Celtics Beat Raptors 91-87 At The Garden, Improve To 3-0 In Pre Season

The Celtics Beat the Raptors at the Garden Sunday night to improve to 3-0 on the Pre Season as KG and Jermaine O’Neal (making his debut with the Celtics) both had  great defensive nights. Nate had 13 points off the bench and even though it is only the Pre season it seems like he is going to be huge off the bench if he continues to play with energy. The following is from CSNNE.com:

BOSTON —  The road to recovery continues to be a relatively smooth one for Kevin Garnett, who continues to play at a level Celtics Nation hasn’t seen since the C’s 2008 title run.

Garnett’s play at both ends of the floor on Sunday night helped set the tone in Boston’s 91-87 preseason win over Toronto.

Boston (3-0)  got strong play down the stretch from its bench, led by Marquis Daniels (11 points) and Nate Robinson (13 points).

Their play was impressive once again, but the same could be said for Garnett who had nine points, six rebounds and three assists in limited minutes.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers has been raving about how Garnett’s improved health has him looking more like the KG from a couple years ago.

“Now we got to get him to make a shot,” quipped Rivers.

It wasn’t like he wasn’t trying, as Garnett missed six of his nine shots from the field.

For most of Garnett’s career, Rivers has praised him for his unselfish play.

But on Sunday, Rivers thought Garnett actually forced more shots than usual.

“And I liked it,” Rivers said.

It was yet another sign that Garnett is feeling as though he can do more than he did last season when he was still on the mend from having bone spurs removed in his right knee in 2009.

While he missed a number of shots that he normally makes, Garnett was able to get pretty much any kind of shot he wanted which didn’t happen too often last season.

Another noticeable difference was his defense, which frequently forced Toronto’s ball-handlers to change direction on pick-and-roll plays.

And in his one-on-one matchup with former No. 1 overall pick Andrea Bargnani, Garnett literally shut him down by holding Bargnani scoreless in the first half.

While many have been singing the praises of Garnett during the preseason, Sunday was the first time the TD Garden faithful had an opportunity to witness this new and improved Garnett for themselves.

The TD Garden crowd also got their first glimpse of Shaquille O’Neal as a Celtic.

He had a solid night, scoring 11 points to go with five rebounds.

Rivers was planning to limit O’Neal’s minutes, but O’Neal made sure it would happen after he picked up his fifth personal foul about halfway through the third quarter.

It was also the preseason debut for Jermaine O’Neal, who was scoreless in seven minutes but did manage to block three shots and grab two rebounds.

“Blocking shots, taking a charge, it really gets me going,” said Jermaine O’Neal who played just seven minutes.

Limiting the minutes of his veterans throughout the preseason has to be a priority for Rivers, who knows all too well that the C’s best shot at having a strong regular season with momentum going into the playoffs, is to balance keeping his players fit and as fresh as possible.

Rivers said one of his biggest concerns heading into the season was that his players might use their experience as crutch to not come ready to play from Day One.

“That’s just going to be a visual thing for me and my staff,” Rivers said. “The experience thing can be great for us, and it should be. But it also can be, ‘don’t worry, come … I’ll be ready.’ And it gets into March and we’re still saying that. So that’s just something we have to make sure we keep a hold of.”