Boston Celtics Look to Bounce Back in Toronto
Jan 10, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) looks for a play as Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley (0) defends during the first half at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Celtics will have an immediate chance to rebound Saturday night in Toronto following Friday’s letdown against the Milwaukee Bucks at TD Garden.
Their contest opposite the Raptors is a must win if the Green has hopes of qualifying for postseason play. The schedule is running short and the standings are tightening by the day, leaving no room for error.
In defeat Friday, the Celtics dropped to 9th place in the Eastern Conference. They trail the Brooklyn Nets by 1.5 games and the Miami Heat by a half game. With only 6 games left to play, the Atlantic Division leading Raptors present yet another hurdle that Boston must overcome.
Isaiah Thomas scored 23 points in Boston’s loss to the Bucks. The Celtics will desperately need his production against the Raptors, but it’s their defense which needs to tighten up, especially with the likes of DeMar DeRozan running around.
Boston allowed the Bucks to shoot over 50% from the floor while getting outscored 110-101 in the game. They are 0-10 on the season when allowing the opposition to shot at such a high rate of success.
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“We just weren’t aggressive on the defensive end and we just weren’t playing hard enough,” Celtics guard Avery Bradley said following the loss. “They were really getting whatever they wanted.”
Bradley and his mates will need to be agressive in order to slow one of the NBA’s most overlooked starts in Derozan. He scored 42 points in Tornoto’s win over Houston and went for another 27 in their loss to Brooklyn.
The good news for the Celtics is that they’ll be playing on the second night of a back-to-back. Dating back to January 22, the Celtics are 9-1 in the second game of back-to-backs.
Boston better hope that trend continues considering the fact they’ve come up empty on two occasions already this season in games with the Raptors.
“I’ve said this going into this, this is one of the toughest stretches of seven games of our season. So we’re going to have to play great to win. We’re one down now in the first seven, so we’re going to have to play great tomorrow night. We haven’t played as well up there with the exception of one game last year,” head coach Brad Stevens said on Friday.