Celtics at Raptors
The Boston Celtics face a difficult road to an Eastern Conference postseason berth with four of their final six games coming against division leaders. The Celtics start that quest when they visit the Toronto Raptors, the Atlantic Division champion, on Saturday night while standing one-half game behind Miami for the eighth and final playoff spot.
Boston dropped a 110-101 decision against Milwaukee at home on Friday, but has won nine of its last 10 in the second of back-to-back contests. The Celtics, who also play Central Division leader Cleveland twice to go along with one each against Detroit and Milwaukee, will host Toronto on April 14. The Raptors lost at Brooklyn 114-109 on Friday to fall one game behind Chicago for third place in the East and saw their three-game winning streak come to an end. Toronto is without point guard Kyle Lowry (back) indefinitely, but his backcourt mate DeMar DeRozan is averaging 28.7 points the last three games.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CSN New England (Boston), SportsNet-360 (Toronto)
ABOUT THE CELTICS (34-42): Power forward Jared Sullinger, who is averaging 14.1 points, was supposed to be lost for the season with a foot injury before being cleared to play and logging three minutes in Friday’s loss. Sullinger’s presence inside could help create even more room for guards Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart on the perimeter. Thomas led the way with 23 points on Friday and tops the team at 18.5 per contest while Bradley has averaged almost 20 in his last three outings.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (45-31): Toronto shot 51.2 percent from the field and three players scored at least 20, but red-hot Brooklyn got 90 points from three players combined to notch its sixth straight win. Without Lowry, who is reportedly feeling better and could return before the end of the regular season, the Raptors turned the ball over 16 times and that led to 18 Nets points Friday. DeRozan leads the team in scoring (19.6) while Louis Williams continues to produce off the bench at 15.2 points per contest.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Raptors have beaten the Celtics in four straight meetings and six of the last seven.
2. Boston PG Marcus Smart is 37 points and nine assists shy of becoming the seventh Celtics rookie to post 500 points, 200 rebounds and 200 assists.
3. Toronto C Jonas Valanciunas is averaging 17.5 points while shooting 67.4 percent from the field over the last four games.