The Celtics are going through maybe their roughest patch in the past two seasons, although that isn’t necessarily saying much given their success throughout the years. In December, the team went 7-6, and has lost 4 of their last 6 games. Today, they face off against the Toronto Raptors for the second time this season. In the last matchup, the Raptors took the Celtics to overtime off of career nights from RJ Barrett and Jakob Poeltl, but Boston ultimately pulled off a 3-point victory. If Toronto can pull off an upset today, they’d send the Celtics into the New Year with a 2-game losing streak, and a .500 December.
What do the Celtics do to protect the paint and slow down Jakob Poeltl?
In Boston’s previous matchup with Toronto, Jakob Poeltl scored his career-high of 35 points. 32 of those points came in the paint, with the remaining 3 coming off of free throws. He did that on a near-perfect 16-19 shooting, a ridiculous 84.2%. He also had 12 rebounds to go along with that, 6 of them being offensive, and the other 6 defensive. Outside of maybe only RJ Barrett, he was easily the Raptors’ best player. He was just about unstoppable that night, and it needs to be different today. The question is how?
Boston has been lacking defensively lately, especially in the paint. That becomes even more true when Kristaps Porzingis is absent, which will be the case for the third game in a row today as he nurses an ankle sprain. Kristaps was also missing from the previous matchup with Toronto while he was rehabbing from his off-season surgery. Of the regular rotation guys, Boston lets up their highest points-in-the-paint per game total when Kristaps is off the court at 41.6.
What can Jrue Holiday provide in his return to the lineup?
Jrue has missed Boston’s last three games with a shoulder ailment, but today, he finally makes his return. In those games the Celtics went 1-2, with losses coming against Philly and Indiana. Boston also gave up 115.3 points per game in that stretch, up from their season average of 110.1. Jrue is always seen as one of the top defensive players in the league, but coming back from injury, he may be slightly out of game shape. It’s to be seen whether his time off was a matter of rust or rest.
That stays true for his 3-point shooting numbers as well. Jrue has been having a down year from behind the arc, shooting a near career low 32.6% from three. For reference, last year he finished with a career best at 42.9%. As mentioned before, in his recent time off, Jrue was nursing a shoulder injury. Will his short break help him get back to form, or could his shoulder possibly be the culprit for his poor-shooting?
How does Scottie Barnes change the game plan?
In the previous matchup between these two teams, RJ Barrett put up an amazing 25 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds, however, Scottie Barnes missed that game. Today, the roles are flipped, with Barnes being active and Barrett being listed as out with an illness. They have very similar stats on the season, with RJ being a better scorer, and Scottie being a slightly better rebounder, passer, and defender. Today we could see Barnes taking over the role which RJ played in the last game, but their games are slightly different. We could see the Celtics push him to be more of a shooter, as his 3-point percentage is significantly lower than RJ’s on the season, though he is bigger and better at attacking the paint. He could also make hunting matchups more difficult on the other end of the court.
