It has been a long time since an Eastern Conference regular-season matchup could be fairly called “marquee” and not include LeBron James.
It’s happening Tuesday night at the Air Canada Centre, though. The Boston Celtics (39-15) roll into Toronto as the No. 1 seed in the East while the Toronto Raptors (36-16), the unchallenged No. 2, have said their goal is to grab the top seed for themselves.
It’s not Game 7 of the Conference Finals, but it’s not the proverbial ‘Charlotte-Memphis on a Tuesday in February’ either.
“I mean, we are the two best teams in our conference and every competitor wants to fight for that top spot,” said Raptors all-star DeMar DeRozan. “They’re in front of us, it’s one of them things that’s going to be a challenge and you look forward to them challenges and you get up for them types of games.”
There appears to be a void waiting to be filled in the East, and Toronto and Boston appear to be best positioned to fill it, the standard “it’s only February” caveat being understood.
If or when it happens, it will be the end of an era. James’ teams have made the NBA Finals for seven straight seasons, spanning his return to Cleveland three years past and his four seasons in Miami prior to that. But his dominance goes back even further: The last two years James was in Cleveland before taking his talents to South Beach the Cavaliers won 66 and 61 games and were the No. 1 seed in the East on both occasions before falling short in the playoffs. He first made the Eastern Conference Finals in 2007.
So, for 11 years, give or take, the biggest games in the East always have involved James and some other team, with the other team typically taking second billing.
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Anyone who saw the defence-optional Cavaliers tear through the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 15-1 mark last year must acknowledge Cleveland still may end up being the best team in the conference when all is said and done. For all their flailing around (they have been flirting with having the league’s worst defence all season and are 6-12 since Christmas Day) it’s wise to regard them as the villain in a horror movie — a comeback always at hand.
But for the moment, the regular season marches on and the Raptors and Celtics have emerged as the clear co-favourites to earn top seed in the East. They just need to fight it out amongst themselves.
The Raptors announced recently that taking aim at the No. 1 seed was their goal for the second-half of the season – a rare proclamation for a group that habitually prefers to talk about process over outcome. Most likely it’s an effort by Raptors head coach Dwane Casey to give his group something to focus on to get them through the dog days prior to the all-star break.
The Raptors have been playing catch-up since the Celtics ripped off a 16-game winning streak after starting the season 0-2. They are two games behind heading into Tuesday night’s game but have two games in hand. With Cleveland fading, Toronto could likely coast to the No. 2 seed but Casey prefers coming into the playoffs hot. The Celtics provide them a reason to keep the pedal down.
The two teams have met once with the Celtics earning a one-point win in Boston back on Nov. 12th after the Raptors – DeRozan specifically – missed a couple of good looks in the final seconds that could have won it.
They meet three more times – including Tuesday – in the last 30-odd games of the season and there’s a reasonable chance that a win in the season series could be the tiebreaker in a seeding scenario.
They come at the things differently.
The Celtics have been the NBA’s No.1 defensive team for most of the season, allowing teams just 99.1 points per 100 possessions, putting them significantly ahead of the competition – the San Antonio Spurs are second, allowing 101.6/100 and the Raptors are a distant third at 103.1/100.
But the Raptors counter with great balance as they are fourth in the NBA in offence, averaging 110.1 points/100 and get excellent production across their lineup. On the other hand, Boston is 17th in offensive rating at 104.7 and struggles to score without Kyrie Irving or Al Horford on the floor.
But can the Raptors put the Celtics on their heels? The Celtics are one of just nine teams to hold Toronto under 100 points this season and the Raptors would prefer to have the pace and score of the game higher than it was when they lost 95-94 in Boston.
“You can’t tiptoe into this one or think you are going to go one-on-one, 15 dribbles and think you are going to get a shot,” said Casey. “The ball has to change from side to side. You have to set screens. You have to space against that team and most of all you want to have pace in that game. You don’t want to have a slugfest …
“[We need to] make sure we space the floor and play aggressive, physical offence and make sure we set solid screens but most of all you gotta play with force,” said Casey. “You can’t be at a three-quarters gait and think you’re going to go by them or score against their length and the way they play defence.”
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The Raptors are 21-4 at home, the best mark in the NBA, but the Celtics’ 18-7 road mark is tied with the Houston Rockets for second-best in the league behind Golden State. The Raptors win games by bigger margins – they are third in the NBA in net rating, behind the two Western Conference powers and have won 20 games by 10 points or more, again trailing only the Rockets and the Warriors.
Both teams keep games close – both Boston and Toronto have lost only three games by 10 points or more, best in the NBA – but the Celtics have proven more adept in tight games, winning nine games by three points or less, the best mark in the league, while losing five.
The Raptors have also lost just five games by three but the difference is they have won just two ‘close’ games, tied with several teams for the lowest total.
When they last played, the Celtics were without Kyrie Irving. The 25-year-old – who has missed the last three games with a bruised thigh – travelled with his team to Toronto and will likely be a game-time decision.
The Raptors are healthy.
The Celtics have had their share of time as the Cavaliers’ co-stars in their Eastern Conference drama the past couple of years. The Raptors – rightfully – feel they deserve to be on the marquee on their own merits.
“You know, can’t complain about it or worry about it,” said DeRozan. “We just continue to go out there, do our jobs and if [recognition] comes, cool; if it don’t, cool. We still want to go out there, do what we need to do to try to get a win.”
As LeBron gets eased aside (in theory), the Raptors could finally be in position to have their moment — unless Boston beats them to it.
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