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Game Day: Raptors vs. Celtics

Matt Tierney - Raptors.com

Time: (7:30PM ET, TSN, TSN1050)

Toronto (26-15) continues their season-high seven-game homestand tonight, welcoming the Celtics (22-20) to Air Canada Centre. On Monday, the Raptors upped the win streak to five with a victory over the visiting Brooklyn Nets. Boston comes to town after having their three-game win streak snapped two days ago in Dallas against the Mavericks.

WHO'S HOT?

Isaiah Thomas – Height doesn’t measure heart. Boston’s 5’9” point guard Isaiah Thomas may be small in stature but his performances on the court are anything but. In many ways Thomas is similar to the Raptors Kyle Lowry in effort level and fearlessness. Season averages of 22 points, three rebounds and seven assists are one of the main reasons behind the Celtics revival dating back to last season when they acquired the 26-year old from Phoenix.

Kyle Lowry</strong – Despite shooting just 5/20 against Orlando in London last week, Lowry still found a way to help his team win and ended up finishing with a team-high 24 points. The Raps point guard bounced back nicely from the time difference to shoot a blistering 77% from the floor in Monday’s win over Brooklyn. Over his past 10 games Lowry is averaging 22 points, six rebounds, eight assists and three steals per game. Not too shabby.

#NBAVote

Voting for the 2015-16 NBA All-Star starters ended Monday night.

Lowry & Thomas are both strong candidates for a chance to represent their teams at the midseason classic.

Over the past month, supporters of every team have rallied to help get their favourite players into the game. Whether it’s tweeting, texting or posting on Facebook, Raptors fans have shown their support for both Lowry & DeMar DeRozan.

Big thanks to everyone who spammed their friends and social media accounts with votes non-stop every day. No matter the results tomorrow night, all our fans can hold their heads high.

WELCOME HOME AMIR

Tonight marks the first time Amir Johnson returns to Toronto after moving on this past offseason.

Amir was, and is, a very likeable person and during his time in a Raptors uniform, made a positive impact on virtually everyone that came across him.

Terrence Ross is only in his fourth NBA season but when asked what impact Johnson had on him during their time together in Toronto, Ross had nothing but praise for his former teammate.

“How to interact with people, how to have fun, how to make the best of your situation at all times. He just brought a lot of happiness to the people around him."

On the other hand, DeMar DeRozan played six years with Johnson and the two still remain close friends. DeRozan has no doubt about the reception his friend will get from the Air Canada Centre crowd tonight.

“I think he’ll get a great response from the crowd. At the end of the day it’s going to be fun just competing against an old friend.”

#WeTheNorth