Celtics (25-9) vs Raptors (19-18)
Game time: 1pm Air Canada Centre, Toronto. TV - CSN. Radio - WEEI-AM (850).
Team Leaders
Scoring
Bos: Pierce - 18.2 Raptors: Chris Bosh - 23.7
Rebounding
Bos: Perkins - 8.2 Raptors: Bosh - 11.3
Assists
Bos: Rondo - 9.6 Raptors: Jose Calderon - 6.1
Who'll go off: Ray Allen. Sugar Ray is averaging 23 ppg in his last ten games vs Toronto.
Who needs to be stopped: Andrea Bargnani. The Celtics can withstand Chris Bosh (he dropped 25 and 9 in the Celtics 103-96 win on Jan. 2), but they need to limit the role players, starting with Toronto's smooth shooting big man.
The C's will lose if... they don't respect the Raptors. Confidence should be sky high considering the Cs beat the Raptors in the last contest minus KG, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo. With PP and RR back in the lineup this afternoon, the Celtics must remain aggressive defensively and on the boards.
Miscellaneous: The Celtics are 11-2 when Perkins scores at least 14.Toronto welcomed back Jose Calderon this week after he missed 12 of 13 games with a sore hip. Glen Davis is 1-for-7 from the field in the last two games.
Prediction: Celtics 98 - Toronto 87
"The Celtics, tough and aggressive defensively, just have a way of reducing the Raptors to a collective group of milquetoasts, unable or unwilling to match Boston's physical nature of play." - Yahoo! Sports
PS - Don't forget to vote in the final round of our Celtics dancers competition.
After the jump, that ferocious dunk Paul Pierce had on Chris Bosh in their first meeting of the season.