Gameday: Raptors vs. Celtics, Aug. 30

Back to basketball after some incremental steps toward equality and social justice.

The Raptors vs. Celtics series that everyone was waiting for was put off just a little bit longer in the name of progress, and social justice. However (comma) it is set to resume today at 1 EST, and the fans and players alike will no doubt be eager to see how it plays out.

A solidarity strike on behalf of the players resulted in some actionable items. Terms were negotiated between the players and the owners, and the following were agreed upon:

Despite the NBA’s agreed upon terms, the City of Boston indicated that they had no plans on using TD Garden as a polling location as they’ve already passed the deadline (which was August 12th) to set it as such. A reminder, of course, that the players and media need to hold the brass to their end of the deal. Obviously, there’s not much to do in this case, but it’s worthwhile to watch this stuff going forward.

As was the case with the first game of the Nets-Raptors series, most of my musings (while I’m sure very valuable) are covered for the most part by Louis Zatzman in his mammoth series preview. You can read through his efforts and find out how he came to the conclusion of “Raps in six.”

At it’s best, what we have here is an update on how things have progressed in the time since the players successful strike. One of the biggest questions is the health of Kyle Lowry, and on that front the Raptors were fairly aloof. Lowry was available for practice yesterday, wherein Nick Nurse said he looked “okay”. Alan Williams (former Raptors player and current media) gave us a peek behind the curtain a couple days ago re: Mr. Lowry.

“I actually talked to Kyle this morning and he was feeling — he didn’t say he was feeling good, but he was like ‘I’m alright.’ You know Kyle, ‘I’m alright, I’ll be ready to go.’ So that was the biggest thing,” Williams said during a Monday appearance on Sportsnet Central. “We all know Kyle and how he gets down and, you know, his pedigree and that drive, his pain tolerance — all those things that makes him a champion and the player he is.
“So I’m 99.9 per cent sure he’ll be ready to play, as he expressed when I talked to him earlier today.” – Alan Williams

So, while bigger things were very obviously at play, Lowry got a couple extra days to nurse a sore ankle. He’s currently listed as “questionable” so… who knows? It’s Kyle, so he’ll probably play.

Whether or not the players will be able to compartmentalize the whirlwinds their lives have become remains to be seen. The first slate of games after the NBA’s resumption seemed to hit all the competitive notes, and if other teams got to that point, it’s likely the Raptors will too.

Game Info

Tipoff: 12:30pm EST | TV: TSN | Radio: TSN1050. Some very good options on how to maximize your return can be found at newbettingsites.uk, which has options from multiple sites.