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Toronto Raptors (4-2) at Boston Celtics (6-1)Monday, November 10
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #8, Home Game #4
TV: CSN HD, CBC, NBA LP NBA 2
TD Banknorth Garden Probable Starters Rondo/ R Allen/ Pierce/ Garnett/ Perkins
ReservesTony Allen
Glen Davis
Eddie House
Leon Powe
Gabe Pruitt
Brian Scalabrine
Patrick O'Bryant
JR Giddens
Bill Walker
Sam Cassell
Injuries: None
Probable Inactive JR Giddens
Patrick O'Bryant
Sam Cassell
Calderon/ Parker/ Moon/ Bosh/ O'Neal
Reserves Joey Graham
Will Solomon
Jason Kapono
Andrea Bargnani
Hassan Adams
Roko Ukic
Kris Humphreys
Nathan Jawai
InjuriesNone
Probable InactiveNathan Jawai
Key Matchups vs
Rajon Rondo PPG 8.7 RPG 4.20 APG 7.0 EFF + 14.67
Jose Calderon PPG 16.8 RPG 4.00 APG 9.8 EFF + 23.20
vs
Kevin Garnett PPG 15.7 RPG 9.70 APG 1.3 EFF + 18.33
Chris Bosh PPG 26.0 RPG 10.20 APG 2.4 EFF + 26.80
Honorable MentionKendrick Perkins PPG 6.8 RPG 7.50 APG 1.2 EFF + 11.83
Jermaine O'Neal PPG 11.6 RPG 5.80 APG 2.2 EFF + 12.20
Keys to the Game:Defend the Perimeter: The Raptors can kill you from beyond the arc as they have the green light to shoot the 3 and are very effective from that distance. They have 5 players shooting 53% or more from beyond the arc and the Celtics will need to stay with the Raptors defensively out on the perimeter.
Start Strong The Celtics need to come out strong from the start and not allow themselves to get into a hole as they have several times already this season. With the Raptors' potent offense, they can't afford to start slow and play catch up.
Free Throws The Celtics are an aggressive team and get to the line a lot, but they haven't been able to take full advantage of that as they have been terrible from the line this season. They need to hit their free throws as it will cost them close games if they don't.
X-FactorBack to Back and TravelBoth teams are playing in the second of back to back games and both teams had to travel. The Raptors' game was at 1:00 while the Celtics played at 6:00 PM. Both teams are coming off a double digit win The team that deals best with the fatigue of travel and playing back to back will pull out the win.