The Toronto Raptors host the Boston Celtics at 7:30 p.m. ET on TSN 1 & 4 in what marks the second game of a seven-game home-stand and a chance to extend the team’s season-long winning streak to six.
That’s kind of a big deal, right? The Raptors won five straight to open the season, with marquee victories in Boston, Dallas, and Oklahoma City, and have won four straight on two other occasions, so this is a team that can put a stretch together. Six, though, would match their longest streaks from last year (ending Jan. 31, Dec. 21, and Nov. 26), and seven would be their largest since 2002. The franchise record is nine (2001-02), and if it sounds like I’m getting ahead of myself, well, I certainly am. But a long stretch at home against good-not-great competition has me thinking big (I said the Raptors would go 5-2 on this home-stand).
It’s not going to be easy, though. The Celtics are a quality team, one that works hard for 48 minutes and makes an opponent fight for every bucket. They’re a little thin on offensive punch outside of Isaiah Thomas and the once-[broadcaster name redacted]-proclaimed “best passing big man in basketball” Kelly Olynyk, but don’t let the 22-20 record suggest the Raptors are a markedly better team. The Raptors do a lot of things better, namely, you know, scoring points, but Boston owns the league’s second-best defense thanks to a lunatic perimeter corps that make up for a lack of rim protection by forcing a ton of turnovers and bad shots.
That defenses’ fortunate weakness? They foul more than all but three other teams in basketball. The Raptors crave free throws like your boy craves simple carbs, and the Raptors got to the line 35 times in an Oct. 30 victory.
The Line
I usually save this for the end, but since I’m already talking about the game – read Greg’s full preview here – why not?
The Raptors are three-point favorites and getting 67 percent of the action. That line is down a shade from Raptors -3.5 last night and suggests that as currently constructed, these teams would be close to even on neutral court (somewhat fair, given DeMarre Carroll’s absence, though perhaps a purchase opportunity for optimistic Raptors fans). The over-under has been all over the place, settling in at 200.5 thanks to Boston’s rapid pace undoing some of Toronto’s crawl-it-out style.
I’ll take the Raptors and the under in a bit of an old-school feeling game. Raptors 99, Celtics 95.
Celtics Updates
The Celtics aren’t dealing with any major injuries, but there are a few minor ones.
Evan Turner: Will play through a sore knee. Is the greatest.
Jordan Mickey: Recalled from Maine of the D-League to have his ankle evaluated, but isn’t traveling.
R.J. Hunter and Terry Rozier: On assignment with Maine.
That leaves the rotation looking something like this:
PG: Thomas, Smart
SG: Bradley, Turner
SF: Crowder, Young
PF: Johnson, Lee, Jerebko
C: Sullinger, Olynyk, Zeller
I still roll with Amir
That’s right, it’s the return of Amir Johnson to Toronto.
Amir Johnson is back in Toronto, with an #iStillRollWithAmir t shirt pic.twitter.com/33KZ5eNUHN
— Chris O’Leary (@olearychris) January 20, 2016
I doubt anyone needs a refresher on how great a Raptor he was or what he meant to the franchise and fan base, but if so, go back and read William Lou’s goodbye to him from this summer.
At one point Amir accidentally referred to the Raptors as “us” before correcting himself and asking if anyone has questions about Boston
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) January 20, 2016
It’s pretty clear in reading the quotes from the last two days that Johnson’s happy to be back for a night and the Raptors miss him.
Johnson spent six seasons with the Raptors, averaging 8.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.1 blocks in 25.2 minutes while shooting 57.2 percent from the floor. Understandably not in the Raptors long-term plans, he signed a two-year, $24-million deal with the Celtics with a non-guaranteed second season, meaning he could be a free agent again this summer. In 40 games for Boston, he’s been typical Amir, averaging 8.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.2 blocks in 23.9 minutes, shooting 59.3 percent from the floor, and raising the Celtics’ play by 4.3 points per-100 possessions.
He scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds against the Raptors in Boston earlier this year. I miss him dearly. If this guy doesn’t get a ridiculous ovation, I’m driving down to the ACC to whoop each and every ass as it comes out of the arena after the game.
Raptors Updates
As far as we know, everyone but Carroll is healthy for the Raptors, and with all three D-League recalled, here’s what the rotation will look like:
PG: Lowry, Joseph, Wright
SG: DeRozan, Ross, Powell
SF: Johnson, Caboclo
PF: Scola, Patterson, Bennett
C: Valanciunas, Biyombo, Nogueira
Some ish about 4K
Like the Orlando game from London, England, Thursday’s game will be broadcast in 4K. TSN is claiming it will be the first-ever live 4K broadcast in North America, which is kind of a cheap thing to proclaim considering Sportsnet just did it last week (but the game emanated from England). In any case, “4K” is “the latest evolution in the television viewing experience, delivering horizontal resolution on the order of 4,000 DPI.” DPI is measure of dots per inch, and most HD TVs currently offer 1,080 DPI, so this is a major technological jump, as I understand it. I do not, however, have the quality of television to make this matter.
Do you care? I don’t, but I’m not what you’d call an early adopter or a “gainfully employed guy who can spend a lot of money on a fancy new TV.”
