One bright spot is that “Big Baby” Davis won’t play, as he strained a tendon in his knee in their last contest. This makes the Celtics dangerously thin up front — Shaq and Jermaine O’Neill are still out, and they just traded Kendrick Perkins. Unfortunately, this is probably the worst possible weakness for the Warriors to try to exploit given their troubles in the paint. And I seriously worry about what a crafty vet like Garnett will do to Udoh if they get matched up at the 5.

So we’ll see: no one expects the Warriors to win this game, so maybe they’ll pull another of their rare surprise victories over tough teams. But I wouldn’t bank on it.

• Rust. With no reliable post-up game, the Warriors are a bit more susceptible to rust than most teams. If they can’t get it going from outside, can they at least drive to try to get easier buckets near the rim? Not easy with KG on patrol, but better to try and fail than to become, in the immortal Fitz’s words, “too perimeter oriented.”
• Run. At the same time that the Warriors will be trying to work up a sweat for the first time since last week, four of the Celtics’ starters played in the All Star game on Sunday (just too bad it was in LA instead of, say, Miami). If the Warriors can turn it into a track meet, you’d have to imagine it would pay some dividends.
• Make it Count. The Warriors face one of their more consequential home stretches in years, as a bad run in these final 27 games will likely lead to wholesale changes in the offseason. Can Smart make himself indispensable to the organization; can Reilly make something happen before the trade deadline, and, if not, can the roster he put together make a run; and can so-far-limited players like Udoh and Williams turn a corner and solidify their standing for next year? Starting tonight, we’ll begin to find out.