For a regular season game in the beginning of January, tomorrow's matchup with Toronto is about as big as it gets. Most preseason projections had these two teams finishing 2 and 3 in the Eastern Conference, and that's exactly where they sit now as we near the halfway point in this NBA season. The Celtics got off to a sluggish-ish start to the year. A mix of injuries set them back early, but they have come out firing on all cylinders since the middle of December - they are 10-2 since Isaiah Thomas returned from an injury on December 16th:
On the other hand, Toronto looked to be in midseason form to start the year, and just less than two weeks ago they led the Celtics by 4.