Boston Celtics play their second straight game in Florida, where they face the Orlando Magic, after a thorough beating by the Miami Heat on Sunday.
It's been less than a week since the two teams met in Boston, but a lot has happened since then. Or rather the Rajon Rondo trade has happened.
The Celtics are still trying to figure out the rotations post-Rondo, especially how the new guys acquired from the Dallas Mavericks fit in. Coach Brad Stevens used 11 players in the rotation against Miami, and that is one more than usual, unless you count garbage time.
The game's a homecoming for Boston's Jameer Nelson, one of the incoming players in the Rondo trade, who played for Orlando Magic for ten seasons, before moving to Dallas this past summer. This is his first game in Orlando since the move, and he should get some kind of tribute from the home crowd.
The Celtics have rookie James Young healthy again after injuring his shoulder while playing in the D-League for the Celtics affiliate Maine Red Claws. But given the log jam on the roster at the guard positions, it's hard to see him getting any minutes at this time.
The Orlando Magic has also made an adjustment in their lineup since the game last Wednesday, though smaller, by putting rookie Elfrid Payton in the starting lineup as point guard and moving Victor Oladipo to shooting guard. At the same time, Kyle O'Quinn got the start at power forward instead of veteran Channing Frye. It remains to be seen if this is just an experiment by coach Jacque Vaughn or a permanent change of the rotation in order to give the younger players more playing time.
Given that the Celtics won the two teams' last meeting, 109-92, they remain slight favorites in this one. But after the Rondo trade, the two teams seem to be around the same level, and it should be a close game.