This should be an interesting series as it pits the Knicks’ Big Three against the Celtics very deep and talented roster. This should be a very interesting series, especially if some of the role players on the Knicks can step up. Here is a look at the matchups in this series:
POINT GUARD: Chauncey Billups is one of the best “money players” when the games start to get big. He played in 21 games (all starts) for the Knicks this year and he averaged 31.6 minutes, 17.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. Billups will have to work to get his shots off as Rajon Rondo is going to be right in his grill.
Rajon Rondo is not a great shooter but he’s a great passer who plays outstanding defense. Rondo played in 68 games (all starts) for the Celtics this year and he averaged 37.2 minutes, 10.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 11.2 assists and 2.3 steals per game. I think Rondo is really going to pester Billups in this series.
EDGE: CELTICS
SHOOTING GUARD: Landry Fields is a big shooting guard who likes to take his game inside when he can, but he’s also a good shooter. Fields played in 82 games (81 starts) for the Knicks this year and he averaged 31.0 minutes, 9.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. His most important job in this series is going to be playing solid D against Ray Allen.
Ray Allen has hit the most three point shots in NBA history and he’s going to be firing away in this series. Allen played in 80 games (all starts) for the Celtics this year and he averaged 36.1 minutes, 16.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. I think Allen will get his points in this series.
EDGE: CELTICS
SMALL FORWARD: Carmelo Anthony came just as advertised when the Knicks dealt for him. He played in 27 games (all starts) for the Knicks this year and he averaged 36.2 minutes, 26.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. Anthony could go bonkers in this series but he’s going to have to work hard at the defensive end of the court too or Paul Pierce will also go off.
Paul Pierce is the go-t0 player on the Celtics, but he isn’t a selfish gunner. Pierce played in 80 games (all starts) for the Celtics last year and he averaged 34.7 minutes, 18.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Pierce seems to take his game to a new level in the playoffs, so this should be fascinating to watch.
EDGE: SLIGHT FOR KNICKS
POWER FORWARD: Amare Stoudemire is going to have to play big in this series as it’s going to be very physical under the basket. Stoudemire played in 78 games (all starts) for the Knicks this year and he averaged 36.8 minutes, 25.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.9 blocked shots per game.
Kevin Garnett still has a lot of gas left in the tank. He played in 71 games (all starts) for the Celtics this year and he averaged 31.3 minutes, 14.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Garnett will be the Celtics’ enforcer in this series and he loves that role.
EDGE: SLIGHT FOR KNICKS
CENTER: The Knicks are leaning towards starting Shelden Williams against his old team. Williams played in 17 games (6 starts) for the Knicks this year and he averaged 11.6 minutes, 3.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. His main jobs will be to rebound and play defense in this series.
Jermaine O’Neal will likely get the call at center for the Celtics in this series. O’Neal has played in 24 games (10 starts) for the Celtics this year and he averaged 18.0 minutes, 5.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game. O’Neal has had a good NBA career so maybe he’ll step up in the playoffs.
EDGE: CELTICS
BENCH: SG/PG Toney Douglas has been the first guy off the bench for the Knicks this year. He played in 81 games (9 starts) for the Knicks this year and he averaged 24.3 minutes, 10.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Center Ronny Turiaf will likely be playing around half of the game in this series. He played in 64 games (21 starts) for the Knicks this year and he averaged 17.8 minutes, 4.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game. PF Shawne Williams played in 64 games (11 starts) for the Knicks this year and he averaged 20.7 minutes, 7.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He could get his share of minutes if Amare Stoudemire needs a break. SF Bill Walker will give Carmelo Anthony a break when he needs one. Walker played in 61 games (1 start) for the Knicks last year and he averaged 12.9 minutes, 4.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. PF/C Jared Jeffries might be needed for defensive purposes at some point in this series. He played in 24 games (9 starts) for the Knicks this year and he averaged 19.3 minutes, 2.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.0 steal per game. PG Anthony Carter isn’t likely to get a lot of P.T. in this series. Carter played in 19 games (0 starts) for the Knicks this season and he averaged 16.3 minutes, 4.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
It will be interesting to see who is on the active roster for the Celtics in this series as they are more than 12 deep. PF Glen “Big Baby” Davis will get a lot of P.T. in this series. He played in 78 games (13 starts) for the Celtics this year and he averaged 29.5 minutes, 11.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 steal per game. SF/PF Jeff Green will also likely get in on the action in this series. Green played in 26 games (2 starts) for the Celtics this year and he averaged 23.5 minutes, 9.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. C Nenad Krstic will likely have a big role in this series for the Celtics. He played in 24 games (20 starts) for the Celtics this year and he averaged 23.0 minutes, 9.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. C Shaquille O’Neal is looking like a go in this series but I don’t expect him to play a lot. Shaq played in 37 games (36 starts) for the Celtics this year and he averaged 20.3 minutes, 9.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game. SG/PG Delonte West might be a little gimpy but he’s also going to try to give it a go for the Celtics. West played in 24 games (2 starts) for the Celtics this year and he averaged 18.9 minutes, 5.6 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. The next four guys are iffy as to whether they will make the roster for this series or not. SG Von Wafer played well at the very end of the year. He played in 58 games (2 starts) for the Celtics this year and he averaged 9.5 minutes, 3.2 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. PF Troy Murphy didn’t show much after the Celtics signed him. Murphy played in 17 games (0 starts) for the Celtics this year and he averaged 10.5 minutes, 2.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. PG Carlos Arroyo played in 15 games (1 start) for the Celtics and he averaged 12.7 minutes, 2.4 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Sasha Pavlovic played in 17 games (0 starts) for the Celtics and he averaged 8.8 minutes, 1.8 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.
EDGE: CELTICS
COACHING: Mike D’Antoni is a solid basketball coach. He is 370-315 (54%) during the regular season and he is 26-25 (51%) in the post-season over his career. D’Antoni slowed down the offense when Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups arrived in N.Y. and he might try to amp up the pace in this series.
Doc Rivers is also a really good coach. He is 507-406 (55.5%) during the regular season and he is 46-40 (53.5%) during the post-season. He has also won a NBA Title with these Celtics and he took the Lakers to 7 games in the NBA Finals last year.
EDGE: CELTICS
PREDICTION: The Celtics are the better team in this series and I think it’s really going to show as they will where out the “Big Three” on the Knicks. I like the Celtics in five games.
