Last night, the Boston Celtics took care of business in Manchester, NH defeating the Philadelphia 76ers 93-65. Following the game, the C's hopped on a bus to travel to Newark, NJ to take on the 76ers tonight at 7:00 PM.
For the most part, the Celtics looked very good last night. They looked like they were gelling well as a unit, staying strong defensively, and doing enough offensively to crush an undermanned 76ers squad.
With all of this being said, there still are a lot of question marks going into their second preseason game tonight. We're going to help you keep an eye on some of those questions by giving you five things to watch for during tonight's game.
1. How much does Doc play the starters?
Going into last night's game Doc had stated to multiple reporters that the starters wouldn't log a lot of minutes. To my surprise, guys like Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen played a bit longer than I expected them too. There was a time late in the third quarter when both guys were still on the court with at 30+ point lead.
Tonight we'll have to keep an eye out to see if Doc plays these guys any more or less. We all know how the Celtics treated the regular season last season, so we can only imagine that Doc isn't going to waste his guys for the team's second preseason game.
2. Will we see the explosive and "MVP-like" Kevin Garnett that we all heard about during training camp?
Don't get me wrong, Kevin Garnett looked good last night. At one point during the first half he actually gave me the chills after he blocked a shot and responded by clapping in the opponents face (during a preseason game). But I was disappointed at what I saw from KG on the offensive side of things. An air-ball and a few bricks highlighted his night on offense. I'd like to see a more efficient Garnett on the offensive side of things tonight.
3. Can Semih Erden back up his performance from last night?
People everywhere last night in Celtics Nation were slobbering over the play of "the Turk", Semih Erden. Erden scored 13 points and quickly became a fan favorite in Boston during his first preseason game. Ahhh... there's the catch. The words "first" and "preseason". Keep in mind that this was only one game and he weren't exactly up against the strongest frontline in the NBA.
It will be interesting to see if Semih can back up his performance tonight and continue to prove he will be a valuable asset to the Celtics.
4. Can someone get a jump in the battle for the 15th roster spot?
Going into last night's game, and since his signing in the offseason, I expected Von Wafer to clearly have a spot on this team. Umm... I was wrong. Last night, Von Wafer did nothing except make me want to turn my head away from the TV when he was in the game.
Turnovers, fouls, and a technical foul highlighted his first game in a Celtics uniform. Needless to say, Wafer's performance last night definitely tightened up the battle for the final roster spot. Stephen Lasme's fourth quarter outburst and Mario West's pesty defense both were more impressive than what we saw from Wafer.
Can one of these guys get a jump in the battle tonight? We can only wait and see.
5. What will we see from the rest of the "Boston Bench Mob"?
Semih Erden and Glen Davis both looked very sharp, smart, and aggressive last night off the Celtics bench. The rest of the "Bench Mob" didn't do a lot to impress. Two guys in particular, Nate Robinson and Delonte West.
Both of these guys played okay, but didn't neccessarily do anything to "wow" us. Nate looked sloppy handling the ball at times, and West almost looked like he was hesitant on the offensive end. This is nothing to be overly-concerned about but it is something to watch for during tonight's game.
What will you be watching for tonight? Let us know in the comments section below, on Twitter, or on Facebook.
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