Raptors-Celtics Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO
Posted Jan 31 2012 11:49PM

Despite nagging injuries to some of their top players, the Boston Celtics have a good chance to surpass the .500 mark for just the second time this season.

With the last of their injured stars possibly set to return, the Celtics hope to accomplish that feat as they try for an eighth consecutive home victory over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.

Even with injuries to starters Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Jermaine O'Neal, Boston (10-10) has won five of six. Allen played his second straight game since missing three with an ankle injury, and O'Neal was back following a three-game absence with a knee problem as the Celtics won 93-90 at Cleveland on Tuesday.

Paul Pierce scored 20 points and Kevin Garnett had 13 while O'Neal and Allen each added 12 as the Celtics shot 50.7 percent to move one win away from topping the .500 mark for the first time since they were 4-3 on Jan. 4.

Though the Celtics appear confident, they must improve after the Cavaliers trimmed a 22-point deficit down to two Tuesday. Boston blew an 11-point cushion in Sunday's 88-87 home loss to Cleveland.

"I hate it," Allen said. "We won (Tuesday), but I'll take it as a loss in terms of getting better. Being able to play for a full four quarters is what I want. Every day we have to get better."

Boston could get a boost if Rondo is able to return after missing the last seven games with a wrist injury. Averaging 15.0 points and 9.4 assists, Rondo traveled with the team to Cleveland and is expected back either for this contest or Friday versus New York.

"(Rondo) being on the road means he wanted to work with the team," said coach Doc Rivers, whose team is 5-2 without Rondo. "With us, when you see a guy on the road, it means he's really close."

Rondo has not played since he scored 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting in Boston's 96-73 home rout of Toronto on Jan. 18.

With or without their star point guard, the Celtics appear in good shape to extend their home dominance over the Raptors (7-15), who last won in Boston 114-112 on Jan. 23, 2008. The Celtics have won 16 of 18 at home versus Toronto.

Though the Celtics average just 89.0 points, they've scored 108.0 per game on 52.1 percent shooting during their seven-game home winning streak versus Toronto. Pierce was held to eight points against the Raptors earlier this month, but he's still averaging 23.2 in his last six home games against Toronto.

Raptors leading scorer Andrea Bargnani (23.5 ppg) did not play at Boston two weeks ago because of strained calf, and could miss a fourth straight contest with the same injury.

Jerryd Bayless scored 14 points while Ed Davis had 11 with 11 boards as Toronto returned from a 3-2 road trip to shoot 37.0 percent in a 100-77 home loss to Atlanta on Tuesday.

"We came out with a competitive spirit, but I didn't think we sustained it long enough," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "I was disappointed."

Second-year swingman Gary Forbes, who had 10 points off the bench against the Hawks, scored a season-high 18 at Boston this month.

Celtics go above .500 with 100-64 rout of Raptors

Posted Feb 01 2012 11:21PM

BOSTON (AP) The compact schedule of the post-lockout NBA doesn't offer many breaks, so the Boston Celtics created one of their own.

All five Boston starters sat out the entire fourth quarter, leaving the reserves to finish off Toronto in a 100-64 rout of the Raptors on Wednesday night. The reserves didn't let up either as the Celtics crept above .500 for the second time this season with their sixth win in seven games.

"It was great," coach Doc Rivers said. "Every guy came in and they did the same thing."

The Celtics never trailed and scored at least 20 points in every quarter while holding Toronto to 19 points or fewer each period.

Paul Pierce had 17 points and eight assists, Ray Allen and Brandon Bass added 12 points apiece and Avery Bradley scored 11 for the Celtics.

At 11-10, the Celtics hardly appear bound to hang another banner from the Garden rafters, but they do seem to have adjusted to the quick turnaround and lack of practice time between games.

The second half turned out to be a bonus practice for the Celtics, who led by as much as 40. Allen said he told the reserves to make good use of the time.

"Go out there and really play as though the score is 0-0. You guys make us better. You have an opportunity to prove to Coach that you can get more minutes," Allen said. "That's a win-win for all of us when you can play a game like that and get everybody opportunities."

The timing for a blowout was great for the Celtics, who survived a close call in Cleveland the night before when they almost wasted a 22-point lead against the Cavaliers on Tuesday night.

"I thought we kind of took a step back there in the fourth quarter against Cleveland. but a win is a win and we can learn from it," Pierce said. "It was great to go really out there tonight and put a team away that we're supposed to."

Pierce is now 60 points behind Larry Bird for No. 2 on the Celtics' all-time scoring list. If the upcoming games are at all like Wednesday, it's going to take him a while because he'll be resting on the bench as Rivers tries to protect his aging lineup.

Jerryd Bayless scored 14 and Ed Davis finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Raptors. They were the only two Toronto players to score in double figures.

"I told the team `for the rest of your basketball career, remember how this feels tonight,"' Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. "I can't remember getting beat by 40 and it's the worst taste you feel and that's something you don't want to forget."

Casey's math was slightly off, but message point was clear. The Raptors wilted quickly, getting outscored 29-16 in the first quarter and never recovered.

"We are going to practice tomorrow. I mean there is no doubt about it after an exhibition like that," Casey said. "We owe it to the city of Toronto, our organization and ourselves."

Toronto was without leading scorer Andrea Bargnani (strained left calf) and Linas Kleiza, who was inactive. Kleiza's flagrant foul on Rajon Rondo on Jan. 18 injured Rondo's right wrist and kept the Boston point guard out of the last eight games.

Boston improved to 6-2 without Rondo and showed the consistency that was missing in a split of back-to-back games against Cleveland.

The Celtics blew an 11-point lead in the final 4:25 in an 88-87 loss at home to the Cavaliers on Sunday, ending a four-game winning streak, and nearly did it again on Tuesday night in Cleveland. The Celtics led by 16 entering the fourth quarter Tuesday, but managed to hold off the Cavaliers this time, winning 93-90.

There appeared to be no lingering effects from a late flight home when the Celtics took the court Wednesday night and went above .500 for the first time since they were 4-3.

"We've gone through a lot. So has everyone else in the league," Rivers said. "To start out slow like we did and get over that number, it's good for us."

The Celtics shot 62 percent (23 for 37) in the first half, making 7 of 11 3-pointers, while taking a 57-35 halftime lead. Pierce and Sasha Pavlovic hit a pair each from beyond the arc and Kevin Garnett added a 3-pointer with a half-second left before the buzzer to give Boston its largest lead of the night.

Pierce also had six of Boston's 17 assists in the half as the Celtics passed the ball on nearly every possession and shared the scoring. Reserve Brandon Bass was the only Boston player to score in double figures in the half with 10 points.

The onslaught continued in the third quarter as Pierce and Allen delivered back-to-back 3-pointers during an 11-2 run that put Boston up 77-47 with 3:23 left in the period.

Pierce needs 60 points to tie Larry Bird for second in all-time scoring for the Celtics with 21,791 points.

Notes: Boston's 57 points in the first half were a season high. ... Rivers said Rondo could return Friday when the Celtics host the Knicks. ... Rivers said Sunday's noon start against Memphis gives him a dilemma on how to handle practice on Saturday. He said he would prefer a night game, but given that it's Super Bowl Sunday and the New England Patriots are playing, he had a realistic outlook. "Obviously, I don't think anybody would watch or come, but it would be nice for us because then you could actually have a pretty good practice."

Notebook: Celtics 100, Raptors 64

By Brian Robb, for NBA.com
Posted Wednesday February 1, 2012 11:46PM

THE FACTS: Paul Pierce finished with a game-high 17 points as the Boston Celtics blew out the Toronto Raptors 100-64 at the TD Garden for their second straight win. The C's captain keyed a balanced and unselfish scoring attack by the entire roster, as five players finished in double figures during the dominating performance. Brandon Bass and Ray Allen also chipped in with 12 points, as Boston did not trail the entire contest, while finishing with season-high totals in assists (30) and first-half points (57). Jerryd Bayless had a team-high 14 points for the Raptors off the bench, as Toronto dropped to 1-9 overall when playing without leading scorer Andrea Bargnani. Boston has now won six of its last seven games overall and is above .500 for just the second time this season.

QUOTABLE: "It's about time. We've gone through a lot; so has everyone else in the league. To start out slow like we did and get over that number -- it's good for us. We've just got to keep doing it."
-- Doc Rivers on getting back above .500

THE STAT: The Celtics are currently the top 3-point shooting team in the league and displayed that touch well in the first half against the Raptors. Five different players hit from beyond the arc for the Green as the team shot a scintillating 63.6 percent from downtown (7-of-11) over the opening 24 minutes.

TURNING POINT: After a back-and-forth opening few minutes, Boston kicked its offense into gear midway through the first quarter, with a commanding 12-0 run. Bass keyed the outburst with six points, pushing the host's early lead to 16 points. Toronto was unable to dig out of the early hole over the remainder of the evening.

QUOTABLE II: "You take it, you learn from it, and you build from it. You never want to feel that again because when teams in this league have an opportunity to step on your neck, they will do it. That's what Boston did, and that's what veterans teams are going to do."
-- Dwane Casey on what the team takes out of the loss

HOT: Allen -- The shooting guard continues to pad his league lead in 3-point shooting percentage. The 36-year-old was 2-for-3 from downtown against the Raptors, pulling his percentage up to 56.4 percent on the young season.

NOT: DeMar DeRozan -- The athletic swingman has struggled to find his offensive rhythm when Bargnani is absent from the lineup. The small forward failed to hit a field goal in the second half and missed three free throws against the C's to finish with eight points, six below his season average of 14.4. Over the past four games while playing without the Raptors' top scorer, he's only hitting 35 percent of his shot attempts, as opposing defenses are able to key on denying his offense.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Pierce -- The career Celtic continues to dazzle in his role of point forward with Rajon Rondo sidelined. The All-Star finished with yet another well-rounded scoring line of 17 points, eight assists, six rebounds and just one turnover. Over the team's recent 6-1 stretch, Pierce has posted sensational averages of 22.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 7.7 assists.

QUOTABLE III: "We really gained some confidence over the last few weeks and hopefully we're just going to continue to get better. It's just about putting together consistency with this ballclub"
-- Pierce

ROOKIE WATCH: JaJuan Johnson -- With the game comfortably in hand for the Celtics by the start of the fourth quarter, the former Purdue star made the most of his extended floor time. Johnson went a perfect 5-for-5 from the field to finish with a career-high 11 points in just 10 minutes of action.

NOTABLE: Linas Kleiza was a late scratch for Toronto with a sore right knee. He remains day-to-day. ... Rondo sat out his eighth straight game for Boston with a sore wrist. Rivers said before the game he is getting close to returning and could play against New York on Friday. ... Keyon Dooling (hip) also was sidelined for Boston. ... Toronto shot just 44.4 percent from the free-throw line. ... Boston is now up 2-0 in the season series against its Atlantic Division rivals. ... The Celtics had just 10 turnovers, their second-lowest total of the season. ... 100 points tied a season-high at home for Boston as well. ... Pierce is just 60 points from tying Larry Bird for second place for most points in Celtics history.

UP NEXT: For the Raptors, Friday vs. Washington, Sunday @ Miami, Monday @ Washington. For the Celtics, Friday vs. New York, Sunday vs. Memphis, Tuesday vs. Charlotte.

• Raptors: Bargnani, Kleiza
• Celtics: Dooling, Rondo

• Raptors: --
• Celtics: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: TD Garden, Boston, MA
• Officials: #19 James Capers, #36 David Jones, #61 Courtney Kirkland
• Attendance: 18624
• Duration: 2:02