Celtics (22-20) at Raptors (26-15) Game #43 1/20/16

[FLCeltsFan]

  at 
Boston Celtics (22-20) at Toronto Raptors (26-15)
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Regular Season Game #43, Road Game #22
TV: CSNNE, TSN1/4 NBA-LP 758(DTV), 755(Xfinity)
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, TSN Radio 1050
Air Canada Centre




Probable Starters

Isaiah Thomas...Avery Bradley...Jae Crowder ...Amir Johnson...Jared Sullinger

Celtics Reserves
Evan Turner
RJ Hunter
Jonas Jerebko
Tyler Zeller
Jordan Mickey
Terry Rozier
Marcus Smart
James Young
David Lee
Kelly Olynyk

Head Coach
Brad Stevens

Injuries
None 




Probable Starters 

Kyle Lowry...DeMar DeRozan...James Johnson...Luis Scola...Jonas Valanciunas

Raptors Reserves
Bismack Biyombo
Patrick Patterson
Terrence Ross
Cory Joseph
Lucas Nogueira
Anthony Bennett
Norman Powell
Delon Wright
Bruno Caboclo

Head Coach
Dwane Casey

Injuries
Demarre Carroll  (knee)  out

Game Notes
The Celtics complete their 3 game road trip with a stop in Toronto.  The Celtics are 1-1 on the trip so far with a win in DC and a loss in Dallas.  This is the second of 4 games between these two division rivals this season.  They will meet on 3/18 in Toronto and on 3/23 in Boston to complete the series. 

Just as a couple Celtics had ties in Dallas,  a couple Celtics have ties with the Raptors.  Amir Johnson played for 6 seasons in Toronto and was a fan favorite there.  He will be returning to Toronto for the first time since signing with the Celtics in free agency.   Kelly Olynyk was born in Toronto and moved to Kamloops, BC in the 7th grade.  His mom worked for the Raptors for several years. 

The Raptors have their last 5 games and are looking for their first 6 game win streak of the season with a win in this one.  The Celtics had their 3 game win streak broken with the loss in Dallas and are looking to begin another win streak before returning home to face the Bulls on Friday.  Boston has lost 4 of their last 5 on the road while Toronto has won 8 of their last 10 at home.  The Celtics are 11-10 on the road while the Raptors are 12-6 at home.

The Raptors are in the second spot in the East and lead the Atlantic Division.  The Celtics are still in 8th and trail the Raptors by 4.5 games.   The Celtics are 1/2 game behind Detroit for 7th place and 1 game ahead of Orlando, who are in 9th.  Every game is important and will impact the standings in the East. 

The Celtics are healthy for the most part.  Jordan Mickey was recalled from Maine to have treatment on an ankle injury but since he doesn't get to play, that probably won't affect anything in this game.  For the Raptors, their former starting small forward, Demarre Carroll is out with a knee injury and James Johnson is starting in his place and filling in nicely. 

Key Matchups
vs
Isaiah Thomas vs Kyle Lowry
Lowry has given the Celtics problems in the past and he is playing very well, averaging 22.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game.  Part of the Celtics slow start in Dallas was due to their guards taking advantage of Isaiah's height and inability to guard them.  If the Raptors do the same, expect to see Marcus Smart come in very quickly. 

vs
Avery Bradley vs DeMarr DeRozan
DeRozan is Toronto's leading scorer and is going to be a tough cover.  He is averaing 22.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.0 steals per game.   But if anyone can slow him down, it is the Celtics tough defensive back court. Although he has averaged 28.5 points in his last 4 games against the Celtics. 

Honorable Mention
Jared Sullinger vs Jonas Valanciunas
Valanciunas is averaging 12 points, 9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks.  He is capable of getting inside and altering shots, getting rebounds and tip ins.  Sully has to try to push him out away from the basket.

Keys to the Game
Defense
Defense has always been and always will be the key to winning. The Celtics have one of the toughest defensive trios in the league in Smart, Bradley and Crowder.   They need to play particularly tough defense against the Raptors since they are capable of putting up a lot of points in a hurry.  The Raptors are 4th in the league as they hold opponents to just 96.9 points.  The Celtics have to match that defensive intensity.   

Be Aggressive
The Celtics must be aggressive on defense, in going after loose balls, in crashing the boards, and just all around going all out. They have to aggressively attack the basket. They need to start the game with that aggressive attitude and be aggressive through the whole game with no let up.  The more aggressive team will usually get the benefit of the doubt from the refs as well. 

Rebound
The Celtics must crash the boards. They can't score if they don't have the ball. Much of rebounding is effort and desire. The Celtics have to be the team that puts out more effort from every player to go after rebounds.  The Celtics have to put out extra effort to box out and grab rebounds on both ends of the court.   

Run and Move the Ball
The Celtics need to run on every possession and get up the court before the defenses get set up.  When the Celtics slow down, they don't play very well and so they need to run throughout the game.  They also have to move the ball and find the open man.   The Celtics have to use their depth and run.  They also need to keep the ball moving and not lapse into hero ball. 

X-Factors
The Offensive Factor -  Sometimes the Celtics can't seem to hit a shot to save their lives.  They miss 3 pointers, elbow shots, layups, shots from everywhere.  I don't know if that's a focus factor or what it is.  The Celtics have got to focus on taking good shots and not rushing their offense.

The Canadian Factor - With Kelly coming home to Toronto and hopefully having a cheering section there and with Amir returning to Toronto for the first time since leaving for the Celtics,  perhaps they will be motivated to have big games.  Or, they may be too excited to return and play terrible.  It may go either way. 

Officiating Factor - Officiating is always an x-factor. How the refs call the game has a big influence on how the teams play. Will they let them play or call every little bit of contact? Will they call it evenly or will they favor one team or the other. Will they be influenced by the home crowd or will they call it fairly for both teams?  It all effects the outcome of the game.   

[jambr380]

Great job as usual, FL - should be an excellent game! TP!

[csfansince60s]

TP FL Celts.

Waited a while this time.

Great job as usual

[FLCeltsFan]

And a TP to both  jambr380  and csfansince60s for being first in the game thread.  You posted just 2 seconds apart and so you both deserve a TP. 

Go Celtics!!!!!

[Quetzalcoatl]

Winnable game but the Raptors are very good.  Should be interesting

[hwangjini_1]

thanks flc for another thread.....though this one is puzzling. EMPTY beer mugs??!! who drank all that beer? was it you? are you now slumped over your computer, mayhaps drooling a bit? 

dont tell us!!!!! we will simply assume that you are wholesome and not hungover at the moment. 

but in any case, having a beer to celebrate a celtics victory is always a good idea!

goooooo celtics!!!

[trickybilly]

Murder those Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.heads. Go Cs

[apc]

Lowry is very tough match-up for IT. I am sure we will see a lot of Marcus vs Lowry

[BudweiserCeltic]

Another team I hate playing against, just like Dallas... games are annoying as heck for whatever reason. Hope we win.

[apc]

Another team I hate playing against, just like Dallas... games are annoying as heck for whatever reason. Hope we win.

For whatever reason= because they beat us.

[jpotter33]

I'm betting we'll see them try to take advantage of IT early and often, especially given Lowry's size.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Another team I hate playing against, just like Dallas... games are annoying as heck for whatever reason. Hope we win.

For whatever reason= because they beat us.

LOL

[danglertx]

For the life of me, I don't know why KO isn't starting.  When he starts we get off to great starts but yet we chose to start worse.  Doesn't make sense. 

[csfansince60s]

Prediction:Sully 15+ rebounds.

Always does well vs Raps.

[jpotter33]

We start every single game with that Bradley curl, don't we?