The Toronto Raptors welcome the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night in a face-off of two of the best teams from the Eastern Conference. Watch with us at FanSided!
The NBA All-Star break is behind us, and the race to the top of the Eastern Conference is on for the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors.
While the Milwaukee Bucks have a lead on the rest of the teams in the East, perhaps no regular season matchup is more exciting than Celtics/Raptors.
With the Raptors having added Marc Gasol and Jeremy Lin at the trade deadline and in the buyout market, respectively, this will be the Celtics first look at the new Raptors after winning two of the three matchups thus far, and the last look these teams will get at each other before the playoffs.
Al Horford notably matches up well against Joel Embiid, which bodes well for Boston, so seeing how he matches up against Gasol in this matchup will be telling.
The Celtics sit at fifth in the Eastern Conference standings but match up well against Toronto, winning two of the three matchups against the Raptors thus far.
The Raptors are looking to close the gap on the conference-leading Bucks, currently sitting at 2.0 games behind. They don’t necessarily need to prove themselves in this game against the Celtics, but a win over them after losing the last two matchups against Boston would certainly inspire confidence.
Despite both teams coming off of rather uncharacteristic losses, the Celtics to the Bulls and the Raptors to the Magic, this matchup has the potential to be an Eastern Conference Finals preview, so the Tuesday night game is one that fans are excited for.
FanSided is equally excited and ready to break down the action as we watch along with you!
Mark Carman, Jasmyn Wimbish, and Josh Wilson will be with you to provide analysis, commentary, reaction, and updates from around the rest of the night’s games as the game goes along!
Join us live during the game below! Feel free to join in and leave comments, we’re hoping to discuss the game with you all, take questions, and overall just have a good time.
You can stream the game on Fubo.tv and have us with you for your second-screen experience.
Live stream with FanSided (begins at tip-off)
Injury report (as of 1:30 pm EST)
Fred VanVleet will sit again due to a thumb ligament injury.
Aron Baynes is out for the Celtics (foot contusion).
How the teams stack up
- Raptors Record: 44-17 (2 games back in EC)
- Celtics Record: 37-23 (8.5 games back in EC)
- Pace: Celtics 99.3, Raptors 100.3
- ORTG: Celtics 112.8, Raptors 113
- DRTG: Celtics 106.8, Raptors 107.4
This should be an intense Eastern Conference battle!