The Boston Celtics have one game standing between them and the All-Star break.
They certainly need it after a rough stretch of shorthanded games, but it looks like the team might close out the first half of the season on a high note. A win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday gave Boston its third straight win, and it can make it four in a row against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday.
And those odds are looking decent, considering the Raptors are going through it with COVID-19 and subsequent contact tracing.
The NBA on Wednesday announced that seven players have tested positive for COVID-19 out of 456 tested in the latest cycle of testing. Many of these positives, as anticipated, reportedly were isolated on the Raptors, per The Athletic's Shams Charania.
Toronto had two games postponed, but returned to action ahead of Wednesday night's game against the Detroit Pistons.
But they'll be without a sizable chunk of its roster, ruling out Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, Malachi Flynn, Patrick McCaw, head coach Nick Nurse and much of his coaching staff.
And on the second night of a back-to-back in Boston against the Celtics? Expect more of the same.
