Toronto Raptors

The Raptors last lost to the Cavaliers at the time of this posting. We are still waiting the result of tonight's game verses the Timberwolves in a rare back to back game. Derozan and Lowry are playing great basketball - they are winning against all the teams they should (and unfortunately losing to the ones they should as well).

So Far This Season:

The Raptors are 14-7 before the game against the Timberwolves. The Raps have been dominant this year against the opponents the should win against . Boston will present a challenge for the Raptors - this will not be an easy victory for either side.

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The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. The team was established in 1995, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies, as part of the NBA's expansion into Canada. When the Grizzlies relocated to Memphis, Tennessee to become the Memphis Grizzlies in 2001, the Raptors became the only Canadian-based team in the NBA. They originally played their home games at the SkyDome (since renamed Rogers Centre in 2005), before moving eastward along Bremner Boulevard to the Air Canada Centre in 1999.

Like most expansion teams, the Raptors struggled in their early years, but after the acquisition of Vince Carter through a draft day trade in 1998, the team set league-attendance records and made the NBA playoffs in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Carter was instrumental in leading the team to a then-franchise high 47 wins and their first playoff series win in 2001, where they advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals. During the 2002–03 and 2003–04 seasons, they failed to make significant progress and he was traded in 2004 to the New Jersey Nets.

After Carter left, Chris Bosh emerged as the team leader. In 2006–07, Bryan Colangelo's first full season as President and General Manager, a combination of Bosh, 2006 first overall NBA draft pick Andrea Bargnani and a revamp of the roster helped the Raptors qualify for their first playoff berth in five years, capturing the Atlantic Division title with 47 wins. In the 2007–08 season, they advanced to the playoffs again, but failed to make the playoffs in each of the next five seasons. In a bid to persuade Bosh to stay, Colangelo overhauled the team roster for the 2009–10 season, but Bosh signed with the Miami Heat in July 2010, ushering in yet another era of rebuilding for the Raptors.

After Masai Ujiri was brought in as the new General Manager in 2013, he traded Bargnani to the New York Knicks. With a backcourt led by Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, the Raptors returned to the playoffs, won their second Atlantic Division title, and won a then-franchise record 48 games in the 2013–14 season. However, they failed for a fourth consecutive time to advance beyond the first round of the playoffs. In the 2014–15 season, they won a then-franchise record 49 games, but failed for a second consecutive year to advance past the first round of the playoffs, getting swept by the Washington Wizards, 4–0. In the 2015–16 season, they won a franchise record 56 games, finishing in second place in the conference for the first time in franchise history. In the playoffs, they won their first playoff series since 2001 by defeating both the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat, advancing to the Conference Finals for the first time against the Cleveland Cavaliers, only for the Raptors to lose to the eventual NBA champions in six games.

Game Stats Pregame

Bostic Celtics

The Celtics are only 1.5 games behind the Raptors - so a win would mean only half a game would keep them from tying the Raptors for second - and 3 away from first place. This team is coming off a win against the Magic (who are not a terrible team) where they put of the points and played great defence winning 117-87. Thomas, Horford and Brown need to have better a better game than Lowry, Derozan and the Raptors.

So Far This Season:

The Celtics are 13-9, with only 1.5 games between the two teams - both teams will be fighting for this win. The Raptors will have to silence the crowd and somehow manage to take advantage of mistakes. These teams are pretty fairly matched - it will be the team that capitalizes on the most mistakes that will take this win. The Raptors are a slightly better team - but Boston has home advantage - so I would choose the Celtics against the Raps.

The Boston Celtics (/ˈsɛltɪks/) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 and one of eight NBA teams (out of 23 total teams) to survive the league's first decade, the team is owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which they share with the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Boston Bruins. The franchise's 17 championships are the most of any NBA franchise, and account for 24.6 percent of all NBA championships since the league's founding in 1946.[2] As a percentage of championships won, the Celtics are the most successful franchise to date in the major four traditional North American professional sports leagues.[note 1]

The Celtics have played the Lakers a record 12 times in the Finals, including their most recent appearances in 2008 and 2010, where the Celtics have won nine meetings (but only two since 1980). Four Celtics players (Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Dave Cowens and Larry Bird) have won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award for an NBA record total of 10 MVP awards.[3] Their mascot 'Lucky the Leprechaun' is a nod to the team's Irish heritage and to Boston's historically large Irish population.[4]

The Celtics rose again after struggling through the 1990s to win a championship in 2008 with the help of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen in what was known as the new "Big 3" era, following the original "Big 3" era of the 1980s that featured Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish.

After the end of the Big 3, general manager Danny Ainge began a rebuilding process with the help of new head coach Brad Stevens, who led the Celtics to a return to the playoffs in 2015.

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