to have to mix things up against the Jazz due to their size in the frontcourt. The Celtics have been throwing out a lot of different lineup combinations in the past, so look for the Celtics to go both big and small against the Jazz. The problem with going small against Utah is that Boston would struggle on the glass, but they would thrive on offense. So, watch for coach Stevens to throw out different types of lineups to see what works best against a very talented Jazz team.
The Jazz do have an elite defense and in their last 10 games they have posted a defensive rating of 97.9, which is the second-best in the league. A key to this game for the Celtics is their guards because it is going to be hard for Boston to get anything going in the paint due to Utah’s impressive frontcourt defense. The Celtics do have an offensive rating of 106.4 for the season, which is ninth in the NBA, so hopefully players like Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, and Avery Bradley can lead the Celtics to victory over the Jazz.
Matchup Against The Nuggets
The Celtics played pretty well against the Nuggets earlier in the season, but they also have the ability to throw off the Celtics with their size. Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic are two players that could give the Celtics problems in the frontcourt, along with Danilo Gallinari on the wing. Jae Crowder and Amir Johnson are going to have to be locked in on the defensive end so that they can push the Celtics past the Nuggets.
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The Celtics should not be too worried about this Nuggets team, but they did beat the Golden State Warriors earlier in the season, so they are definitely not a team to take lightly.
Matchup Against The Timberwolves
The Timberwolves are the weakest team the Celtics will face on this road trip, but Boston will be taking them on one day after their road game against Denver. Road back-to-backs are never easy, but the Celtics are 3-0 this season when they face off with a team on the road the day after a road game. Boston should win this game pretty easily, but who knows, Karl-Anthony Towns could take over like he did the last time against Boston (25 points, 16 rebounds, and three blocks) and push the Timberwolves past the Celtics.
Overall
Boston needs to make sure that they keep the momentum they had heading into the all-star break for this important road trip. The Celtics should win all three of these games, and who knows, maybe the Celtics will have some new players on their roster for their first game of the road trip on Friday.