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Projected Starters:
Boston Celtics: Rajon Rondo, Jason Terry, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Jason Collins
Brooklyn Nets: Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Keith Bogans, Gerald Wallace, Brook Lopez

Advanced Statistics
Boston Celtics: 101.1 offensive rating (17th), 101.2 defensive rating (11th), 94.13 possessions per game (17th)
Brooklyn Nets: 103.8 offensive rating (10th), 103.5 defensive rating (21st), 90.14 possessions per game (30th)

Merry Christmas! The 14-12 Brooklyn Nets celebrate today by welcoming the 13-13 Boston Celtics to town for the first of five Christmas Day NBA games. The Nets haven't played on Christmas since 2002, when they also played the Celtics -- and blew them out.

The Celtics, who I'm sure are just thrilled to be on the road on Christmas, embark on a four-game road trip today. They've lost four of their last five games. The Nets were in relative freefall until their 95-92 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers Sunday, made possible by their old-new flex offense.

There's bad blood here. The last time these two teams played in Boston, Kris Humphries was called for a touch foul on Kevin Garnett after a shot, irritating Rajon Rondo enough to tackle Humphries into the stands. Fines were bandied about -- though Humphries got off scot-free, Kevin Garnett and Gerald Wallace both incurred fines for their role in the brawl, and Rondo was suspended two games.

The Nets went on to win the game in a decisive victory, riding Joe Johnson through the third quarter and getting key bench mob contributions from Andray Blatche (who hit all four of his fourth-quarter shots and dominated the glass) and Jerry Stackhouse (who hit 5-6 from three). We also got one of Reggie Evans' best quotes ever, about Rondo attacking Humphries:

"It's like a mosquito in your face. You're eventually going to swat at the mosquito, right? If you let the mosquito in your face, you're going to end up with bumps all over your face, so you have to swat the mosquito down."

Incidentally, Humphries is inactive for this game with a mild abdominal strain.

Today's 95-92 Brooklyn Nets victory did not come without change. Kris Humphries, bumped from the starting lineup in favor of a look with Gerald Wallace at power forward and Keith Bogans at small forward, notched his first DNP-CD (Did not play-coach's decision) of the season.

Johnson later noted that the plan currently is to have Wallace start at power forward for the foreseeable future, with Reggie Evans backing him up and Humphries filling in at power forward and center "when we need." "60% of the league plays this way," Johnson said about the smallball.

"I'm kind of used to playing at the 4, banging with the bigs, going and getting rebounds," Wallace said about his new role. "I played a full season at power forward in Charlotte... Whatever helps the team win. If you look at the teams like Miami and New York, they're playing small ball, and it's giving them more opportunity to get in an up-tempo style of play. It's something (Avery) wanted to try tonight."

"It's just the way things have been going," Avery Johnson said about Humphries after the game. "I visited with him in my office before. It's basically a coach's decision -- he's healthy, he's fine, he's not in the doghouse. We just had to try something else."

"This also helps us in transition defense, because we have smaller, quicker players on the floor, spaced differently. We'll see where we go from here."

The Nets only allowed two fast-break points all game from Philadelphia, an athletic team that has beaten the Nets on the break in multiple games in the past few seasons. The starting lineup was a +4 in 25 minutes together, notching 12 assists to just 2 turnovers.

Deron Williams also noted that the team won't only improve in transition defensively, but also creating points on the break. "We can get out and run a little bit more, and we pose some matchup problems for people with him at the 4," Williams said, while adding that Wallace's passing ability makes him dangerous in the halfcourt.

The rest of the starting lineup seemed to welcome the change as well. "It opens up the floor a lot more," said Joe Johnson, "makes us a lot more dangerous, having that extra shooter on the floor. Gives guys a little bit more room to penetrate and create." Brook Lopez added that "it's good for us. G(erald) has such a high basketball IQ, he can play pretty much every spot on the floor for us."

Humphries, who reiterated on a few occasions that didn't know that the night would end in a DNP-CD, was diplomatic about the decision. "I was obviously frustrated, but it's about more than just one player."