at   
Boston Celtics (4-1) at Toronto Raptors (2-4)
Sunday, October 18, 2009
3:00 PM ET
Preseason Game #6 – Road Game #3
TV:  CSN HD,  DTV 751
Air Canada Centre 


Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
  vs 
Rajon Rondo vs Jose Calderon

Shooting Guard
  vs 
Ray Allen vs Demar DeRozan

Small Forward
  vs 
Paul Pierce vs Hedo Turkoglu 

Power Forward
  vs 
Kevin Garnett vs Chris Bosh

Center
  vs 
Kendrick Perkins vs Andrea Bargnani



Reserves
Eddie House
Rasheed Wallace
Marquis Daniels
Shelden Williams
Tony Allen
Brian Scalabrine
Lester Hudson
Michael Sweetney
JR Giddens
Big Baby Davis

Injuries
Tony Allen (ankle) out
Bill Walker (knee) out





Reserves
Reggie Evans
Marco Belinelli
Jarrett Jack
Amir Johnson
Patrick O'Bryant
Marcus Banks
Quincy Douby
Sonny Weems

Injuries
Reggie Evans (foot) out 
Antoine Wright (knee) day to day

Team Connections
 Joey Graham and Tony Allen are former Oklahoma State Cowboys
Raptors Strength and Conditioning Coach Keith D’Amelio was an assistant to Ed Lacerte for three season
Amir Johnson and Rasheed Wallace were teammates in Detroit from 2006-09
Marcus Banks played for the Celtics from 2003-06
DeMar DeRozan and Brian Scalabrine are former USC Trojans
Reggie Evans and Ray Allen were teammates in Seattle from 2003-06
Rasho Nesterovic, Jarrett Jack and Marquis Daniels were teammates in Indianaduring the 2008-09 season
Nesterovic and Kevin Garnett were teammates in Minnesota from 1998-2003
Patrick O’Bryant played for the Celtics during the 2008-09 season
Quincy Douby and Shelden Williams were teammates in Sacramento during the 2007-08 season

Key Matchups
  vs 
Rajon Rondo  vs  Jose Calderon
Calderon is one of the point guards that has the capability of giving Rondo a challenge if he isn't on his game.  In Wednesday's game, Calderon had 12 points and 3 assists to 6 points and 8 assists for Rondo,  Calderon can also disrupt the offense and had 3 steals in the last meeting between these two teams.

  vs 
Kevin Garnett  vs  Chris Bosh   
Chris Bosh started Wednesday's game strong and had 20 points in the first half.  Then the Celtics upped their defense and got more physical and Bosh disappeared, scoring just 1 point the rest of the game.   In spite of all the talk about his putting on muscle and wanting to stand up to the more physical teams,  it doesn't seem to be working so far. 

Honorable Mention
Paul Pierce vs Hedo Turkoglu
These two always seem to bring out the best in each other.  There have been a few games where Turkoglu has hit the winning shot for Orlando against the Celtics and Pierce typically has good games vs Turkoglu.

Game notes
Both teams should be well rested and the starters for both teams are healthy.  The Raptors will be looking to avenge Wednesday's loss and the Celtics will be looking to make a statement to a division rival. 

When these two teams first met, Rasheed Wallace was sitting off and he should be available for this game.   Even without Sheed, the Celtics bench outplayed the Raptors bench and that shouldn't change in this game.  The Celtics' bench is much deeper than the Raptors' bench and that will probably be the difference once again. 

UPDATE:   I just read that Doc plans to start Marquis Daniels along with Pierce and Allen in this game.  Should be interesting to see how he does at the point with the starters.  http://greenstreet.weei.com/sports/boston/basketball/celtics/2009/10/17/rare-lineup-for-celtics-on-sunday/

Rivers will start Paul Pierce, along with Ray Allen and Marquis Daniels, with Daniels the most-likely choice to start at the point. Daniels, who has played big guard as well as small forward, has been getting time in practice as the point behind Rajon Rondo.

“We’re just going to do that [Sunday] to see what the other team does defensively,” Rivers said Saturday.

Daniels, along with Eddie House and rookie Lester Hudson figure to get a long look as Rivers considers back-up options behind Rondo off the bench.

Keys to the Game 
Defense - The Celtics need to especially defend the Raptors' perimeter shooters.  The Celtics have said that they want to be the best defensive team ever and will need to pick up their defense even in the preseason if they hope to achieve that lofty goal.

Limit Turnovers   The Celtics tend to turn the ball over a lot and they need to work on taking better care of the ball.  That should improve as the players get to know each other better and develop their on court chemistry. 

Make Free Throws   With the way the replacement refs are calling the games, there have been plenty of opportunities at the line.   The Celtics need to make their free throws count.