Game Thread: Knicks vs. Celtics- 12/8/13

Hi! I'm putting this game thread up early because I think you should know a few things:

1. The Knicks play the Celtics at noon at Madison Square Garden today.

2. They will wear orange, because apparently they hate winning.

3. Here's the big one:

Starters versus @celtics : Felton, Shumpert, Hardaway, Anthony, Bargnani; Martin (sore left ankle) will not dress.

— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) December 8, 2013

I hope Kenyon Martin's ankle won't become a recurring issue again, but that's a fun starting lineup. They may struggle to defend if the Celtics know to push the pace and use picks, but they should be able to generate open shots if the ball moves like it has in the last few games. I'm not sure if Tim Hardaway Jr. starting over J.R. Smith (and Pablo Prigioni) has to do with J.R.'s lingering knee soreness or Woodson reverting to his preference for J.R. off the bench, but I'm cool with it and I hope Timpala can produce and hold his own defensively against Boston's first unit.

I haven't seen anything about Amar'e Stoudemire, Nope, this went up as I was typing that. Amar'e will play, but Metta World Peace lives to play another day because Martin's out.

As for the Celtics: They come in leading the Atlantic (with a losing record), having won two straight, and with a defense that's been tighter than Orlando's and much tighter than Brooklyn's. They'll be without Kelly Olynyk, which feels fortunate, because his whole presence just screams Knick-killer.

So, this is Level 3 in the game of Turning Things Around. The Knicks easily handled the awful Nets and pretty bad Magic. Can they take care of the somewhat okay Celtics WHILE wearing the cursed orange jerseys? That is the next challenge. See you at noon!

Oh, this is your game thread. This is the wonderful Celtics Blog. Please don't post large photos, GIFs, or links to illegal streams in the thread. Go the Knicks!