Boston Celtics look to bounce back against New Orleans Pelicans in NBA

BOSTON – The Boston Celtics will be trying to avoid back-to-back National Basketball Association (NBA) home losses when they face the New Orleans Pelicans on Jan 12 (Jan 13, Singapore time).

After earning three victories during a four-game road trip, the NBA champions lost 114-97 to the Sacramento Kings on Jan 10. Boston’s home record fell to 13-7 with the defeat.

They will enter their latest matchup with a 5-5 record in their last 10 games.

“We’re gonna get past it,” Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis said.

“I’m telling you, I’m confident we’ll bounce back. We’re just having not the prettiest moment right now as a team, and it’s completely normal. But believe me, we’ll figure it out.”

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said his team have to be more consistent on the offensive end.

Boston scored 55 points in the first half against Sacramento, but only 42 in the final two quarters. They struggled the most in the fourth quarter, when they were outscored 38-21.

Even star man Jayson Tatum committed eight turnovers in the loss.

“When you’re having an inefficient offence, it puts pressure on your defence,” Mazzulla said.

“Whether it’s shot-making, whether it’s execution, whether it’s spacing, I think that takes a toll on you. And then, if you’re going to shoot 26.8 per cent from three (for the game), you’re going to have to do a bunch of other things, really, really, really well, and it puts pressure on your defence throughout the game. So we have to be better there.”

Tatum leads the Celtics in points (27.8), rebounds (9.3) and assists (5.5) per game. Porzingis has averaged 18.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in 15 games since making his season debut on Nov 25.

The Celtics (27-11) are second in the Eastern Conference behind the Cleveland Cavaliers (33-4).

The Pelicans, who are at the bottom of the West (8-31), will be playing their second game of a three-game road trip.

They have won three of five since ending an 11-game losing streak by beating Washington 132-120 on Jan 3. But they are 3-15 in road games.

“It’s a credit to all of our guys and the character in that locker room,” New Orleans coach Willie Green said after the win against the Wizards.

“They pulled together and went out and competed for 48 minutes. Played hard, really solid defence, shared the ball offensively – all of the things we talk about. I’m really proud of this group.”

The Pelicans are expected to have Zion Williamson back in the line-up, but Herb Jones will be out indefinitely with injury. In addition to being one of the team’s best defensive players, he is averaging 10.3 points per game in 20 contests this season.

Williamson has played in just seven of 39 games this season. He is averaging 22.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.

“With us having guys out, missing some of our key guys, the margin for error is small. Taking care of the basketball is key so we have more opportunities to get quality shots,” Green added. REUTERS