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[FLCeltsFan]

  at 
Boston Celtics (24-23) at Toronto Raptors (17-31)
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
7:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #48 – Road Game #22
TV: CSNNE, RSN,  NBA-LP 749
Radio:  WEEI, CJCL 
Air Canada Centre




Probable Starters
PGSGSFPFC
PG:   Avery Bradley
SG:  Courtney Lee 
SF:  Paul Pierce
PF:  Brandon Bass 
C:   Kevin Garnett

Celtics Reserves
Jason Terry
Jason Collins
Chris Wilcox
Jeff Green
Leandro Barbosa
Fab Melo

Injuries
Rajon Rondo (knee) out
Jared Sullinger (back) out




Probable Starters
PGSG SF PFC
PG:  Kyle Lowry   
SG: DeMar DeRozan
SF: Rudy Gay
PF:  Amir Johnson
C:   Aaron Gray

Raptors Bench
Alan Anderson
Terrence Ross
John Lucas III
Jonas Valenciunas
Quincy Acy
Mickael Pietrus
Hamed Haddadi

Injuries
Landry Fields (back) day to day
Andrea Bargnani  (elbow, wrist)  day to day
Linas Kleiza  (knee)  out 


Team Connections
Rajon Rondo and Raptors Head Coach Dwane Casey attended Kentucky
Jason Collins and Landry Fields both attended Stanford
Collins and Kyle Lowry were teammates in Memphis during the 2007-08 season
Courtney Lee and Kyle Lowry were teammates in Houston from 2010-12
Leandro Barbosa played for Toronto from 2010-12.

Key Matchups
  vs 
Paul Pierce vs Rudy Gay
Rudy Gay has settled in with the Raptors quickly, shooting 50% for 20 points against the Clippers on Friday, and following that up with 48% shooting for 29 points against the Heat on Sunday.  Paul Pierce will have the chore of trying to slow him down in this one while he continues to give the Celtics assists, rebounds and points as they need them. 

   vs   
Courtney Lee vs DeMar DeRozan
DeRozan is the Raptors leading scorer (other than Gay) with 17.6 points per game.   He might not find scoring quite as easy against the Celtics' pit bulls in the back court. 

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.  The Celtics may be ranked next to last in rebounding but they have proved that when they really want them, the Celtics can grab rebounds.

Defense -  The Celtics must make defense their first priority in each and every game.  They have once again found their defensive identity and their recent surge is the result of that.   They need to play tough defense and lock down the Raptors.  A nice blow out win would be nice since this is the first of back to back to back games and defense is what will give the starters some rest for the next game which happens to be against the hated Lakers.   

Run and Pass - The Celtics need to continue to advance the ball with the pass instead of walking it up the court.   They also have to continue to run and move the ball to get easy shots before the defenses can get set up. 

Be Aggressive and Stay Focused - The Celtics must be the more aggressive team in going after loose balls and rebounds and in going to the basket.  They also have to stay focused.  They have been letting up and allowing teams to get back into games.  They have to keep their focus and their aggressiveness for 48 minutes and not let up. 

Game Notes
The Celtics head to Toronto for the 2nd of 4 meetings with the Raptors.  Their first meeting in November resulted in a 107-89 home win for the Celtics.  The Celtics are 3rd in the Atlantic Division, 7.5 games behind the Knicks.  The Raptors are last in the division, 7.5 games behind the Celtics.

Both teams have been off since Sunday and should be well rested.  Boston has won their last 4 games while the Raptors are coming off a loss to the Heat.  The Celtics are 4-6 in their last 10 games, having lost 6 games in a row before their recent 4 game win streak.  The Raptors are 3-7 in their last 10.    The Raptors are a decent team at home with a 12-12 record at the Air Canada Centre.  The Celtics have struggled a bit on the road with just a 7-14 record away from the Garden.

This marks Leandro Barbosa's firs game back to the Air Canada Center since he was traded by the Raptors in March.  He played in 100 games over 2 seasons for Toronto.  The Celtics tend to let up against the bottom teams but they need to stay focused and try to get an easy win in this game and let the starters get some rest since they face the Lakers on Thursday. 

X-Factors
Focus on the Road
The Celtics have struggled on the road this season.  They need to come out focused and stick to the game plan that has gotten them 4 wins in a row.  For veteran players, playing on the road should not cause them to lose focus. 

[Who]

DeRozan has a much improved post game this year. It might be difficult to get away with the small backcourts while DeRozan is out on the floor.

I think Doc should go big with Pierce / J.Green together against Gay / DeRozan when Courtney Lee needs a rest. Avoid those small backcourts. Or if Lee struggles, go to Pierce / Green as first choice wing combination against Gay / DeRozan.

[AB_Celtic]

I have those pens, and they don't work very well

Go C's

[SHAQATTACK]

Need another huge game from Jeff Green , Jet, Lee and Pierce.     

[mgent]

DeRozan has a much improved post game this year. It might be difficult to get away with the small backcourts while DeRozan is out on the floor.

I think Doc should go big with Pierce / J.Green together against Gay / DeRozan when Courtney Lee needs a rest. Avoid those small backcourts. Or if Lee struggles, go to Pierce / Green as first choice wing combination against Gay / DeRozan.

Yeah, I think this is one of those matchups that Green can handle, or maybe even Pierce.  Not a shooter so he won't make them pay for playing off a little.

[CelticConcourse]

Green v Gay

[Donoghus]

I think this will be a very interesting game. 

Road game against a pesky club.  I expect a tight one.

[jgod213]

Bargnani (elbow) is a game-time call for Wednesday's contest against Boston, TSN 1050 AM reports. (about 2 hours ago)

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/2987/andrea-bargnani

Interested to see what the Raps frontcourt rotation is come Wednesday.  Not sure that Bargnani & Valanciunas can play for 20 minutes combined yet.

Add that to Amir Johnson & Aaron Gray's propensity to foul and you have yourself some issues.

[KGs Knee]

Holy Smokes!  Is that an 80's Caprice Wagon in that photo?

What are the chances one of those is still on the road, and in of all places, Canada?  Do they not use road salt up there or something?

[Who]

Garnett should cause the Raptors a lot of problems. Aaron Gray is a slow footed and incompetent defender away from the basket. Garnett's high post game and Bass' spot-up shooting should do a great job of unsettling the Raptors team + interior defense.

[CelticConcourse]

If Bargnani plays, we essentially have an easy win. Lol

[Rondo_is_better]

I'll be super interested to see how Rudy Gay plays and what they do with their rotation. Go C's!

[SHAQATTACK]

I think this will be a very interesting game. 

Road game against a pesky club.  I expect a tight one.

yep......it's gonna  be a bar fight , to borrow the phrase of a famous Celtic.......... going on the  road without Two starters will be huge challenge ..... Raptors are reenergized with their new superstar Mr Gay.     

see if this team can play decent an get a win on the road.......heaven help us

[Lord of Mikawa]

This is totally a trap game.

[scaryjerry]

This is totally a trap game.

No such thing as trap games for this team anymore