For some reason, as is often the case with the Celtics when facing lower caliber teams, the Raptors are an unnecessarily pesky opponent. The Raptors come in to the Garden with a 12-23 record, winning only 5 of 13 on the road. The last time these two teams matched up, Toronto was just as injury depleted as Boston. They played without Sonny Weems, Jerryd Bayless and Andrea Bargnani. It is yet to be seen if Weems and Bayless will return to the lineup, but Bargnani is back in action and he is coming off of a 25 point performance against Cleveland. Bargnani is not the only guy on this club that can score the ball. The Raptors are the 11th highest scoring team in the league and their roster boasts multiple people who can get it going in a hurry: Demar DeRozan, Jose Calderon and Leondro Barbosa join Bargnani as capable scorers. Sonny Weems and Linas Kleiza have also had big games against the Celtics in the past. They also rebound the ball fairly well, thanks to Reggie Evans (HE IS SO ANNOYING) and Amir Johnson. The bottom line is this: for a team with a 12-23 record, their roster isn't as depleted as you may think it would be.
-So how do the Celtics beat the Raptors?
1) Keep the ball moving. Toronto will get bored with playing defense after a couple of passes.
2) Limit Bargnani and DeRozan. Make other people score the ball.
3) Matchups to exploit: Anyone guarding Rondo, especially Jose Calderon, because he doesn't have a prayer of staying with him. Also, involve Shaq early. Reggie Evans and Amir Johnson, like everyone else in this world except for kind of Dwight Howard, have nothing on Shaq physically.
4) Speaking of Reggie Evans. He doesn't look to score- he looks to rebound. Try and keep him off of the glass.
The start of the shot heard round the Gahden- "Luuuuukkkkke"
ReplyDelete