Gino's Jungle

For the 2nd time in a week the Celtics handled the Raptors easily. Today they beat them 101-82. Standout performances were by Garnett and Ray Allen. KG dominated the first half with 11 points in the first quarter. He finished with 21 points and 4 rebs. He is really beginning to make his mark on the court. He is back and in full form, no question about it. Ray finished with 20 pts 3 assists and 3 boards.

The best news of the day was that KG put in 28 minutes of work. He is getting back up there to where he should be in regular season form. I was waiting for his minutes to get up from 23 and they did today. 28 is plenty. There is no reason to bust him into the ground with 37 minutes right now.

As for the things to watch for:

Did Marquis Daniels improve his scoring game? 8 pts is more like it. Right around there is what we expect from him. 7-10, and anything more is additional.

Do Rondo and KG continue to hook up for alley oop? There were times where they wanted to, so they are still going for it. This is good because that was a dominant play for them.

Is Lester Hudson going to continue to prove his worthiness as a backup PG? Well, he didn't get much playing time. But, when he was in there at the end he hit his three and looked very comfortable.

Can the Celtics maybe take a jab at the Raptors confidence taking 2 out of 2 in preseason? They did, and I do think the Raptors question their eliteness in the Atlantic Division as well as the rest of the league after these 2 beat downs (regardless of whether it is the preseason).

Pic via (Photo by Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images)