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3 things to watch for against the Toronto Raptors

3 things to watch for against the Toronto Raptors

After making light work of the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday, the Boston Celtics will now face a much sterner test in the form of the Toronto Raptors for their second game of pre-season basketball.

Unlike the Hornets, the Raptors possess positional versatility, legitimate length, and some exceptional athletes, all of which will ensure Boston’s core rotation gets a significant barometer to test how far they are from regular-season form.

Still, now is the time for Joe Mazzulla to experiment, as he continues to learn more about his roster, and what combinations of players prove impactful for him in specific moments. NBA basketball is all about situational dominance, and knowing who to turn to in those moments is key. With all that being said, these games don’t have anything riding on them, so it’s always fun to see some whacky rotations and watch players start trying new things they’ve been working on in the summer.

Nevertheless, nothing is more fun than winning, so here are 3 things to look out for.

  1. Turnovers

I’m not exactly reinventing the wheel here. The Celtics registered 23 turnovers against the Hornets and considering they’re not currently known for their disruptivness, that’s an issue that should certainly cause some concern.

Toronto, however, is known for being a disruptive defensive team, as they love to utilize their length to clog passing lanes, and have a pitbull in Fred VanVleet that is always pressuring the rock.

Boston looked to push the pace in their first pre-season game, and truthfully, they looked a much-improved team because of it. But, there needs to be an additional level of control when facing a team as well-coached as Toronto, especially in the half-court. Sure, playing with pace often leads to more loose balls — just look at the Golden State Warriors turnover issues through the past decade — yet, there does need to be some form of balance between speed and control, and that will be an interesting puzzle for Mazzulla to solve.

2. Defensive Scheme

Against Charlotte, Mazzulla had the Celtics switching 1-through-4 with the 5 playing ‘up-to-touch’ on the screener, allowing the big man to react to the possession in whatever way they saw fit. Without Robert Williams in the rotation, it looks like Mazzulla will move away from having a secondary big man in a…

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