Banged Up Celtics Take on the Ailing Raptors

The Celtics and Raptors are both missing several key players tonight. The Captain, Paul Pierce, is out still from his knee surgery. The heart and soul of their defense, Kevin Garnett, is resting a variety of ailments and will not suit up. Finally the player that makes this team "go" whether on the fast break or with his disruptive defense, Rajon Rondo, is resting his hamstring and will not play.

The Celtics are without their number one, two, and three guys this game. (in whatever order you prefer KG/Pierce/Rondo is my own) In their place we have Tony Allen, Rasheed Wallace, and J. R. Giddens starting tonight. This leaves the Celtics with several challenges in running their sets and defending the Raptors in tonight’s game. The first of which is that their starting lineup will have 3 natural shooting guards and the second of which is that Rasheed Wallace is going to have to guard Chris Bosh for an extended amount of the game. This is not the recipe for the Celtics to break out of there three game losing streak.

The Raptors have a streak of their own going as winners of five straight contests over New Jersey, New Orleans, Detroit (twice), and Charlotte. Not the best of opponents, but a five game win streak still means that they are playing well. This Raptors team is fourth the league in offensive efficiency at 108.8 points per 100 possessions and the C's will struggle to keep up with them.

I anticipate that the Celtics are going to be running a lot of plays for Ray Allen, attempting to post Rasheed and Perkins early and often, and finally I think Eddie House is going to be asked to provide a lot of scoring off the bench.