Boston Celtics vs. Toronto Raptors: An early Eastern Conference Finals preview
As the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors prepare to square off, it gives us an early preview of a potential Eastern Conference Finals matchup
The Boston Celtics opened up the 2018-19 NBA season by beating the Philadelphia 76ers 105-87. The 18-point win was impressive especially when considering the 76ers are among the biggest threats to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference.
Friday night, the Celtics will travel to Canada to play the Toronto Raptors. Toronto is considered to be the best team in the East that isn’t the Celtics and Friday night should give us a small glimpse at a potential Eastern Conference Finals preview.
Neither team is quite at 100 percent as the Celtics are still working Gordon Hayward back from injury and the Raptors are doing the same with Kawhi Leonard while also getting him acclimated to their system.
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Both teams appear to be among the NBA’s best defensive units so look for Friday nights game to be a defensive slugfest.
The Celtics will need more from their All-Star guard Kyrie Irving if they are to move to 2-0 as he struggled mightily Tuesday night against the 76ers shooting 2-of-14 from the field and finishing with seven points. Boston will also need to shoot better from 3-point range as they were only 11-for-37 on Tuesday. Jayson Tatum was the Celtics main scorer against the 76ers as he went for 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting.
The Raptors, meanwhile, come into Friday nights game 1-0 after beating Cleveland 116-104. The Raptors looked solid offensively shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 42.4 percent from 3. Kawhi Leonard had an impressive debut scoring 24 points along with 13 rebounds while displaying the outstanding defense we’ve become accustomed to seeing from him. Kyle Lowry was also extremely impressive in the win as he went 10-for-12 from the field for 27 points as well as dishing out eight assists.
The NBA didn’t do the Celtics any favors with their opening week schedule as they play arguably their two biggest challenges in the Eastern Conference but should they start 2-0 with wins over both of those squads then the league may take notice of the Conference’s new dominant squad.
Three Matchups to Watch:
Kyrie Irving vs. Kyle Lowry: A game between two great teams could come down to which guard is able to outplay the other. Irving and Lowry should give fans an excellent showdown
Gordon Hayward vs. Kawhi Leonard: Hayward missed all but five minutes of last season while Leonard only played in 9 games. Leonard appears to be fully healthy and getting back to his superstar form but it’ll take much longer for Hayward who’s on a minutes restriction currently.
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Fred VanVleet vs Terry Rozier: Both teams have dynamic point guards that come off the bench and at times will play along the starting point guard. VanVleet and Rozier might not be the main event but they are an undercard that demands attention.
Prediction: Celtics 105 Raptors 102