Game #53: Boston Celtics 91 - Toronto Raptors 111

[Demographic Shift]

Should be a fun game tonight.... the two best teams in the east go at it...

Games within the game...

OG on Taytum....Two rookies going at it ..should be great...Can OG dial it up on both ends of the floor...
Can the Raps shake loose CJ on the perimeter so he can make some threes ... Raps hitting 3's exponentially ups their chances
Will Norm... if he gets the call.. be able to stuff Rozier....and be playoff Norm instead of Nov-Dec Norm...
Will FVV and Delon get the better of Rozier and Shane Larkin...
Will JV make Horford pay inside on the offensive end
Will Kyle and DD take what the defense gives them and exploit Bostons overcommits with hitting cutters or kicking it for open 3s..
Will the Raps bring playoff intensity D and rebound the crap out of the ball...
Boston is going to press all night.... will the Raps minimize lazy pass turnovers....
Will Serge be on tonight...... Will he an Morris have an alterction....
Kyle vs Kyrie... bulldog vs finesse...
Boston @ Toronto James Williams (#60) Sean Corbin (#33) CJ Washington (#12).... who are these guys and how will the whistle go ? Will they swallow the whistle or call everything in sight....

Gotta love it....

[S.R.]

Should be a fun game tonight.... the two best teams in the east go at it...

Games within the game...

OG on Taytum....Two rookies going at it ..should be great...Can OG dial it up on both ends of the floor...
Can the Raps shake loose CJ on the perimeter so he can make some threes ... Raps hitting 3's exponentially ups their chances
Will Norm... if he gets the call.. be able to stuff Rozier....and be playoff Norm instead of Nov-Dec Norm...
Will FVV and Delon get the better of Rozier and Shane Larkin...
Will JV make Horford pay inside on the offensive end
Will Kyle and DD take what the defense gives them and exploit Bostons overcommits with hitting cutters or kicking it for open 3s..
Will the Raps bring playoff intensity D and rebound the crap out of the ball...
Boston is going to press all night.... will the Raps minimize lazy pass turnovers....
Kyle vs Kyrie... bulldog vs finesse...
Boston @ Toronto James Williams (#60) Sean Corbin (#33) CJ Washington (#12).... who are these guys and how will the whistle go ? Will they swallow the whistle or call everything in sight....

Gotta love it....

Boston also has a weak bench. Can the Bench Mob pressure the ball and run up the score when Kyrie sits? Those are going to be key minutes.

[slaw]

Should be a fun game tonight.... the two best teams in the east go at it...

Games within the game...

OG on Taytum....Two rookies going at it ..should be great...Can OG dial it up on both ends of the floor...
Can the Raps shake loose CJ on the perimeter so he can make some threes ... Raps hitting 3's exponentially ups their chances
Will Norm... if he gets the call.. be able to stuff Rozier....and be playoff Norm instead of Nov-Dec Norm...
Will FVV and Delon get the better of Rozier and Shane Larkin...
Will JV make Horford pay inside on the offensive end
Will Kyle and DD take what the defense gives them and exploit Bostons overcommits with hitting cutters or kicking it for open 3s..
Will the Raps bring playoff intensity D and rebound the crap out of the ball...
Boston is going to press all night.... will the Raps minimize lazy pass turnovers....
Will Serge be on tonight...... Will he an Morris have an alterction....
Kyle vs Kyrie... bulldog vs finesse...
Boston @ Toronto James Williams (#60) Sean Corbin (#33) CJ Washington (#12).... who are these guys and how will the whistle go ? Will they swallow the whistle or call everything in sight....

Gotta love it....

I would add that Toronto has to be aggressive in breaking down the perimeter and attacking the paint. The games that I've seen Boston struggle defensively they haven't contained the dribble and there is little interior presence once you get by the first line of defense. It's getting by the first line of defense that's hard, though.

[Demographic Shift]

Boston also has a weak bench. Can the Bench Mob pressure the ball and run up the score when Kyrie sits? Those are going to be key minutes.

Raps do have the deeper bench....which is why the Chowders are in the hunt to add at the trade deadline...

Watch how Stephens staggers Irvings minutes... he comes out earlier than most sub patterns so he gets more time against 2nd units... Freddy and Delon will be matching up against one of the leagues best.....

To bad Smart isn't playing.... he actively balances his very good man to man defense with the boneheadedness of Micheal Carter Williams on offense...the timely pass to the popcorn guy in the second row or the ever popular air ball...

Regardless of what the NBA MSM is saying...Clevelands dead man... Its reminiscent of the Monty Python sketch on the parrot.... Cleveland like the parrot isn't "resting".....These are "the" teams in the east... Hopefully its the ECF preview....

Edit.. for those who love dry British humour

[G__Deane]

Should be a fun game tonight.... the two best teams in the east go at it...

Games within the game...

OG on Taytum....Two rookies going at it ..should be great...Can OG dial it up on both ends of the floor...
Can the Raps shake loose CJ on the perimeter so he can make some threes ... Raps hitting 3's exponentially ups their chances
Will Norm... if he gets the call.. be able to stuff Rozier....and be playoff Norm instead of Nov-Dec Norm...
Will FVV and Delon get the better of Rozier and Shane Larkin...
Will JV make Horford pay inside on the offensive end
Will Kyle and DD take what the defense gives them and exploit Bostons overcommits with hitting cutters or kicking it for open 3s..
Will the Raps bring playoff intensity D and rebound the crap out of the ball...
Boston is going to press all night.... will the Raps minimize lazy pass turnovers....
Will Serge be on tonight...... Will he an Morris have an alterction....
Kyle vs Kyrie... bulldog vs finesse...
Boston @ Toronto James Williams (#60) Sean Corbin (#33) CJ Washington (#12).... who are these guys and how will the whistle go ? Will they swallow the whistle or call everything in sight....

Gotta love it....

Will JV and Jac have the first 2 fouls on them in the first 2 minutes they each play?

[KeonClark]

Raps do have the deeper bench....which is why the Chowders are in the hunt to add at the trade deadline...

Watch how Stephens staggers Irvings minutes... he comes out earlier than most sub patterns so he gets more time against 2nd units... Freddy and Delon will be matching up against one of the leagues best.....

To bad Smart isn't playing.... he actively balances his very good man to man defense with the boneheadedness of Micheal Carter Williams on offense...the timely pass to the popcorn guy in the second row or the ever popular air ball...

Regardless of what the NBA MSM is saying...Clevelands dead man... Its reminiscent of the Monty Python sketch on the parrot.... Cleveland like the parrot isn't "resting".....These are "the" teams in the east... Hopefully its the ECF preview....

CLEVELAND is dead, I agree. LeBron James? I'd be scared of him in a playoff series if he brought a few guys from the YMCA and my uncle Bob from Manitoba to come play on his team.

[rocwell]

The NBA has fined Lakers president Magic Johnson $50K for tampering with Milwaukee's @Giannis_An34. He made public comments about him in an interview.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 6, 2018

[G__Deane]

SN: "It’s more likely that Raptors do nothing at trade deadline"

[The Great One]

Didn't he get fined last month as well for tampering with PG?

[The Great One]

Instead of tampering with players, Magic Johnson needs to man up and tell LaVar Ball to shut the fuck up.

The Lakers are a freak show right now because of LaVar Ball.

[G__Deane]

Instead of tampering with players, Magic Johnson needs to man up and tell LaVar Ball to shut the fuck up.

The Lakers are a freak show right now because of LaVar Ball.

Thankfully, the media seems to have fallen out of love with his TMZ style life for the moment....

[BadDinosaur]

I want our Raps to dominate the celts tonight. I want them to destroy boston, just like they destroyed cleveland. I want a thourough

[KeonClark]

I want our Raps to dominate the celts tonight. I want them to destroy boston, just like they destroyed cleveland. I want a thourough

I feel like you weren't finished this post. A thorough what? Rinse? Thorough cleaning? Thorough search of the premises? What is it bad dino? Tell us!!

[slaw]

I feel like you weren't finished this post. A thorough what? Rinse? Thorough cleaning? Thorough search of the premises? What is it bad dino? Tell us!!

Shellacking. Or maybe a Shillelaghacking.

[golden]

I would add that Toronto has to be aggressive in breaking down the perimeter and attacking the paint. The games that I've seen Boston struggle defensively they haven't contained the dribble and there is little interior presence once you get by the first line of defense. It's getting by the first line of defense that's hard, though.

Just an observation, but sometimes it seems like DeRozan and moreso Lowry go into the game with the mindset that they are going to win it with their all-star offense, from the get go. That, of course, means that they take it easy on defense until maybe the fourth quarter.