Golden State Warriors vs Boston Celtics: Predictions, Odds and Head-to-Head

Where: TD Garden in Boston, MA

When: Saturday, January 26th at 8:30 PM EST

How (TV/Radio): ABC-ESPN | 95.7 The Game, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Golden State Warriors (Away)

Head Coach: Steve Kerr {All-Time 298-77 | GSW}

The Golden State Warriors are back to the top of the Western Conference. With a record of 33-14, they are comfortably ahead of the Denver Nuggets who are second in the West. With the return of DeMarcus Cousins to the lineup, they have an interesting balancing act of re-organizing their offensive and defensive scheme while getting the all-star centre back to his dominant ways.

The Warriors have been brilliant as of late. In the last ten matches they have a lone loss, going 9-1 since the turn of the new year. While their competition in that span of time hasn’t been the most impressive, they’re gotten off to a strong start on their five-game road trip with wins over both Los Angeles outfits.

The Boston Celtics were once touted as the team for the Warriors to beat coming into the season. It’s been shown through the Celtics’ struggles that that statement was a bit of hyperbole, but they are certainly still a capable team with an offence almost as potent as the Warriors’ own.

Boston Celtics (Home)

Head Coach: Brad Stevens {All-Time 251-207 | BOS}

The Boston Celtics have found a bit of form at this point in the season. After the first quarter of their season was filled with struggles, they now hold a record of 30-18 and are just 1.5 games back of the Sixers who are in fourth place.

In their last ten games the Boston Celtics are 7-3, while holding a five game win streak. They also maintain a point differential of 6.5, good enough for second in the East next to the Milwaukee Bucks. They put their win streak on the line against the similarly streaking Golden State Warriors.

It will be a tough night out for the Celtics when they take on one of the best composed teams in NBA history. Sporting five all-stars, the Celtics will be hard-pressed to stop the Warriors offensive attack. The Celtics will have to lean on their superior depth, if they hope to take down the Warriors in this match.

What’s At Stake?

The Golden Sate Warriors and the Boston Celtics meet up in this inter-conference matchup. In the all-time series, the Boston Celtics lead the Golden State Warriors 59-48.

A win for the Warriors would increase their lead in the Western Conference to 2.5 games over the Denver Nuggets.

The Celtics are three games ahead of the Brooklyn Nets in sixth, but are one and a half games back from Sixers in fourth, meaning a win or loss for the Celtics will do nothing to move them in the Eastern Conference table.

Questions to answer

What was in the Bell-Kerr confrontation?

Will the Celtics bench step up against the Warriors?

We are going to compare the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics in an attempt to see who has the advantage in this matchup.

Coach Steve Kerr and Jordan Bell got into it

In a blowout win against the Los Angeles Lakers, there was a minor blip on the radar for the Warriors in a public spat between head coach Steve Kerr and F-C Jordan Bell. It should’ve been a calm night, but Bell after playing only four minutes in the previous match, was reprimanded for his play as the Warriors were 24 up on the Lakers.

Of course a standard has to be maintained for the Warriors. Despite their incredible overall talent, there is something to be said about the Warriors ideas about player development. Bell has been facing a see-saw affair regarding his playing time. First being the primary energy player off of the bench, he is now seeing DNP-CD’s in consecutive matches.

Patrick McCaw famously forced his way out of the Warriors organization. With the sheer star power of the Golden State Warriors they are always in a win-now mentality. Sometimes that doesn’t leave any time for the young Warriors players to hone their skill and develop on the court. It may be just a blip on the radar, but Bell surely has some displeasure with his minutes. We’ll see if that problem comes to a head.

The Celtics’ bench has been hit or miss

In a match against the Miami Heat, the Boston Celtics’ bench struggled to perform. Unable to find their range and struggling to contain players on defence, the players were struggling to prove their value. Luckily, against the Cavaliers the bench unit rebounded.

Against the Cavaliers, the Celtics bench scored 60 points to the Cavaliers 30 points off the bench. Considering Terry Rozier started the game in place of Irving, that bench scoring number doesn’t even count 26 from the usual bench leader.

The Warriors bench is not the Cavaliers bench. While the quality isn’t far off, the Warriors stagger the minutes of their starters with their bench in order to offset the dip in player quality. The Celtics will need to form a cohesive effort between the starters and bench in order to take down the reigning champions.

Golden State Warriors Roster Notes

F Jonas Jerebko – Out (Personal) – The Warriors have listed Jerebko as OUT for the next three games as he attends the birth of his child.

C Damian Jones – Out For Season (Torn Left Pectoral) – The Warriors announced that Jones had surgery on his torn left pectoral muscle. He’s expected to start rehab in six weeks. There is no timetable for his return.

Boston Celtics Roster Notes

G Jabari Bird – Out (Personal) – Bird is still on a leave of absence from the team until he handles his legal issues.

G Kyrie Irving – Day To Day (Illness) – Irving did not play in Wednesday’s game (Jan. 23) against the Cavs.

Head-to-Head: DeMarcus Cousins vs Aron Baynes

DeMarcus Cousins

Center | 6-11, 270lb (211cm, 122kg) | Kentuckuy | Exp. 9 Years

11.0 PPG | 4.0 APG | 7.5 RPG | 0.5 SPG | 0.5 BPG | 1.0 TOV | .350 FG% | .500 3P%

Aron Baynes

Center | 6-10, 260lb (208cm, 117kg) | Washington State | Exp. 7 Years

5.5 PPG | 1.2 APG | 4.5 RPG | 0.1 SPG | 0.6 BPG | 0.8 TOV | .457 FG% | .317 3P%

The Celtics and Warriors face-off with a pair of incredibly physical big men who will be vying for dominance in the paint. DeMarcus Cousins is still working his way back to all-star form, but he will not be given an easy shot at it as bruising Australian Aron Baynes will do his utmost to prevent him from doing so.

DeMarcus Cousins has shown improvement in every match he’s appeared in for the Warriors. While he is usually a low-post presence, he is operating impressively as a roll man for the Warriors as he will rarely get isolation touches in this offence. The he steps on the court against the Celtics he will first have to show he can rotate on defence, before he gets a chance on the offensive end.

Baynes will be tasked with slowing down DeMarcus Cousins as much as possible. Baynes, upon his return, has looked good for the Celtics. Seeing as his injury was to his hand, he was able to maintain his conditioning during rehabilitation. Expect him to physically challenge Cousins at every opportunity, and force him to the perimeter on pick-and-pops to help unsettle the former All-Star.

Golden State Warriors at Boston Celtics Predictions and Odds

The odds makers have the Golden State Warriors favoured over the Boston Celtics by 2, with an over/under of 110.