vs.
Projected Starters
Last Meeting
BOSTON 95, TORONTO 93
BOSTON - Jae Crowder hit an off-balance fall-away shot from deep on the right wing with .8 seconds left, lifting Boston to a 95-93 win … Evan Turner and Avery Bradley each scored 14 points for Boston … Brandon Bass added 13 points and nine rebounds … It was the fifth straight win for the Celtics … Kyle Lowry had 16 points for the Raptors … Boston collected 17 offensive rebounds and owned a 50-43 edge on the glass … Lou Williams also had 16 points for Toronto, Terrence Ross scored 12 and Jonas Valanciunas 11 … After Turner's shot was blocked out of bounds with 2.5 seconds left, Crowder caught the ensuing inbounds pass and nailed the winner … Lowry's shot at the buzzer was blocked by Turner … The teams were tied six times in the final quarter before Turner hustled after his own miss and found Tyler Zeller for a one-hander in the lane with 14 seconds left … Just like a few seconds earlier, Lowry then drove the lane, tying it at 93 with 10.2 seconds to go … Trailing by eight early in the second half, the Celtics used a 14-5 run to take a 64-63 lead, their first since the opening quarter.
Noteworthy
• Toronto and Boston have combined to win eight of the last nine Atlantic Division titles - Toronto (2006-07, 2013-14, 2014-15), Boston (2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12).
• Friday’s game at Boston is the first of 11 road games the Raptors will face over the next 14 contests (Oct. 30-Nov. 22). The Raptors are tied with Chicago for the best road record in the Eastern Conference the last two seasons 44- 39 (.547). Toronto is looking to win the first road game in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1998-99 and 1999-00.
• Head coach Dwane Casey needs one win to match Sam Mitchell’s team record of 156th coaching victories. The Raptors have improved their overall record in four consecutive seasons (2011-15) under Casey, marking the first time this has happened in team history. Casey has earned 155 victories in 313 games as Raptors coach. Mitchell took 343 games to win his 156th win. Miami’s Erik Spoelstra (2008), Indiana’s Frank Vogel (2011) and Casey (2011) are the longest tenured coaches in the Eastern Conference.
• Dwane Casey has coached 50 different players during his Toronto tenure. DeMar DeRozan is the only player that has played continuously for Casey since his first season in 2011-12.
• Toronto’s trio of DeMar DeRozan (25 points), Kyle Lowry (23) and Jonas Valanciunas (21) started together on opening-night for a fourth consecutive year. According to Elias, it was the first time in over a year that three Raptor starters finished with 20+ points in the same game. The Raptors did not have three starters finish with 20 points during the same game in 2014-15.
• Wednesday’s season-opener vs. Indiana marked the first time since 2002 the Raptors grabbed 50 or more rebounds in the first game. Jonas Valanciunas led the team with 15 rebounds (1 offensive, 14 defensive) in 32 minutes of action. Summer free-agent acquisitions DeMarre Carroll and Luis Scola each had eight rebounds in their Raptors debut. Toronto recorded 50+ rebounds eight times last season and twice in back-to-back games.
• Kyle Lowry recorded his 1,500th assists as a member of the Raptors Oct. 28 vs. Indiana. He is the fifth player in team history to reach 1,500 assists with the club - Jose Calderon (3,770), Alvin Williams (1,791), Damon Stoudamire (1,761) and Vince Carter (1,553).
• Amir Johnson played six seasons with Toronto before signing as a free agent with Boston during the summer. Johnson is one of four players in team history to play six or more seasons with the Raptors after being acquired through a trade – Vince Carter (1998-05), Antonio Davis (1999-06) and Alvin Williams (1997-06). Johnson is among the franchise career leaders in field goal percentage (1st - .572), blocks (2nd – 480), offensive rebounds (2nd – 1,050), defensive rebounds (3rd - 1,786), total rebounds (3rd – 2,836), games played (4th – 451) and points (9th – 3,957).
Go Raps!
Projected Starters
Toronto | Boston |
PG - Kyle Lowry | PG - Marcus Smart |
SG - Demar Derozan | SG - Avery Bradley |
SF - Demarre Carroll | SF - Jae Crowder |
PF - Luis Scola | PF - David Lee |
C - Jonas Valanciunas | C - Tyler Zeller |
Last Meeting
BOSTON 95, TORONTO 93
BOSTON - Jae Crowder hit an off-balance fall-away shot from deep on the right wing with .8 seconds left, lifting Boston to a 95-93 win … Evan Turner and Avery Bradley each scored 14 points for Boston … Brandon Bass added 13 points and nine rebounds … It was the fifth straight win for the Celtics … Kyle Lowry had 16 points for the Raptors … Boston collected 17 offensive rebounds and owned a 50-43 edge on the glass … Lou Williams also had 16 points for Toronto, Terrence Ross scored 12 and Jonas Valanciunas 11 … After Turner's shot was blocked out of bounds with 2.5 seconds left, Crowder caught the ensuing inbounds pass and nailed the winner … Lowry's shot at the buzzer was blocked by Turner … The teams were tied six times in the final quarter before Turner hustled after his own miss and found Tyler Zeller for a one-hander in the lane with 14 seconds left … Just like a few seconds earlier, Lowry then drove the lane, tying it at 93 with 10.2 seconds to go … Trailing by eight early in the second half, the Celtics used a 14-5 run to take a 64-63 lead, their first since the opening quarter.
Noteworthy
• Toronto and Boston have combined to win eight of the last nine Atlantic Division titles - Toronto (2006-07, 2013-14, 2014-15), Boston (2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12).
• Friday’s game at Boston is the first of 11 road games the Raptors will face over the next 14 contests (Oct. 30-Nov. 22). The Raptors are tied with Chicago for the best road record in the Eastern Conference the last two seasons 44- 39 (.547). Toronto is looking to win the first road game in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1998-99 and 1999-00.
• Head coach Dwane Casey needs one win to match Sam Mitchell’s team record of 156th coaching victories. The Raptors have improved their overall record in four consecutive seasons (2011-15) under Casey, marking the first time this has happened in team history. Casey has earned 155 victories in 313 games as Raptors coach. Mitchell took 343 games to win his 156th win. Miami’s Erik Spoelstra (2008), Indiana’s Frank Vogel (2011) and Casey (2011) are the longest tenured coaches in the Eastern Conference.
• Dwane Casey has coached 50 different players during his Toronto tenure. DeMar DeRozan is the only player that has played continuously for Casey since his first season in 2011-12.
• Toronto’s trio of DeMar DeRozan (25 points), Kyle Lowry (23) and Jonas Valanciunas (21) started together on opening-night for a fourth consecutive year. According to Elias, it was the first time in over a year that three Raptor starters finished with 20+ points in the same game. The Raptors did not have three starters finish with 20 points during the same game in 2014-15.
• Wednesday’s season-opener vs. Indiana marked the first time since 2002 the Raptors grabbed 50 or more rebounds in the first game. Jonas Valanciunas led the team with 15 rebounds (1 offensive, 14 defensive) in 32 minutes of action. Summer free-agent acquisitions DeMarre Carroll and Luis Scola each had eight rebounds in their Raptors debut. Toronto recorded 50+ rebounds eight times last season and twice in back-to-back games.
• Kyle Lowry recorded his 1,500th assists as a member of the Raptors Oct. 28 vs. Indiana. He is the fifth player in team history to reach 1,500 assists with the club - Jose Calderon (3,770), Alvin Williams (1,791), Damon Stoudamire (1,761) and Vince Carter (1,553).
• Amir Johnson played six seasons with Toronto before signing as a free agent with Boston during the summer. Johnson is one of four players in team history to play six or more seasons with the Raptors after being acquired through a trade – Vince Carter (1998-05), Antonio Davis (1999-06) and Alvin Williams (1997-06). Johnson is among the franchise career leaders in field goal percentage (1st - .572), blocks (2nd – 480), offensive rebounds (2nd – 1,050), defensive rebounds (3rd - 1,786), total rebounds (3rd – 2,836), games played (4th – 451) and points (9th – 3,957).
Go Raps!
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