Ahh yes, the Boston Celtics. The would-be threat to the Toronto Raptors’ perch as the top would-be threat to the Cleveland Cavaliers. A fun and gritty young Celtics team was able to ad Al Horford in the offseason, plus No. 3 pick Jaylen Brown, and with several good contracts, young players still developing, and a bevy of draft assets at the ready, it was assumed Boston would push for the second spot in the East, perhaps even emerging as a threat to LeBron James and company if the right trade target hit the market.
And that might all eventually be true. For right now, though, the Celtics are 13-9 and still very much in the “figuring it out” stage. They haven’t been bad, but they’re not where it seemed some thought they’d be immediately. Like Jae Crowder, for instance, who said the following in July:
I think our ceiling is the Eastern Conference Finals. Toronto is not a team we’re worried about. I think Cleveland is the top team. That’s what it comes down to.
At the time, that didn’t sit particularly well with DeMarre Carroll, who responded as follows:
I think it’s a comment from a person who hasn’t been in a playoff situation. When you haven’t been on that level you don’t understand what it takes. Myself, going to back-to-back Conference Finals, I know what it takes. I think it’s a comment from a guy who hasn’t played at that level, sounds like a young [guy] comment.
On the surface, that back-and-forth, the fact that both teams play in the Atlantic Division, and that they are somewhere in the neighborhood of the second and third best teams in the conference (hi, second-round matchup) gives this the makings of a bit of a rivalry. I’m of the mind you probably need a playoff series or two before something’s a true rivalry, but it would be entertaining for the teams to at least have some general disdain for each other as the season wears on. For now, it’s just another game.
The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. on Sportsnet One and TSN 1050. You can check out the full game preview here, and this week’s Weekly Extra podcast was essentially a massive preview of Raptors vs. Celtics for the season.
Raptors updates
As usual with a back-to-back scenario, DeMarre Carroll is likely to only play one leg of it. Considering he suited up against the Timberwolves on Thursday, it would stand to reason that he’s out in this one. Head coach Dwane Casey did say the team is hoping to take the back-to-back restriction off “soon,” but the context didn’t suggest, to me, that he meant by tonight’s game. Still, check back before tip-off for a firm update.
UPDATE: Carroll is out, as is Bruno Caboclo (sore knee).
As always with Carroll sitting, it’s really not so bad. Not only are there no back-to-backs in the playoffs, so he doesn’t really need to build up to them, every game he sits also buys a lot of playing time for Norman Powell. Powell’s deserving of playing NBA rotation minutes, he’s just boxed into a 10th-man role thanks to the Raptors’ guard depth and the surprisingly even and steady play of Terrence Ross. Against the Celtics, Powell should be a valuable defensive weapon, potentially drawing the Avery Bradley or Marcus Smart assignment and maybe seeing time on Jae Crowder. Powell’s usage in general could be increased by the Raptors experimenting with some fun, smaller lineups that could help the defense, something I wrote about today for The Athletic.
The bigger challenge than matching across the first three positions will be matching with a stable of stretchy bigs. Outside of Amir Johnson (miss you), the Celtics bigs can all shoot it at least a little bit, and Al Horford has long posed a problem against Toronto. It will be on Jonas Valanciunas to dominate the rebounding battle, because it’s an area the Celtics really struggle in. It will be interesting to see if the Raptors’ carry over their Thursday strategy of high-walling the side pick-and-roll to limit pick-and-pops, or if they’re less worried about Boston’s guards scoring and keep the big tethered more tightly to the screener.
PG: Kyle Lowry, Cory Joseph, Fred VanVleet
SG: Norman Powell, Terrence Ross
SF: DeMar DeRozan
PF: Pascal Siakam, Patrick Patterson
C: Jonas Valanciunas, Lucas Nogueira, Jakob Poeltl
Assigned: None
TBD: None
OUT: Delon Wright, Jared Sullinger, DeMarre Carroll, Bruno Caboclo
Celtics updates
Boston will be without Isaiah Thomas, who recently received a PRP injection in his injured groin, and that’s a massive loss for them. This team is built to function around Thomas causing problems in the pick-and-roll, and while they have some nice guard depth overall, none of the options trying to pick up the slack are nearly the scoring threat Thomas is. He was also playing the best basketball of his career so far this year, pushing his scoring average to 26 points per-game in just 33.3 minutes while maintaining strong efficiency numbers and working as a co-distributor with Horford to help get others involved. He’s a major factor in Boston’s offense taking a leap, and the Celtics are 4.1 points per-100 possessions less deadly when he sits (a number that probably understates his impact when he’s out for entire games, though Boston had no trouble scoring against a mess of a Magic team on Wednesday).
With Thomas sidelined, Marcus Smart stands to start, Terry Rozier will back him up, and Demetrius Jackson has been recalled from the Maine Red Claws. Jackson only played in garbage time Wednesday but has looked solid in the D-League, and Rozier stepped in to a sixth-man role capably against Orlando. Smart’s a top-flight defender who should give the Raptors’ playmakers trouble, and his shooting percentages likely understate his value. Still, the absence of Thomas is a massive one, and it puts a lot of pressure on the Celtics’ shooters to knock down the looks they do get.
James Young is also questionable due to an illness. He plays pretty sparingly, anyway, but it’s worth noting he was playing one-on-one before the game.
PG: Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Demetrius Jackson
SG: Avery Bradley, Gerald Green
SF: Jae Crowder, Jaylen Brown, (James Young)
PF: Amir Johnson, Jonas Jerebko, Jordan Mickey
C: Al Horford, Kelly Olynyk, Tyler Zeller
Assigned: None
TBD: James Young
Out: Isaiah Thomas
Assorted
- Fred VanVleet traveled with the Raptors rather than hanging behind in the GTA for a Raptors 905 home game. We’ll have coverage of both games for you, though I, personally, won’t be catching the 905 until late evening or early morning. They’re on a nice roll right now, even without the assignees, and the defending champion Sioux Falls Skyforce should be a tough test (shout out to Briante Weber).
- Jared Sullinger told Boston media that he’s getting better in his recovery. He was off his crutches at the ACC yesterday, which I believe was the first time, and he’s now able to put some weight on the foot, which is encouraging. Casey said Sullinger is still about four-to-five weeks away, as specific a timeline as we’ve received but still pretty vague and not something you should bank on.
- How’s this for expectation management?
— jack (@jackhaveitall) December 9, 2016
- Isaiah Thomas has the absolute best way to kill time while injured.
How do you pass time when you’re injured? Video games on JumboTron. Isaiah Thomas and his 2K Clippers in an early hole. Check this video and then reed Jay’s thread. I’m dying. pic.twitter.com/f0ghYEsPeU
— Chris Forsberg (@ESPNForsberg) December 9, 2016
Make it 22-6 Isaiah after the first quarter. “I wasn’t playing no games,” he tells the kid. “Usually I only play for money.”
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) December 9, 2016
The line
The Raptors are two-point underdogs, which may ruffle some feathers in the Raptors fan-base but makes sense considering the Raptors are on the road on the second night of a back-to-back, and because Carroll (likely) sitting neutralizes some of the Thomas absence. The line suggests the Raptors are a shade better on neutral court, which makes sense. It might also shift to Celtics -1.5 by game time. The over-under is hovering around 208.5.
