Game 64 Preview: Raptors at Celtics

Brandon Bass and the Celtics will look to grab control of this one.

Here's some other good news from last night:

Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce now have a chance to move into the top 20 on the NBA's all-time scoring list in the same game.

The Celtics (34-29) missed out on a tremendous opportunity to gain ground in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference standings as both the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks were losers last night.

Boston has another crack at it tonight when they take on the Toronto Raptors (25-39).

The Raptors sit in fourth place in the Atlantic and have won two of their last three games. They have been dealing with the injury bug of late. Today they announced that Andrea Bargnani is expected to miss the rest of the season with an avulsion sprain in his right elbow. Rudy Gay is listed as a gametime decision tonight due to back stiffness that forced him to sit out Toronto's last game.

The Celtics will get a much-needed boost with the return of Paul Pierce, who sat out last night's debacle in Charlotte for rest.

Here's a preview:

Projected lineups:

Raptors:
Kyle Lowry
Terrence Ross
DeMar DeRozan
Amir Johnson
Jonas Valanciunas

Celtics:
Avery Bradley
Courtney Lee
Paul Pierce
Brandon Bass
Kevin Garnett

Keys to the game:

1. Keep points down: When you look at the Raptors offensive performance thus far, the numbers are pretty average. They're 15th -- smack dab in the middle -- in the league in points per game on the year. However, over their last five games, the Raptors are averaging 109.2 points. I'm gonna go ahead and toss yesterday's game out the window. It's one of 82. The Celtics had won five straight going in, and they played without Pierce. Tonight, they need to be better -- that may be the most obvious statement in the history of the world. In order to do that, they need to limit Toronto's offensive efficiency -- especially from their bench -- and bring them back down to earth.

2. Home cookin': Since starting the season 9-6 on their home floor, the Celtics have gone 13-3 in their last 16 games on the parquet and have won nine straight at TD Garden. The green need to keep that gong.

3. Punch your ticket: It seems like every 5 or 6 games, Kevin Garnett is due for a dud. The problem is those duds have not come few and far between of late. Garnett has not been the same since Boston's thrilling triple-overtime victory over the Denver Nuggets, a game in which he played a season-high 47 minutes. For a coach who stresses over Garnett's minutes, Doc Rivers must've been paranoid after that game. In the twelve games he's played since the Denver game, Garnett is only shooting 42% from the field, and Garnett has never shot below 50% in a season during his tenure with the Celtics. Frankly, he looks tired and -- gasp -- old. KG needs to get back on track. The good news is Garnett loves playing Toronto this season. He's averaging 21 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 68% against them this season. Hopefully he'll be happy to see them.