Celtics (24-7) at Raptors (11-21) 1/2

[FLCeltsFan]

  at 
Boston Celtics (24‐7) at Toronto Raptors (11‐21)
Sunday, January 2
6:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #32 – Road Game #17
TV: CSNNE, TSN2,  LP-754
Radio:  WEEI, CJCL 
Air Canada Centre




Probable Starters
PGSGSFPFC
PG: Nate Robinson  8.4 PPG   2.5 APG   0.4 SPG
SG:  Ray Allen  Ray Allen 16.8 PPG 3.3 APG .415 3P%
SF:  Paul Pierce 18.8 PPG 5.1 RPG 3.7 APG
PF: Glen Davis 12.0 PPG 5.7 RPG 0.4 BPG
C:   Shaquille O'Neal 10.4 PPG 5.5 RPG 0.9 BPG

Boston Bench Mob
Marquis Daniels
Luke Harangody
Von Wafer
Avery Bradley 
Jermaine O'Neal 

Injured
Kendrick Perkins (knee) out
Delonte West (wrist)  out
Rajon  Rondo (ankle) day to day
Kevin Garnett (calf)  out
Semih Erden (flu) day to day




Probable Starters
PGSGSFPFC
PG:  Jose Calderon   10.0 PPG, 7,4 APG, 1.3 SPG
SG: DeMar DeRozan 13.8 PPG, 1.7 APG, .095 3P%
SF:  Linas Kleiza   12.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.0 APG
PF:  Amir Johnson   8.8 PPG, 6.0 RPG,  1.1 BPG
C:  Joey Dorsey   3.9 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 0.6 BPG 

Raptors Bench
Solomon Alabi
Leandro Barbosa
Ronald Dupree
Julian Wright
Ed Davis

Injuries
Jerryd Bayless (ankle)  questionable
Sonny Weems (back) questionable
Reggie Evans (foot)  out
Peja Stojakovic (knee)  out
Andrea Bargnani (ankle, knee)  day to day

Team Connections
Reggie Evans and Ray Allen were teammates in Seattle from 2003-06
Julian Wright and Paul Piece both attended the University of Kansas
Leandro Barbosa and Shaquille O’Neal were teammates in Phoenix during the2008-09 season
Von Wafer and Linas Kleiza were teammates in Denver during the 2007-08 season
Jermaine O’Neal played in Toronto during the 2008-09 season

Key Matchups
  vs 
Shaquille O'Neal vs Joey Dorsey
Andrea Bargnani has been out for the past three games and is questionable for this one.  If he can't go, the Raptors will start 6'8" Joey Dorsey at center.  Shaq should be able to get his shot off over Dorsey and give the Celtics the advantage.   However, if Bargnani is able to go, this could be a mismatch in the Raptors' favor.

  vs 
Nate Robinson vs Jose Calderon
Nate is once again listed as the probable starter for this game.  Rondo will once again be a game time decision for this game.  If he can go, the PG match up moves in the Celtics favor, but Calderon has the height and experience advantage over Nate if Rondo can't go. 

Honorable Mention
Paul Pierce vs Linas Kleiza
Pierce admitted after the last game that he did not play well with just 12 points and 6 turnovers.  I expect a much better game from him in this one and he should be able to get past Kleiza to either get to the hoop or to set up his teammates.  If Pierce did take the last loss personally he could come up big for the Celtics in this one. 

Keys to the Game
Rebound -  The Celtics have got to crash the boards to prevent second chance points.  Rebounding takes effort and when they aren't winning the battle of the boards, they aren't putting the effort out in other areas either. 

Focus - The Celtics clearly lacked focus vs the Hornets and they must avoid these lapses against teams they should beat.  It's a bad habit to get into to play up or down to the competition.  Even short handed, the Celtics should have beaten the Hornets who had lost 7 in a row on the road.   The Celtics should beat the Raptors (who are just as short handed) unless they once again lack focus and allow the Raptors to hang around. 

Defense -  The Celtics must make defense their first priority in each and every game.  They have been playing defense in spurts and allowing teams to get leads or hang around and they think they can turn on the defense down the stretch.  Without KG, they just can't do that and they must play strong defense all game.  With the Raptors, they must particularly guard the perimeter. 

Take Care of the Ball - Turnovers have been a big problem in the last two games.  Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have been especially careless with the ball.  They must tighten up their ball handling and stop turning it over.  You can't win when your starters are turning the ball over 17 times. 

Game Notes
The Celtics are facing the Raptors for the 3rd time this season.  They split the first two games with the Celtics losing 102-101 in Toronto and then 5 days later winning 110-101 in Boston. 

Don't expect the Raptors to feel sorry for the Celtics because of injuries.  The Raptors are also playing short handed with 2 players listed as out, 2 as questionable and one day to day.  Both teams could be missing 5 key players.  The Celtics had been expecting Rondo back for their last game but he wasn't ready yet and Doc said that he might also miss this game so we may or may not see Rondo in this game.  For the Raptors, their leading scorer, Andrea Bargnani has missed the past 3 games and is listed as day to day.   Both of these players could make a big difference for their team.

The Raptors are 3-7 in their last 10 games and are coming off a loss to the Rockets while the Celtics are 7-3 in their last 10 games and have lost 2 in a row and 3 of the last 4 games.  The Raptors are 7-9 at home while the Celtics are 11-5 on the road. 

In the Celtics last game, several players tried to do too much. most notably Big Baby, Ray and Pierce.  We saw too many players trying to score on iso's and too much hero ball.  They need to stay in their roles and play team ball.  They have to move the basketball to find the open man instead of each player looking for his own shot and trying to be the hero.   If they can do this, they should win this one. 

X-Factors
Injuries and Ubuntu 
Both teams are missing key players and both have one key player who is a game time decision.   If either Rondo or Bargnani can play, it would give their team an advantage.   The Celtics players must focus and resist the urge to play hero ball and try to do too much.  If they can remain focused and play team ball they'll come out on top. 

[Who]

Kleiza could be problematic. Paul Pierce matches up very well against him but the rest of the C's wings do not. They give up too much size to Kleiza. So need to have Pierce on the floor whenever Kleiza @ SF.

When they switch Kleiza to the four -- which will happen a fair bit if Bargnani is out -- the C's need to keep Glen Davis on the court to defend him. Jermaine is too slow and Harangody too poor defensively to defend Kleiza out on the perimeter. Davis is their best bet.

I don't like the idea of going small with Pierce at the four to matchup against them. The Celtics do not do well in those circumstances. Their wings, outside of Pierce, just don't bring enough size + rebounding to the table. Makes them vulnerable. I'd only go down this road as a last resort ... if Baby can't check Kleiza.

[celticinorlando]

we need a freakin win somehow

[j804]

we need a freakin win somehow

There should be no reason for us not to win this game. Regardless who's out there we cannot be dropping games to scrub teams like Toronto, have a feeling the Captain will come out on fire.

[Q_FBE]

The only problem is that we seem to matchup very poorly with this years addition of the Raptors, even when healthy. Quick and shooting good from the outside. I think we need to start getting something from Nate, Jermaine, and Shaquille and that has not happened the last several games for whatever reason.

[snively]

I really hope Rondo's back for this one.   

[Megatron]

On paper we should win this game, but every team gives 150% effort when facing the C's and those lucky shots that dont go in vs other teams usually go in vs. the Celtics.

Going to be a tough game considering the Torontos run a high powered offense and the C's are going to struggle both on the Offensive and Defensive end.

Close game until the end.

No matter the outcome I wont care, seasons over unless KG can come back strong anyways.

[GreenFaith1819]

TP to FLCeltsFan and thanks for post!

Another game for Glen to redeem himself, and more PT for JO. I would love to see Rondo back, too.

[PosImpos]

If Rondo's back, we win.  If not, we lose.

Simple as that.

[gar]

Not so easy. Marquis and Nate both match up well against Calderon. Nate should be able to blow by at will and Marquis can muscle him and shot over him all day. If they get hot from the outside they can be dangerous; however don't see Rondo as the key, but more of a guarantee. We should win regardless!

TP FL

[JerseyKid.]

On paper we should win this game, but every team gives 150% effort when facing the C's and those lucky shots that dont go in vs other teams usually go in vs. the Celtics.

Going to be a tough game considering the Torontos run a high powered offense and the C's are going to struggle both on the Offensive and Defensive end.

Close game until the end.

No matter the outcome I wont care, seasons over unless KG can come back strong anyways.

I was going to write this but you spelled my thoughts right out. I feel like all the bad teams come out swinging and catch us on our worst nights.

I miss KG already, and we need rondo to keep our heads together. We can manage without him for a few games, but we are on our tail end of witz without him now.

[celticinorlando]

no excuse not to win today..raptors missing everyone good

[nba is the worst]

If Rondo's back, we win.  If not, we lose.

Simple as that.

I say the Celtics win either way - they won't play unfocussed like they did against the Hornets in the last 6 minutes.

[Who]

The Celtics starters should wipe the floor with the Raptors counterparts. They have advantages at both wing positions and at center while the Raptors only have an advantage at the point. That should allow the C's to build a nice lead in the early part of each half.

Leandro Barbosa will give Toronto a nice lift off the bench and their second unit could be problematic to matchup with if Kleiza switches to the four. The loss of Sonny Weems to injury will limit those lineup(s) effectiveness though. They'll be over-reliant on Julian Wright and/or possibly small backcourts with Calderon/Barbosa.

[Who]

Jose Calderon and Leandro Barbosa are a very effective 1-2 punch at the point guard position.

Calderon as the wonderful offensive facilitator and Barbosa as the change of pace scoring machine. They complement one another very well and create different matchup problems for their opponent.

I wished Toronto used that as their main rotation instead of giving minutes to Jerryd Bayless.