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Boston Celtics (39-29) at Toronto Raptors (45-21)
Friday, March 18, 2016
Regular Season Game #69, Road Game #34
TV: NBA-TV, CSNNE, Sportsnet One
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, TSN Radio 1050
Air Canada Centre
Probable Starters 
Isaiah Thomas...Avery Bradley...Evan Turner ...Amir Johnson...Jared Sullinger
Celtics ReservesMarcus Smart
RJ Hunter
Jonas Jerebko
Tyler Zeller
Jordan Mickey
Terry Rozier
James Young
Coty Clarke
Kelly Olynyk
Head CoachBrad Stevens
InjuriesJae Crowder (ankle) out
Probable Starters 
Kyle Lowry...DeMar DeRozan...James Johnson...Luis Scola...Bismack Biyombo
Raptors ReservesPatrick Patterson
Terrence Ross
Cory Joseph
Lucas Nogueira
Norman Powell
Delon Wright
Bruno Caboclo
Jason Thompson
Head Coach Dwane Casey
Injuries Demarre Carroll (knee) out
Jonas Valanciunas (hand) questionable
Game Notes The Celtics hit the road again to visit the 2nd place Toronto Raptors for the 3rd of 4 meetings this season. The Raptors lead the series 2-0, winning 115-109 in Toronto and 113-103 in Boston. They will meet one more time on March 23 in Boston.
The Raptors are playing in the second of back to back games, taking the Indiana Pacers to Overtime in Indiana before beating them on Thursday night. The Raptors are 26-8 at home while the Celtics are 16-17 on the road. The Raptors are 7-5 on the second night of back to back games.
The Celtics 3 game losing streak dropped them from 3rd place down to 5th. With a Miami loss on Thursday night, the Celtics are back up to the 4th spot. Atlanta moved into 3rd place, 1/2 game ahead of the Celtics (4), Heat (5) and Hornets (6), all of whom have the same record but the Celtics have the tie breaker over both the Heat and Hornets. They will drop all the way to 6th if they lose this one.
The Celtics got a lift from the return of Kelly Olynyk in Wednesday night's game and hopefully he will have better rhythm in his second game back. They will still be without Jae Crowder who is still out with the ankle injury. For Toronto, DeMarre Carroll is out with a knee injury and Jonas Valanciunas is questionable with a hand injury.
Key Matchups vs
Isaiah Thomas vs Kyle Lowry
Lowry has given the Celtics problems in the past and he is playing very well, averaging 21.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.1 steals per game. Lowry is going to be tough for Isaiah to guard and we may see Smart on him if he starts to have a big game since James Johnson isn't near as big a threat to score as Lowry is.
vs
Avery Bradley vs DeMarr DeRozan
DeRozan is Toronto's leading scorer and is going to be a tough cover. He is averaing 23.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game. DeRozan scored 34 points in the last game between these two teams. 18 of those points were in the 3rd quarter. Avery has to do a better job on defense in this game, especially with Jae out.
Honorable Mention Amir Johnson vs Luis Scola
Scola is averaging 8.6 points and 5 rebounds but put up 18 points in the last game between these two teams. Amir needs to keep him from having another big game in this one.
Keys to the Game
DefenseDefense has always been and always will be the key to winning. The Celtics have let their defense slip in recent games and the loss of Jae Crowder is definitely a blow to their ability to defend. 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 5th in the league as they hold opponents to just 98.4 points. The Celtics have to match that defensive intensity.
Be AggressiveThe 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.
ReboundThe 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 are 3rd in 2nd chance points and to get 2nd chance points they must first get the rebounds. They have to put out extra effort to box out and grab rebounds on both ends of the court.
Run and Move the BallThe 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 ball stopped moving against the Thunder and we know how that ended up. The Celtics 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 take good shots. They won't win many games shooting below 40%.
The Canadian Factor - With Kelly coming home to Toronto and hopefully having a cheering section there and with Amir returning to Toronto after gaining a following there, perhaps they will be motivated to have big games. Amir didn't play very well in their last game there so hopefully he will make up for it in this game.
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.
Topic: Celtics (39-29) at Raptors (45-21) Game #69 3/18/16 (Read 25937 times)