Don’t miss NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Celtics-Raptors, which tips off Friday at 6 p.m. ET with Celtics Pregame Live, and then Mike & Tommy have the call of the game at 7 p.m. You can also stream the game through the MyTeams App.
*****
BOSTON -- One of the many lessons Daniel Theis learned in his two-plus seasons as a member of the Boston Celtics, has been to stay ready when his number is called.
With Enes Kanter out with a left knee bruise, Theis will be the team’s starting center tonight against the defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors.
Tonight will be the sixth start for Theis with the Celtics winning each of the previous five games the 6-foot-8 big man has been with the first unit.
In his previous five starts, he has averaged 7.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
Theis knows regardless of who was going to be slated to start tonight, all of the team’s bigs would have to step up to help fill the void left by Kanter who had 12 points and six rebounds in Boston’s season-opening loss at Philadelphia on Wednesday.
Boston Celtics
Find the latest Boston Celtics news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Boston.
“Enes is a big part of our team,” Theis told NBC Sports Boston. “Hopefully he’ll be back fast. But now, we have to step up. But we’re used to this. The last two years, we’ve had guys missing and people have to step up. We hope Enes will be back fast, but we’ll all have to step up until then.”
Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.