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TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO – It feels strange to think that the marquee matchup in the Eastern Conference might not include LeBron James but, unless the Cavaliers can get their act together in the next two months, we may have to get used to it.

In a showdown of two teams vying for first place, the Boston Celtics (39-15) and Toronto Raptors (36-16) will square off at the Air Canada Centre on Tuesday night. Boston comes in two games ahead of the Raptors for top spot in the East, and with third-place Cleveland (30-21) fading fast it would seem to be a two-team race.

Could this be the future of a conference that has been owned by James over the past decade? No one would blame you for being skeptical. After all, James’ teams – both in Cleveland and Miami – have come out of the East and made it to the NBA Finals in each of the last seven seasons.

Sure, they’ve backed into the playoffs before, but they’ve never looked this vulnerable, never this bad. During that aforementioned seven-year span, they never finished lower than the second seed. Now, they’re closer to ninth-place Detroit than they are to second, trailing Toronto by five-and-a half-games going into Monday night’s action. They’ve lost 12 of their last 18 contests, rank 28th in the league in defence and could be without the injured Kevin Love until April.

On Saturday, following their latest public embarrassment – a 32-point loss to Houston – James told reporters the league should take away Cleveland’s nationally televised games for the remainder of the season. In a league that’s often ridiculed for its lack of parity, you could certainly argue that this dramatic collapse makes for better television than their steady domination did, but you get his point. Early in January they fell to Boston by 14 points on ESPN. A week later, the Raptors dismantled them by 34 points on TNT.

Maybe they find a way to miraculously flip that proverbial switch of theirs again. Maybe they pull off a season-saving blockbuster deal ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline. But, at least for now, they’re just another reminder of how much the East has changed, and how much it could continue to change should James leave for the West Coast in free agency this summer.

The two teams that stand to benefit most have a lot in common. Boston and Toronto are among the league’s three best defensive teams. They’re both well coached and have intriguing young pieces that supplement their veteran cores. Neither team, as currently constructed, fills the spotlight quite like James does, despite Kyrie Irving’s star power. Best of all, they don’t especially like each other.

The Celtics are one of just four Eastern Conference teams that the Raptors franchise has never faced in the playoffs, yet they may be the closest thing they’ve got to a rival.

“I mean, we are the two best teams in our conference and every competitor wants to fight for that top spot,” said DeMar DeRozan. “They’re in front of us, it’s one of them things that’s going to be a challenge and you look forward to them challenges and you get up for them types of games.”

The Raptors are past even bothering to pretend that games like Tuesday’s mean as much as the one before or the one after it. Unlike in past years, Dwane Casey and company aren’t being coy about it or beating around the bush: they are gunning for first and the team that has been in their way for all but a few days this season.

“I think coach wants us to embrace it,” Kyle Lowry said last month. “He wants us to embrace chasing after that top seed and that’s what we have to do.”

“Our goal is to try and catch whoever is front of us,” Casey admitted. “That’s our goal, that’s our mission and each game takes us closer to that. That’s why we have to take care of business.“

Tuesday’s is the second of four regular-season meetings between the two teams. How much should we read into it? The easy answer is, it’s more important than the first – a 95-94 Celtics win in Boston on Nov. 12 – was and almost certainly less important than the two that follow will be, both coming in the final couple weeks of the campaign.

After Irving missed that first meeting with an injury to his face, the status of Boston’s all-star point guard is up in the air again, this time with a quad contusion. He did travel with the team to Toronto, as did Marcus Morris, who’s been out with a hip ailment.

Obviously, it will be a better indicator of how these two stack up if both teams are at full strength but, regardless, it’s still a matchup with greater implications than your typical early-February game. With a victory, the Raptors would pull within one game of first and even up the season series, which determines the end-of-season tiebreaker. With a loss, Boston’s cushion would grow to three games and the tiebreaker would essentially be theirs to lose.

The Raptors have never finished a season with the East’s first seed and it would be a nice accomplishment if they can earn it, but it’s also not the be-all and end-all. The primary benefit in locking it up is home-court advantage through the Conference Finals, should they make it that far, which could be a difference-maker given Toronto’s league-best 21-4 record at the ACC.

Still, they know it wouldn’t guarantee them anything. Like Boston – winners of four straight – they come in playing well. The Raptors are 7-3 in their last 10 games, a stretch that’s included some of their more impressive wins of the season (at home to San Antonio, Minnesota and Portland), but all three of their losses (in Minnesota and Washington and at home to Utah) serve as a reminder: they’re not where they need to be yet.

 “Going up against Boston there are home-court [advantage] implications, there are top of the conference implications and you are in a playoff race with that team so yes, it puts a little bit more importance into it,” Casey said. “But each possession [of] every game is important. I know it’s boring. I know it’s monotonous, but to win a championship those are the things you have to do.”

So, with little league-wide fanfare and in a game that won’t be nationally televised south of the border, the Raptors and Celtics will do battle. It won’t feature the larger-than-life James, we’re not likely to see in-fighting or someone throw a towel at a teammate’s head, but it is arguably the biggest game in the East, to this point of the season.

“We’ll see,” said Casey, who was asked if Boston is the conference’s best team. “I don’t gamble so I’m not going to say. I think we are one of the top teams. Again the proof will be in the pudding at the end of the season. It’s only February.”