The Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks match up really well in most positions-all excluding a center. The Knicks have one of the smallest teams. No one on their roster is 7′ or more
. The Celtics, however, have a lot of big guys which gives Doc Rivers, the Celtics’ head coach, an advantage. Anyways, since all the positions, except Center, are greatly matched up and the fact that Boston and New York hates each other, everyone now agrees that the Carmelo trade was the straw that broke the camels back, and renewed the rivalry. Even more compelling, the teams might meet each other in the 1st round of the Playoffs.All of this comes off easily at being wiki and for anyone who has interest in knowing about them, it is a pretty good way.
I’ll break down every position with advantages, as well as disadvantages for both teams.
Point Guard:
Chauncey Billups + Toney Douglas VS Rajon Rondo + Delonte West – Chauncey Billups and Toney Douglas are two guards that can really put up points every night, especially from beyond the arc. But
what they both lack, is what Raymond Felton and Steve Nash worked on – perfecting the pick and roll with Amar’e Stoudemire. That’s his game, so when you take it away from him, obviously ‘Melo will
be scoring over 35 points a night. Once Chauncey Billups perfects the pick-and-roll with Stoudemire, this team will be invincible.
Rajon Rondo is the opposite of the New York guards. He hardly pulls up and shoots. He likes to pass a lot and gets a lot of assists with the help of his great teammates. Delonte West is a shooter
which balances the Celtics’ point guard position and their offensive stability. Knicks have the advantage.
Shooting Guard:
Landry Fields + Roger Mason Jr VS Ray Allen + Carlos Arroyo – Landry Fields is Rookie of the Year. He deserves it and he shouldn’t be away from the talk, because he doesn’t jump 7 feet in the air.
Dunking skills will not make you win basketball games (ahem, Blake Griffin), they help you win slam dunk contests. That’s why a quality, all-around player like Landry Fields is winning on a quality
basketball team. We all know Roger Mason. The player who gets the ball 5 times a game and scores 5 three balls. The Knicks have a pretty weak shooting guard position. And maybe, if Mike D’Antoni
played him 10 minutes more a game, it would be pretty strong.
Ray Allen is the best 3-point shooter of all time, so it always helps you to have him on your team. He is the reason why the Celtics are doing so well. So for all you Boston fans, make sure that
Carlos Arroyo plays no minutes so Allen can hit 25 three pointers every game. Celtics have the advantage.
Small Forward:
Carmelo Anthony + Shawne Williams VS Paul Pierce + Jeff Green – Carmelo Anthony has to be the best player to be traded in the past 10 years or so. He will obviously help the Knicks improve as a team. The question is though, will he play defense, grab rebounds, and find open teammates in order to help win basketball games. We will find out during the Playoffs. Shawne Williams is a good player that can hit lots of threes, but he’s not the best backup. The Knicks also have Bill Walker, but him too doesn’t contribute more than 10 points on a given night. Paul Pierce, as we all know, could be the most underrated player in the NBA and is good as Carmelo Anthony. Which brings up to an obvious conclusion that the Celtics do have better players in this position. Jeff Green, unlike Williams, is a good backup and contributed lots off the bench. Celtics have the advantage.
Power Forward:
Amar’e Stoudemire + Shelden Williams VS Kevin Garnett + Glen Davis – Amar’e Stoudemire is playing on an MVP level this year. Career highs i blocks, assists, points, and free throws made. Shelden Williams is a very good defender and proved it versus Dwight. Although he fouled out at the end of the game, he was a main factor for the reason Knicks won it. Glen Davis is a good player with an outside-inside game, which is very hard to defend. He is a quality player to have. He will have 2 blocks, 10 points, and 10 rebounds on any night, so good work Glen! KG is obviously one of the best defenders in the league and still can hit the mid-range jumper almost every time. And although the C’s have the offense, Amar’e Stoudemire and the good D that Williams has produced gives them the edge. Knicks have the advantage.
Center:
Jared Jeffries + Ronny Turiaf VS Shaquille O’Neal + NenadKristic – It’s pretty sad at this point that the Knicks have Jared Jeffries as their center right now. He cannot block, rebound, or score; only play defense. Ronny Turiaf is doing much better than expected, but obviously Knicks lose in this position, 99% to 1%. Shaquille O’Neal can never be denied against the Knicks, because of his height, and Kristic is the type of player that can help in various ways, especially with that deadly baseline jumper. Celtics have the advantage.
So yeah, Knicks and the Celtics do match up very good. Each with their own stronger position, but come Playoff time, we all know that the Celtics are one of the best teams, and that Chauncey “Big Shot” Billups will hit many “big shots.” So the only thing we can do is wait ’till May and see how these teams do.
I am Jonathan Laniado, a senior columnist for Yahoo! Contributor Network.