Celtics Battle Warriors at Garden Tonight

	VS.
9-14	Record	14-10
95.8	PPG	99.2
99.3	PPGA	97.7
45.8	FG%	43.1
45.6	Opp. FG%	44.3
39.5	Rebounds	41.6
21.0	Assists	21.3
16.5	Turnovers	13.7
6.8	Steals	7.3
5.6	Blocks	4.2
0-0	Season Series	0-0

The 14-10 Warriors come to Boston to play their third game of a five game road trip, and the first two games of the trip offered two different views of the Warriors. Still, one consistent theme emerged: Golden State lives and dies by the threeball. Friday night in Toronto, they lived by it, connecting on 19 of 27 from beyond the arc. Sunday night in New Jersey, they died a quick death by the outside shot (9-25 on threes) and the game was over at halftime.

The Warriors don't appear to have anything that resembles offense in the low post, and they don't play much defense anywhere on the court.

We could be in for a high-scoring affair tonight.

POINT GUARD
Delonte West Points: 8.8 Rebounds: 3.5 Assists: 3.9	Baron Davis Points: 17.2 Rebounds: 4.5 Assists: 9.7
If Davis doesn't try to post up Delonte or take the ball into the paint himself, it may never get there. The Warriors' outside game starts with their point guard's habit of pulling up from downtown, and other guys tend to follow suit. Both guards are suffering from minor head trauma. Davis took an elbow to the head in garbage time Sunday night, while West left Saturday night's game with an apparent concussion and is questionable for tonight. With Dan Dickau suffering what appeared to be an Achilles injury in Chicago, look for plenty of Marcus Banks at the point guard position, and potentially an Orien Greene sighting as well.

SHOOTING GUARD
Ricky Davis Points: 20.2 Rebounds: 4.7 Assists: 5.5	Jason Richardson Points: 22.4 Rebounds: 6.2 Assists: 2.5
With Richardson having a size advantage over Ricky, he may actually head for the hole tonight. The one-time slam dunk champion certainly knows how to finish, but he also likes to hoist it from the outside. Davis, on the other hand, has struggled of late to find his offense and may spend more time trying to get the ball to his bigs and taking what the defense gives him rather than forcing his own shot. That said, Richardson isn't exactly known for defense, either.

SMALL FORWARD
Paul Pierce Points: 26.1 Rebounds: 8.3 Assists: 4.3	Mike Dunleavy Points: 9.4 Rebounds: 3.9 Assists: 2.6
Dunleavy isn't exactly fleet of foot -- the apple doesn't fall far from the tree -- but his length should give him a fighting chance to defend Paul Pierce. On the offensive end, he's much more comfortable on the perimeter, but when he decides to drive he does seem to draw fouls in part due to his awkward, galloping moves to the hole. He's also one of the few guys in the league who still throws a good head fake on his jumpshot. Pierce, on the other hand, called himself out for not playing defense in Saturday's loss in Chicago. Look for an inspired effort on the defensive end from the captain.

POWER FORWARD
Mark Blount Points: 12.2 Rebounds: 4.2 Assists: 1.8	Troy Murphy Points: 16.0 Rebounds: 8.6 Assists: 1.0
Mark Blount could have a huge game inside if the C's make a point of getting him touches early. Aside from Foyle, the Warriors aren't very physical down low, and Murphy's been labeled as soft since his Notre Dame days. Murphy will try to draw Blount away from the basket by establishing his outside shot early, but if it's not dropping, look for Blount to stay home and work the boards.

CENTER
Kendrick Perkins Points: 2.6 Rebounds: 5.0 Assists: 0.7	Adonal Foyle Points: 4.6 Rebounds: 6.7 Assists: 0.4
The former Colgate star isn't quite the shotblocking or offensive presence you might remember from his salad days at Colgate, where he was overmatching the talent in the Patriot League. Despite a few good years from 2000-2003, his block numbers have dropped off considerably, and Foyle never really lived up to lofty expectations. That said, Perkins doesn't get his shots off very quickly, so Foyle may feast on him and get a couple of early swats.

BENCH
Marcus Banks Points: 10.0 Rebounds: 2.5 Assists: 3.0	Derek Fisher Points: 13.3 Rebounds: 2.7 Assists: 3.0
As we said earlier, the injuries to Delonte and Dickau could mean plenty of PT for Marcus Banks. If the Warriors are shooting from the outside, long rebounds will quickly become fast breaks with Banks at the helm. Meanwhile, Fisher is a clutch shooter with three rings from his Lakers days, so he's the last guy the C's want to see shooting the ball in the fourth quarter. He also knows how to draw a charge, so Banks needs to make sure he stays under control.