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16 hours ago

Rondo Replacing Johnson on All-Star Team

The Herald got it right from Rondo’s agent. According to his agent, Bill Duffy, the Celtics point guard has been named to the Eastern Conference All-star roster, presumably to replace Joe Johnson, the injured Atlanta Hawks guard. This would be Rondo’s third all-star appearance. Nice birthday present for RR, who probably should have been selected [...]

2
3 days ago

Comments Deleting?

We apologize if your comments are being deleted (provided that they are not offensive). We are looking into why this is happening. We also want to apologize for the lack of a game thread for last night’s game.  We had a premonition that the Celtics would play that poorly and thought if we pretended the [...]

2
7 days ago

5 Questions With Greg Monroe

I talked with Detroit star forward Greg Monroe prior to the Celtics-Pistons game on Wednesday night.  Here is what the 2nd year big man out of Georgetown, who is averaging 16.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists per game had to say. 1. Just your 2nd year in the league, but playing so well, were you disappointed [...]

3
8 days ago

Call for Responses: 5-on-5

Readers! Last week’s responses to the 5-on-5 questions were really, really great. We had way more qualified answers than we were able to use. So we’re going to keep doing it! FOREVER. Here are this week’s questions: 1. Are you concerned about Rondo’s media boycott this week? 2. The trade deadline is less than a [...]

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11 days ago

5 Questions With Ronnie Brewer

I talked with Chicago starting guard Ronnie Brewer prior to the Celtics-Bulls game on Sunday.  Here is what the 6th year man out of Arkansas who is averaging 7.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists had to say. 1. You guys have a lot of the same players back from last year’s team which was [...]

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13 days ago

5 Questions With Josh McRoberts

I talked to Los Angeles back up big man Josh McRoberts prior to the Celtics-Lakers game Thursday night at the Garden.  Here is what the former Duke Blue Devil, who is averaging 2.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in his first year in LA, had to say. 1. How have you guys been able to deal [...]

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Game 16/82: Raptors (6-9) @ C’s (11-4) Open Thread

Posted by on Nov 26, 2010 14 comments

Toronto at Boston
7:30 P.M. ET.
TD Garden
Local TV/Radio: CSN/WEEI

Offensive Efficiency:

Boston: 108.2 points/100 possessions (11th)

Raptors: 106.2 points/100 possessions (15th)

Defensive Efficiency:

Boston: 100.5 points allowed/100 possessions (3rd)

Raptors: 107.7 points allowed/100 possessions (19th)

Probable TOR starters: Andrea Barganni, DeMar DeRozan, Sonny Weems, Jose Calderon, Reggie Evans

Injury Report

Raptors: NONE

Celtics: QUESTIONABLE: Rajon Rondo (hamstring) OUT: Jermaine O’Neal (knee), Kendrick Perkins (knee), Delonte West (wrist)

Opposing Perspective: Raptors Republic

Thumbnail: The Celtics look to avenge their loss against the upstart Raptors who have won four straight games overall, including a one-point win over Boston last Sunday. Toronto who has been playing much better ball of late, has more reinforcements since that last battle, with Jerryd Bayless and Peja Stojakovic as the newest members of the team’s rotation after completing their five-player trade with New Orleans earlier this week.

Meanwhile, the C’s are likely to be extremely shorthanded in the backcourt without Delonte West (broken right wrist) and with Rajon Rondo looking doubtful to suit up again with a strained hamstring. The bench unit, especially Von Wafer and maybe even Avery Bradley could see some run if foul trouble does arise. The C’s lost one they should have earlier this week to this squad though, so expect them to come out hungry like they did against Atlanta.

WHAT THE RAPTORS DO WELL:

Offensive Rebound

The Raptors have the best rebounder in the league on both ends of the floor in Reggie Evans, and he has some help off the bench with Amir Johnson on the offensive end (also one of the best in the league) so it should come as little to no surprise they are 7th in offensive rebounding rate in the league thus far.

*8th in the league in getting to the line

No one in particular stands out in this department, but the Raptors have a plethora of younger athletic players along with big men that make to the charity stripe at a stronger than average rate. This obviously was a major issue in the team’s last showdown on Sunday so look for the C’s to make more of an effort tonight to limit the freebies.

*Forcing Turnovers (7th in league)

I won’t even get into this. You guys know the story with Boston.

WHAT THE RAPTORS DO POORLY

How do you say? Ah yes….Defense

Opponents get to the basket at will against Barganni and the majority of their perimeter players play a certain matador defense, allowing their opponents easy openings to the hoop. The numbers are also ugly in other areas of the defensive end.

*26th in defensive eFG percentage

*Opponents get to the line against them…. a lot. (23rd in league in free throw rate)

With that said, this team has been playing MUCH better on defense lately during their four-game winning streak. They have held their opponents to 101, 86, 90, and 96 points in those four games which shouldn’t be impressive but it is for a team like Toronto. Still this is a clear vulnerability Boston should be able to take advantage of tonight.

Shooting the 3 Ball

The Raptors come in 29th in the league in this department at 30.9%/game. Still new additions Stojakovic and Bayless should help in this department and Andrea Barganni continues to be a threat.

PLAYERS WHO MAKES ME WORRY

Andrea Barganni

I can not believe I am writing this but the Raptors European import has been the ringleader of Toronto’s recent resurgence that has listed Celtics as one of the victims. In his past four games, Barganni has averaged 27 points with 5 boards in each contest while shooting a blistering 56 percent from the field despite his incredibly high volume of shots. Given the C’s have liabilities guarding him outside (Shaq) and size issues guarding him inside (Baby) it’s clear the team will be focused on slowing him down tonight. Look for KG to stay on him whenever he is in the game with Evans.

PLAYERS WHO DO NOT MAKE ME WORRY

DeMar DeRozan

The shooting guard position is not a strength for this Raptors team and although DeRozan has some nice athleticism, the C’s should be able to contain him. Same for Julian Wright, who is as offensively inept as they come.

WHAT WE WANT TO SEE FROM THE C’S TONIGHT

Bench Help

They didn’t get any of it last Sunday in Toronto, causing a second quarter massacre which forced Boston to play catch up the rest of the way. With the injuries piling up, Wafer, Daniels, and even Semih Erden who has seen his playing time shrink during poor play this past week need to step up big against an inferior opponent, while keeping the onus off the starters. Doc shouldn’t have to play those guys 35-40 minutes against Toronto.

PREDICTION

Celtics 105, Raptors 93

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