Heading into the season, many could argue that the main objective of the Boston Celtics was leapfrogging the Toronto Raptors, becoming the second-fiddle to the defending NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference. Early on in the season, the Celtics appeared to be falling monumentally short of this expectation. However, since the return of the NBA’s fifth leading scorer, Isaiah Thomas, on December 16, a 10-2 surge has catapulted Boston to just a single game behind the Raptors for the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
With Toronto having lost five of their last seven games, the Celtics have hopped over the three-time defending Atlantic Division champions in a plethora of power rankings and will be looking to batter the Raptors for the first time this season on Tuesday night north of the border.