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Paul Pierce scored seventeen points to go along with eight assists as he and the Boston Celtics decisively defeated the Toronto Raptors, 100-64 on Wednesday night at the TD Garden in Boston, MA. Boston improved to 11-10 on the year.
Coming off a 93-90 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Boston Celtics returned to action on Wednesday night to do battle with the Toronto Raptors. At halftime, so far so good for the C's, as they lead Toronto 57-35 at the TD Garden in Boston.
Brandon Bass continues to prove a clear upgrade over Glen "Big Baby" Davis, as the Celtics' sixth man leads the team with 10 points at halftime to go along with three rebounds. Bass has been playing in place of Jermaine O'Neal, who has only seen five minutes of play tonight and has just two points.
Ray Allen is having a solid game, as he's got nine points at the half in eleven minutes of play. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce both have seven points and three rebounds but Pierce has a team leading six assists to go along with that. Avery Bradley is actually having a deviant game to say the least, as he's got eight points at the half to go along with four assists running the point tonight in place of Rajon Rondo.
E'Twaun Moore (eight points) and Sasha Pavlovic (six points) have had pretty solid performances off Doc Rivers' bench.
As for the Raptors, guard Jerryd Bayless is the high point man with 11 points, which leads the field. DeMar DeRozan has eight points while Aaron Gray has the same point total to go along with a game-high six rebounds. Meanwhile, Jose Calderon and Ed Davis have a combined three points and are one of seven from the field. Ouch.
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During a pregame interview with reporter, Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said that both starting point guard Rajon Rondo and reserve guard Keyon Dooling will be unavailable for tonight's game against the Toronto Raptors.
For Rondo, this will be the eighth straight game he will miss due to injury. Rondo sustained a wrist injury back on Jan. 18 against this same Raptors team. While there has been optimism that he may return on Friday against the Knicks, Rivers is still unsure if that will occur.
"I don't know if he'll play or not," said Rivers about Rondo's potential for the Knicks game in two days. "We'll just wait until Friday. I think he'll be close. He's getting closer every day." (via WEEI)
As for who will start at point guard tonight, we can cross of veteran guard Keyon Dooling's name off the list. Dooling will miss his fourth straight game after suffering a hip injury against the Orlando Magic. Avery Bradley is expected to run the point tonight with rookie guard E'Twaun Moore backing him up.
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Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics extracted revenge in their 93-90 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, despite blowing a 20-plus point advantage in the process. Nevertheless, a win is a win, and there's no doubt the C's will take it.
Now, Pierce and the C's (10-10) transition their attention to the Toronto Raptors (7-15), a team they will face for the second time this season at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday night at TD Garden in Boston, MA (TV/Radio: CSN/WEEI).
In the first meeting on January 18, Rajon Rondo -- who is currently recovering from a sore right wrist and is likely a game-time decision against the Raptors -- had 21 points and Pierce had a team-leading seven assists. Ironically, Rondo might return against the same team he suffered his setback against. Rondo injured his wrist on a flagrant foul from Linas Kleiza in the third quarter of Boston's 96-73 victory. Gary Forbes, a UMass graduate, had a team-best 18 points.
Boston is coming off their close encounter with the Cavs on Tuesday. Pierce, who missed the potential game-winning jumper as time expired against Cleveland in the first game on Sunday, finished with a game-high 20 points and also had six assists. Kevin Garnett and Brandon Bass each scored 13 and both Ray Allen and Jermaine O'Neal had 12 points.
Toronto was clawed by the Atlanta Hawks, 100-77, on Tuesday. Ed Davis had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Toronto, which shot just 37.0 percent in defeat. The team was again without its best player, Andrea Bargnani, who did not travel with the team to Boston. Bargnani was also absent in the first meeting between the two teams on January 18 in Boston.
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Celtics Vs. Raptors Final Score: Pierce, C's Trample Toronto, 100-64
For the first time since Jan. 4, the Boston Celtics can say they have a winning record. After fighting stay right at .500 for most of the season, the Celtics moved over the .500 mark on Wednesday night, as they defeated the Toronto Raptors 100-64 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Paul Pierce led the way for the C's once again, as he scored 17 points while racking up six rebounds and eight assists in 26 minutes on the floor. Pierce led the team in terms of points and assists. With his point total tonight, Pierce is 60 points away from tying Larry Bird for second all-time in scoring for the Celtics with 21,791 points.
Ray Allen and Brandon Bass added 12 points a piece to the effort. Allen was two of three from beyond the arc. Bass led the team on the night with nine rebounds and continued to prove a vital asset, especially with Jermaine O'Neal struggling all night (six points, three rebounds). Kevin Garnett had a relatively quiet night, as he ended up with seven points.
The Celtics also found help on Wednesday night in unexpected places. In place of the injured Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley stepped in and performed very well as he ended up with 11 points from the field. While he is still learning to distribute the ball more (two assists tonight), this was certainly a good sign to see if you're a Celtics fan. In addition to Bradley, JaJuan Johnson, the team's first round pick this year, had a break out game with 11 points of his own off the bench. Fellow rookie E'Twaun Moore also got into the mix with eight points in relief of Bradley.
On the Raptors side of things, Jerryd Bayless was the high point man, as he lead Toronto with 14 points off the bench. Third year player Ed Davis recorded a double-double on the night with 10 points and 12 rebounds. DeMar DeRozan and Aaron Gray each ended up with eight points, the same total they had at the half.
As a whole, the Celtics shot 52% percent from the field and 50% from beyond the three-point line. While the score indicated it, the Raptors struggled, as they shot a miserable 34.2% from the field. With the win, the Celtics improved to 11-10 and appear to be on a bit of a roll. On Friday, they return to action as they host the New York Knicks at the TD Garden at 8:00 p.m. EST.
For more Boston Celtics coverage, visit our team page and blog, Celtics Blog
Feb 01 10:32p by Jared Stegall