Sweet Sixteen

In your wildest dreams, did you ever expect the Celtics to start the '07-'08 season say 16-2? Me neither but we have to get used to the fact that the Celtics are a great team in a once again sub-par conference. The funny thing about this team is that we'll never really get a good read on them until their post-Christmas West Coast trip. The other main contenders in the East (outside of the C's) appear to be Detroit, Orlando and who else?

Last night, the Celtics took care of a depleted Raptors (10-10) team (minus Chris Bosh and Andreas Bargnani), 112-84 at the Garden. The 28-point victory tied a team-record against Toronto. This one was never close as the Celts were up by as much as 39.

Five Celtics were in double figures, led by Kevin Garnett (23 points, 6 rebounds), Paul Pierce (18 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds) and Ray Allen (13 points, 6 rebounds). Eddie House had 13 points and James Posey notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Most importantly, the big three got limited minutes which will come in handy as the team faces the Bulls in Chicago tonight.

In the win, Boston shot 52.7% and made nine 3-pointers plus 25-30 free throws. They also had 12 more rebounds than Toronto and 10 more assists, the numbers all pointed to a blowout.

Other bright spots in the win included Rajon Rondo (7 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds) and Tony Allen (9 points, 5 assists).

Tonight should be a test for the C's as the Bulls have underachieved all season but played well lately, winning three of their last four including an upset of Detroit last night.