Celtics vs. Heat Stat Pack

*On Saturday, the Celtics faced a 14-51 Bobcats team.
–On Monday, the Celtics face a 51-14 Heat team.

*Today is the 35^th birthday for Celtics broadcaster Brian Scalabrine (March 18, 1978).
–Sunday was the 50^th anniversary of Bob Cousy’s Retirement Ceremony (March 17, 1963).
–In addition, Sunday was the 54^th birthday for Celtics President of Basketball Operations and former player Danny Ainge (March 17, 1959).

*After beginning the season 11-11 on the road, Miami has reeled off 10 consecutive wins away from home.
–It is the longest road winning streak for any NBA team over the last two seasons.
–Miami now gets to test its 10-game road winning streak against the only other team over the last 5 seasons to win 10 straight road games, the Celtics.
–The last regular season road winning streak of at least 10 games in NBA: Heat (10 games: 2011 to 2012)
–The last road winning streak of at least 10 games before that: Heat (13 games: 2010 to 2011)
–The last road winning streak of at least 10 games before that: Celtics (10 games: 2008)

*The Celtics will hope that they can make it a perfect 11-0 record against the Heat in regular season games at home in the Kevin Garnett era.
–Garnett has already missed 3 of the 10 previous meetings between the Celtics and Heat in Beantown, and he may miss Monday night’s game due to a strained adductor.

*The Celtics are 7-3 in their last 10 games.
–That is the 2^nd-best such record among Eastern Conference teams (obviously 10-0 by the Heat).

*The Celtics are 4-1 on Mondays this season, their best record for any day for Boston in 2012-13.

*Over his last 10 games, Dwyane Wade leads the NBA with a +18.7 plus/minus per 100 possessions.
–2^nd: Mario Chalmers (+18.6)
–Tied-3^rd: Chris Bosh (+18.2)
–Tied-3^rd: Donatas Motiejunas (+18.2)

*Wade has scored at least 20 points in each of his last 13 games.
–It is his longest streak in the LeBron James era in Miami.
–Last time Wade scored at least 20 points in at least 13 games: 2009.

*Miami is an NBA-best 24-11 this season against teams that are .500 or better.
–Miami is also an NBA-best 37-2 when scoring at least 100 points this season.
–Miami is also an NBA-best 37-4 when having fewer turnovers than their opponent this season.

*From Elias: The only Celtics starter who failed to make at least half of his shots on Saturday was Avery Bradley, whose mystifying disparity between his home and road field-goal percentage widened further.
–Bradley is now shooting only 36.5% in games at TD Garden, compared with 47.1% on the road. In the Celtics’ long history, only one player has finished a season shooting with a field-goal percentage at least 10 percentage points lower at home than on the road (minimum: 150 shots in each category). In the 1995-96 season, David Wesley shot 40.9% at home, 51.1% on the road.

*Via @ESPNStatsInfo: Miami is in the midst of a 3-game stretch in which they are facing Chris Bosh’s former team (Raptors on Sunday, March 17), Ray Allen’s former team (Celtics on Monday, March 18) and LeBron James’ former team (Cavaliers on Wednesday, March 20).
–All 3 of those games are on the road as well

*Best Winning Percentage on 2^nd Day of Back-to-back Games in NBA history
–1. 2006-07: Mavericks: 15-1 (.938)
–2. 1995-96: Bulls: 21-2 (.913)
–3. 2012-13: Heat: 10-1 (.909)

*On Wednesday, the Celtics hope to win their 12^th consecutive home game, which would extend their longest home winning streak of the last 4 seasons.
–Last time they won 12 home games in a row: November 2008 to January 2009 (13 games).

*Via @BrianAintLyin: The Celtics ended the Rockets’ 22-game winning streak on March 18, 2008. The Celtics will now have the chance to end Miami’s 22-game winning streak on March 18, 2013.

*Recent Meetings: Celtics vs. Heat
–The Celtics are 5-0 in the regular season at TD Garden against the Heat (8-2 including the playoffs).



*Milestone Watch:

–All-Time NBA Blocked Shots–
17. Larry Nance 2,027
T-18. Theo Ratliff 1,968
T-18. Kevin Garnett 1,968            (Garnett needs 1 to move into sole possession of 18^th place)

–All-Time NBA Offensive Rebounds–
21. Elton Brand 3,159
22. David Robinson 3,083
23. Kevin Garnett 3,081            (Garnett needs 2 to tie Robinson for 22^nd place)