Final: Celtics 125, Pelicans 114 - Brown, Tatum, combine for 72 points, 22 rebounds

Game 42: Celtics (-9) vs New Orleans Pelicans, 7:30 p.m., TD Garden, NBCS Boston/NBA TV

Injuries: 

Boston: Danilo Gallinari, Marcus Smart (left knee contusion), Robert Williams (left knee rehab management)

New Orleans: Zion Williamson (hamstring), Brandon Ingram (toe), Herb Jones (back), EJ Liddell (knee)

Pelicans starters: CJ McCollum, Naji Marshall, Garrett Temple, Trey Murphy, Jonas Valanciunas

Refs: Courtney Kirkland (#61), Brian Forte (#45), Brandon Schwab (#86)

Last time they played: Celtics 117, Pelicans 109, November 9 - The Celtics looked like they were on their way to another record 3-point shooting night in the first quarter of this game, hitting 10 of their first 16 treys. Then the Pelicans bench came in and made a huge run (Pelicans bench outscored Boston’s 39-15 in the game). The Celtics opened their lead back up in a frantic (ahem -- sloppy) third quarter but the Pelicans made another late run to whittle the lead back down, but the Celtics were able to hold on.

A little something about this game: Injuries have sapped the strength of the former top seed in the west. They have only won two of their last six games. McCollum recently set a franchise record by hitting 11 3-pointers in a game and he just dropped 34 pts, 5 rebs, 1 ast, 2 stls, 1 blk against the the Wizards. Marcus Smart also missed the first game against the Pelicans. 

How the Celtics win: Drive, kick, shoot a 3-pointer, make the the 3-pointer, set your defense -- lather, rinse, repeat. They’ll give up clean looks from deep, which we saw translate into a great shooting start in New Orleans. BUT, the looks have to come from paint touches. Challenge Valanciunas to move his feet and get into position without fouling. 

How the Pelicans win: No one scores more off misses than the Pelicans, so they have to hit the boards hard and try to frustrate the Celtics. They have to get a big game from CJ McCollum, so the plan has to be to get him going in the early going and hope Valanciunas can clean up messes. 

Things I’m looking for:

- FOCUS! I’m not gonna lie, this game scares me a little. The Pelicans are missing their two best players and the Nets are waiting for the Celtics tomorrow, I can see the Celtics relaxing a little too much and letting this thing go down to the wire. It would be nice if they focused early and put up a big lead. 

- Bench contributions: The Celtics should be in a better position to avoid the bench issue that hit them in the last game. With so many injuries, the Pelicans bench should struggle, but guys like Devonte’ Graham and Jose Alvarado can really be spark plugs off the bench. Maybe Payton Pritchard can come in and make an impact.

"I trust him completely when it is his opportunity," Joe Mazzulla said before the game. "But we have a really, really good team. We’ve already relied on him in moments, and he delivered, and we’re going to need more of that throughout the year. You never know in a playoff series what a matchup looks like, either. It’s not so much about that as much as I’m really happy with his mindset and what he’s doing on a daily basis. And I have full trust in him when his name is called."

Follow along below or in the comments during the game, chime in, and let’s have fun.