{"id":699726,"date":"2026-04-05T15:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T15:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/699726\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T15:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T15:03:16","slug":"raptors-at-celtics-preview-boston-looks-for-another-hot-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/699726\/","title":{"rendered":"Raptors at Celtics preview: Boston looks for another hot start"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">The first of those five is against the Raptors on Sunday. Toronto is fighting for the final top-six playoff spot to avoid the play-in tournament, leading the seventh-seeded 76ers by half a game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">The Celtics could return to full health on Sunday with big man Nikola Vucevic listed as questionable for the first time since fracturing his finger last month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. at TD Garden and on NBC Sports Boston. Here\u2019s a preview.<\/p>\n<p>Get Starting Point<\/p>\n<p>A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">When: Sunday, 3:30 p.m.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Where: TD Garden, Boston<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">TV, radio: NBCSB, WROR-FM 105.7<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Line: Boston -9.5. O\/U: 219.5.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">RAPTORS<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Season record: 43-34. vs. spread: 39-37, 1 push. Over\/under: 30-46, 1 push<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Last 10 games: 5-5. vs. spread: 6-4. Over\/under: 4-6<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">CELTICS<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Season record: 52-25. vs. spread: 45-32. Over\/under: 28-49<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Last 10 games: 8-2. vs. spread: 6-4. Over\/under: 5-5<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">TEAM STATISTICS<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Points per game: Toronto 114.5, Boston 114.6<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Points allowed per game: Toronto 112.1, Boston 107.1<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Field goal percentage: Toronto .480, Boston .466<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Opponent field goal percentage: Toronto .466, Boston .441<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">3-point percentage: Toronto .351, Boston .365<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Opponent 3-point percentage: Toronto .353, Boston .360<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Stat of the day: Boston scored 96 combined points in the first quarters against Miami and Milwaukee, an NBA record for points scored in consecutive opening quarters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Notes: Center Neemias Queta set the tone for Boston on Friday by collecting 13 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots in the first quarter, when the Celtics built a 21-point lead. Queta finished the game with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting and 10 rebounds with four blocks. \u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable,\u201d the Celtics\u2019 Jayson Tatum said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t be more proud and happier for Neemy. The way he\u2019s seeing the game [and] the leap he\u2019s made as a screener, as a passer. He is an NBA starting big man, that\u2019s who he is now, and he\u2019s only gonna continue to get better.\u201d &#8230; Boston had six players score in double figures against the Bucks, which was the team\u2019s 10th victory by at least 25 points this season. Queta has scored in double digits in four of his last five games. &#8230; After Sunday, the Celtics and Knicks will each have four regular season games to play.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagline | font_primary inline_block  margin_top_32\">Amin Touri can be reached at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/2026\/04\/05\/sports\/celtics-raptors-preview-april-5\/mailto:amin.touri@globe.com\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"font-size:inherit;letter-spacing:.5px\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">amin.touri@globe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first of those five is against the Raptors on Sunday. Toronto is fighting for the final top-six&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699727,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3766],"tags":[7,45,75,3798,46,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-699726","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-celtics","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-bostonceltics","12":"tag-celtics","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116352713087397315","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=699726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}