BOSTONWhile it should never need to be said, from time to time players have to be reminded that you play teams and not their records.
The Boston Celtics will indeed be challenged to stay true to this when they host the Charlotte Bobcats tonight, hoping to not get caught up in the fact that the Bobkitties are once again among the worst teams sporting NBA unis this season.
The Bobcats (9-27) come into tonight's game having lost 22 of their last 24 games, the kind of losing skid that comes on the heels of a lockout-shortened season which saw them go 7-59 and finish with a .106 winning percentage which is the lowest in NBA history.
Although this season is yet another tough one, the losses haven't been because of a lack of effort on the part of the Charlotte players according to Celtics coach Doc Rivers.
"They play hard as hell,"Rivers said. "It's funny. I was talking to a couple of guys who just played them. The first thing they said is if you're not ready to play them, they'll knock you out. They come after you."
One of those coaching buddies had to be Chicago head coach and former C's defensive czar Tom Thibodeau whose Bulls lost to the Bobcats, 91-81, on New Year's Eve.
Despite their inconsistent play most of this season, Boston has been able to take care of teams at the bottom of the NBA standings this season. The C's are 4-0 against the bottom four teams in the East (Washington, Cleveland, Charlotte and Orlando) this season.
Boston Celtics
And while the C's have to be on guard against a letdown, their focus remains on trying to build off of their current five-game winning streak and continue to play well during this season long homestand.
I feel like we are building," said Boston's Paul Pierce. "You know, were getting better and better. As the season goes on, taking it one game at a time in this home stretch. And hopefully we can just keep it going.
Taking the Bobcats seriously will certainly be a key to tonight's game. Here are some other factors that may come into play as Boston looks to continue on its winning ways while extending what's shaping up to being another horrifically bad season for Charlotte.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR: Boston's bench has been crushing teams of late, outscoring their opponents' backups by 8.8 points per game during this current winning streak. A key to that has been their defense with second units averaging 27.2 points against Boston in the last five games, the third-lowest total in that span. Charlotte will certainly be a challenge in that regard. They have the NBA's third-highest scoring bench with 40.7 points per game.
MATCHUP TO WATCH: Rajon Rondo vs. Kemba Walker: One of the surprising developments with the Celtics' run of late is that it has come without a big game from Rondo. He has appeared in four of the five straight wins for Boston (he missed the New York Knicks game because he was suspended for bumping an official and not cooperating with the investigation) and has averaged 8.3 assists while turning the ball over four times per game. Walker has been one of the few positives with Charlotte this season. He averages a team-high 17.6 points per game.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Courtney Lee has done a really good job defensively in tandem with Avery Bradley, but lately he has also provided some much-needed offense as well. In Boston's last five games he has averaged eight points while shooting 57.1 percent from the field, to go with 1.6 steals and 1.6 rebounds.
STAT TO TRACK: If there's a magic number for the Celtics to hit, it would be 90. Because when they have held opponents to less than 90 points scored, the C's are a flawless 8-0 this season. Three of their five consecutive wins have been games in which the Celtics held their opponents to less than 90 points scored.