Raptors at Celtics
The visiting Toronto Raptors and the Boston Celtics are both aiming for the top of the Atlantic Division this season, and Friday they get an early look at where they stand against each other. Both teams picked up wins in their season openers at home on Wednesday.
Neither Boston nor Toronto put on much of a showing while being swept out of the first round of the playoffs last spring, but upgrades to both rosters have expectations high once again. One of the biggest changes the Celtics made was bringing in former Raptor Amir Johnson in free agency over the summer, and the power forward went for 15 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 20 minutes off the bench in a 112-95 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday. Johnson’s departure opened up more space underneath for Toronto center Jonas Valanciunas, who went for 21 points and 15 rebounds in a 106-99 win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday. “I’m happy for my young man,” Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan told reporters of Valanciunas. "I’ve seen him grow from a little kid to, he’s got a full beard and everything now. He’s getting rebounds. That’s what he does.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, SNET-1 (Toronto), CSN New England (Boston)
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (1-0): DeMarre Carroll was the biggest free agent acquisition made by Toronto over the summer, and the veteran small forward gave the team a scare when he went down hard in the first half on Wednesday. “Man, I thought I broke my elbow,” Carroll told reporters. “One of my teammates always told me, when you do a hard fall, to get your breath because you don't want to hop up. If my arm was dangling, I probably would have fainted.” Carroll returned to the game and finished with 14 points and eight rebounds in 41 minutes.
ABOUT THE CELTICS (1-0): One of the biggest questions heading into the season was how coach Brad Stevens would divide the minutes among his roster, and Boston did not have a player log more than Avery Bradley’s 33 minutes in the opener. Isaiah Thomas led the way with 27 points off the bench and recorded seven of the team’s 31 assists on 39 made field goals. Thomas was one of nine players with at least five field goal attempts in the opener.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Celtics rookie G R.J. Hunter (illness) did not play in the opener and is day-to-day.
2. Toronto’s G duo of DeRozan and Kyle Lowry combined for 48 points and 12 assists on Wednesday.
3. Boston F Kelly Olynyk is set to return on Friday after missing the opener while serving a one-game suspension.