North of the Border, the Celts home home with another win

Playing without Ray Allen for the second game in a row, the Celtics had no problem with the Toronto Raptors, winning 90-77 in a Sunday afternoon game in Toronto. With the win, Boston (20-2) has won nine in a row (its longest win streak in 14 years) and now can focus on a huge Eastern Conference showdown Wednesday as the Pistons come to the Garden. The last time the Celts started 20-2 was in the '63-'64 season and they went on to win the NBA championship that year.

The Celts used some lockdown defense to hold the Raptors (14-11) to their lowest point total of the season. In the process, the Celts also took a commanding 3-0 series lead over Toronto this season with one game remaining.

Six Celtics scored in double figures, led by Paul Pierce (18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists), Kevin Garnett (16 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists) and Rajon Rondo (14 points, 4 assists).

Toronto was playing without star guard T.J. Ford, who had burned the Celtics in the earlier meetings. Chris Bosh had a double-double (17 points, 13 rebounds) but he shot only 4 of 12 from the floor. Jamario Moon (13 points) and Kris Humphries (12 points) were the other standouts for Toronto.

Boston played great in the first half, comfortably leading 50-36 at the break. Tony Allen (10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) played well in his second straight start. James Posey (10 points, 7 boards) and Eddie House (11 points) brought their usual energy off the bench.

For the game, Boston shot 49.3% to Toronto's 38.9%. The other final number that jumped out is that the C's only committed nine turnovers while Toronto had 17.

The beat goes on for the Celtics. I'm psyched to be going to the game on Wednesday against the Pistons. It's on ESPN and Detroit (17-7) has quickly pushed itself to the top of the Eastern Conference, presumably posing the biggest threat to the C's while the Magic have faded (5-5 in their last 10 games). Boston and Detroit each have the next two days off (other than practice) and Ray Allen should be back for the game so everything is lining up for a classic.