Celtics (25-9) at Raptors (18-18) 1/10

[FLCeltsFan]

  at 

Boston Celtics (25-9) at Toronto Raptors (18-18)
Sunday, January 10
1:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #35,  Road Game #20
TV:  CSN-NE, TSN, NBA LP 751
Air Canada Center



Coach: Doc Rivers
Average Age: 27.9
Average Height: 6-6
Average Weight: 224

Probable Starters

Rondo/  R Allen/  Pierce/  Wallace /  Perkins

Reserves
Bill Walker
Eddie House
Shelden Williams
JR Giddens
Brian Scalabrine
Glen Davis

Injuries
Tony Allen (flu) questionable
Kevin Garnett (knee) out
Marquis Daniels (thumb)  out




Coach: Jay Triano
Average Age: 26.7
Average Height: 6-7
Average Weight: 226

Probable Starters

Jack/ DeRozan/ Turkoglu/Bosh/ Bargnani

Reserves
Sonny Weems
Amir Johnson
Rasho Nesterovic
Marcus Banks
Marco Bellinelli
Pops Mensah-Bonsu
Patrick O'Bryant
Antoine Wright
Jose Calderon

Injuries
Reggie Evans (foot) out

Team Connections
Amir Johnson and Rasheed Wallace were teammates in Detroit from 2006-09
Marcus Banks was drafted by and  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 Indiana during the 2008-09 season
Nesterovic and Kevin Garnett were teammates in Minnesota from
1998-2003
Patrick O’Bryant played forthe Celtics during the 2008-09 season

Key Matchups
  vs 
Rajon Rondo vs Jarrett Jack
 In the last matchup between those two teams, Rondo was out with the sore hamstring and Tony did quite well against Jack.  So, Rondo should be able to dominate this matchup. 

  vs 
Rasheed Wallace vs Chris Bosh
Chris Bosh has been playing very well in recent games.  For some reason, however, both KG and Rasheed seem to intimidate him and take him off his game.   Hopefully that will continue in this game.   

Honorable Mention
Paul Pierce vs Hedo Turkoglu
Turkoglu usually gives Pierce all he can handle.   He is a threat from beyond the arc as well as a threat to drive.   Hiopefully Pierce is over his rustiness from the knee infection because the Celtics will need him in this one. 

Game Notes
• The C’s are 2-0 against the Raptors during the 2009-10 season; Celtics swept the season series 4-0 against Toronto in 2008-09
• Ray Allen is currently leading the C’s scoring effort against the Raptors this season with an average of 21.5 points per contest
• Chris Bosh is putting up a double-double against the C’s this season with 22.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game
• Season sweep by C’s marked first time since 1997-98 season that C’s accomplished that feat against Toronto
• The Celtics are leading the all-time series 35-20 with the Celtics 20-8 at home

The Celtics are 2-0 vs the Raptors this season so far.  In their most recent meeting, the Celtics showed a lot of heart and  beat them 103-96 without Pierce, KG and Rondo.  With Pierce and Rondo back in the lineup, this should be a win, but it is an afternoon game, which have traditionally not been kind to the Celtics, especially on the road.   

Keys to The Game
Defense, Defense, Defense   The Celtics must play defense.   Once again against the Hawks, we saw a laps in their defensive focus and it cost them the game.    Against the Raptors, they especially need to tighten up their perimeter defense as Toronto is a very good 3 point shooting team. 

Rebound   The Celtics have to crash the boards on both ends.  Defensive rebounds prevent second chance opportunities for the Raptors and Offensive rebounds given them extra shots along with preventing the fast break for the Raptors.    Rebounding is mostly effort and desire and the Celtics need to be showing both of those things.  Sheed needs to play inside more and forget about the 3 point line.  The Celtics have been allowing way too many second chance opportunities by not being aggressive enough on the boards.   

Take it To the Hoop  The Celtics need to take the ball into the paint and either get the score or draw the foul.  Quick 3's are not good offense.    They need to run the offense and move the ball and make the extra pass.  Sheed has got to stop chucking up 3s as he just isn't shooting a good percentage from out there and it is hurting the team. 
X-Factor 
Afternoon Game
In the past the Celtics have been very sluggish in afternoon games.  Their effort wasn't the greatest against the Hawks and hopefully they will find a way to get up for this game so as to avoid another 2 game losing streak.

[FLCeltsFan]

Wow!  This has been up a whole day and not one post yet.

[Bahku]

I'll post! I'll post! I'm looking for the C's to bounce back stronly in this one ... rarely do we have two bad games in-a-row. Great set-up, Fl ... don't know why I didn't post before, but here's a TP just the same!

[FLCeltsFan]

Yeah, I'm looking for a bounce back game for the C's also.  I just thought it very strange that no one was talking about the upcoming game.  TP to you for being the first to post. Oops, I'll have to wait to give you that TP since I just gave you one for the 100 TP thread. That seems like a silly rule.  If you want to give two TP's in an hour you should be able to.

[Drucci]

Should be an easy game but the Raptors are playing well these past few weeks. However, this time we will have Pierce and Rondo and their defense is still the worst in the league in my opinion so...

An easy bounce back game for the C's, I hope we get a big lead and sustain it, to rest our starters for tomorrow's back to back against Atlanta.

It's nice that this game is aired at 1 pm, which corresponds to 7 pm in Europe. No need to stay awake late in the night for this one!

TP FL and go Celtics!

[Kiorrik]

Wow!  This has been up a whole day and not one post yet.

Ugh, I was "looking for it" earlier, for a link from the front page of CB

TP!

And erm, yeh, imo Bosh isn't the real threat: we need to contain Turkoglu. He can get nasty when he's feeling it, [dang] 3p shooter.

Looking forward to the game!

TP to Drucci too for figuring out the time that it's on. I cba looking that up or figuring it out haha

[Chief]

Giddens today? I think he did a good job on defense last time they played.

[Who]

Giddens today? I think he did a good job on defense last time they played.

If Tony Allen is still out then I'd like to see Giddens get the backup wing role.

Giddens is a better matchup than Scal against all of their backup wings + DeRozan.

[Chief]

Giddens today? I think he did a good job on defense last time they played.

If Tony Allen is still out then I'd like to see Giddens get the backup wing role.

Giddens is a better matchup than Scal against all of their backup wings + DeRozan.

Anyone is a better match up than Scals.

[Kiorrik]

We, got, game. ILP has started.

Holy! Did you guys see the headphones they had on? Green ones? With gold? Awesome, #give!

[Drucci]

We, got, game. ILP has started.

Holy! Did you guys see the headphones they had on? Green ones? With gold? Awesome, #give!

Yep, nice headphones. For a second I thought "holy crap, Marquis is playing!" when I saw him walking along Rondo but obviously it's not going to happen.

I don't know if I will be able to listen to the Raptors announcers for the whole game once again.

[Kiorrik]

We, got, game. ILP has started.

Holy! Did you guys see the headphones they had on? Green ones? With gold? Awesome, #give!

Yep, nice headphones. For a second I thought "holy crap, Marquis is playing!" when I saw him walking along Rondo but obviously it's not going to happen.

I don't know if I will be able to listen to the Raptors announcers for the whole game once again.

Same, weren't they the erm... slightly less sane ones?

[fairweatherfan]

Yay afternoon games!  F football, that's why god gave us TiVo. 

BTW why the heck is a Canadian team playing "Hate Me Now"?  I've been to Canada in January, and they're far too cold and polite to be hating on anyone, much less the home team.

[hwangjini_1]

go celtics go. win win win....

nothing to really say right now, just wanted to post.  

[Drucci]

Ray hurt on the nose? He's got a dressing.