The Toronto Raptors (4-2) came into TD Banknorth Garden to play their divisional rivals, the 6-1 Boston Celtics. The question in Raptorland before the game was which Raptors team was going to show up in Boston, the high-intensity and defense-first team that won 3 games to start the season, or the team that has mailed it in before the opening tip and looks lost and hopeless. On this night, it was the former, as the Raptors jumped out on a 16-7 run. Jermaine O’Neal was on fire, as he went 5-7 for 10 of the Raps first 14 points. Boston came out slow, was pestered by the Raps tough D, starting the game 3-13 (23%). Boston then went on a 9-0 to tie the game, fuelled by some good Boston D and timely rebounding. Off the bench came Jason Kapono, who went 2-2 (1-1 from 3) for 5 points and the Raptors finished the quarter leading 23-18. The Raptors shot 43.5% for the quarter and held the Celtics to just 31.3% from the floor. The Raps out-rebounded Boston 13-10. Continue Reading

“The Lord is good” - Anthony Parker

The Raptors roll into Boston, give up 16 offensive rebounds, turn the ball over 18 times, hit 15 of 21 from behind the arc, shoot 58% from the field, hand out 32 assists, hit 19 of 19 from the line and score 114 points. Oh yea, they also won. Continue Reading

Ahh crap, not the Boston Celtics (33-6) again! Well the good news is that this will be the last time the Toronto Raptors (22-19) have to play the Celtics during the regular season, but the bad news is that the Raptors havent been able to beat the Celtics in three attempts. The last time these two teams met was on December 16th, when the Celtics handed the Raptors a 90-77 loss. There was optimism in the Raptors locker room because “Raptor-killer” Ray Allen was out of the line up because of an injured ankle, but it was short lived. Kevin Garnett led the way, scoring 18 points, grabbing 8 rebounds and dishing out 6 assists. Chris Bosh struggled from the field, shooting 4-12 for 17 points, but did grab 13 rebounds. Continue Reading