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<\/a><\/p>\nJakob Poeltl NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Celtics Reserves
Payton Pritchard
Hugo Gonzalez
Luka Garza
Amare Williams
Jordan Walsh
Baylor Scheierman
Max Shulga
John Tonje
Ron Harper, Jr<\/p>\n
2-Way Players
None
Injuries\/Out
Nikola Vucevic (finger) questionable
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla<\/p>\n
Raptors Reserves
Jamison Battle
Gradey Dick
Trayce Jackson-Davis
Sandro Mamukelashvili
Jonathan Mogbo
Collin Murray-Boyles
Jamal Shead
Garrett Temple<\/p>\n
2 Way Players
Chucky Hepburn
AJ Lawson
Alijah Martin<\/p>\n
Injuries\/Out
Chucky Hepburn (knee) out
Immanuel Quickley (foot) out<\/p>\n
Head Coach
Darko Rajakovic<\/p>\n
Key Matchups
Sam Hauser vs Brandon Ingram
Ingram is averaging 21.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game while shooting 47.2% from the field and 37.7% from beyond the arc. In the 2 games against the Celtics this season, he averaged 27 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists while shooting 56.8% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. The Celtics need to do a better job of defending him in this game.<\/p>\n
Jayson Tatum vs Scottie Barnes
Barnes is averaging 18.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 50.4% from the field and 29.6% from beyond the arc. In the 2 games against the Celtics this season, he averaged 15 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 40.7% from the field and 16.7% from beyond the arc. Although he has been struggling to hit 3\u2019s, he is capable of hitting them if left open.<\/p>\n
Honorable Mention
Jaylen Brown vs RJ Barrett
Barrett is averaging 19.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 49.5% from the field and 34.6% from beyond the arc. He played in just 1 game against the Celtics this season and finished with 19 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists while shooting 40% from the field and 60% from beyond the arc. The Celtics have to defend him better in this game.<\/p>\n
Keys to the Game
Defense – Defense is the most important key to winning. The Celtics are 4th in the league with a defensive rating of 111.8. The Raptors are 7th with a defensive rating of 114.7. The Celtics must stay committed to playing tough, lock down defense, especially against a Raptors team that plays good defense themselves. The Celtics must especially defend in the paint as the Raptors put up 53 points in the paint per game (5th).<\/p>\n
Rebound – As with defense, rebounding will always be a key to winning every game. The Celtics are 4th with 46.5 rebounds per game. The Raptors are 23rd with 42.2 rebounds per game. The Celtics will need to rebound as a team with players crashing the boards from every position. The Celtics can\u2019t score without the ball and rebounding is a great way to get the ball and to get extra possessions and to also deny the Raptors extra possessions and 2nd chance points.<\/p>\n
Move the Ball Carefully – The Celtics are at their best when the ball moves and they make the extra pass. When the ball sticks and players try to do too much, the Celtics struggle. They are 34-2 this season when they have 25 or more assists and they are 18-0 when they have 29 or more assists. The Raptors are 2nd with 29.5 assists per game. But, the Celtics have to make careful passes and not get sloppy because the Raptors are 5th in the league, averaging 20 points off turnovers and 18.9 fast break points per game (1st).<\/p>\n
Play with Energy and Focus for 48 Minutes – The Celtics must play with effort and energy and they have to play harder than the Raptors for all 4 quarters. The team that plays the hardest and that is more aggressive will usually get a better whistle. They also must stay focused on taking good shots and making them. If the 3\u2019s are falling, they are tough to beat. But, if the 3\u2019s aren\u2019t falling, it can get ugly and so the Celtics need to focus on taking the best shots, whether that means shooting more 3\u2019s or taking the ball into the paint if they aren\u2019t falling.<\/p>\n
Home Game – The Celtics are once again home and they should get a boost from the home crowd and they have the benefit of not having to travel. The Raptors are playing in the 2nd straight game on the road and may be a little road weary. They also have the distractions of travel, staying in hotels, and playing in front of a hostile crowd.<\/p>\n
Officiating – The officiating can always be an x-factor. Every crew calls the game differently. Some call it tight with a lot of fouls while others let them play and let a lot of contact go. The Celtics have to adapt to how the game is being called and not allow bad calls and no calls to take away their focus on playing the game. If they play well enough, the refs won\u2019t make a difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Toronto Raptors (43-34) at Boston Celtics (52-25)Sunday, April 5, 20263:30 PM ETRegular Season Game #78 Home Game #38TV:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3770],"tags":[7,38331,6,681,680,476,3820],"class_list":{"0":"post-699931","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-raptors","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-celtics-game-previews","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-raptors","12":"tag-toronto","13":"tag-toronto-raptors","14":"tag-torontoraptors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116353320197249195","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699931","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=699931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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