Come on, it wasn't as if anyone thought that the mighty Toronto Raptors would snap the Celtics' unbeaten home streak. Sure, they could have - insert your "any given team, any given night" coaching adages here - but it wasn't a match up that was highly anticipated.

You didn't hear any of the Raptors guaranteeing victory. We're just sayin'.

So it was with a pleasant little lack of surprise that the Celtics took an early lead and went on to defeat the visiting team from the North, 112-84, at the TD Banknorth Garden on Friday night. Kevin Garnett led the Celts with 23, Paul Pierce chipped in 18, and Ray Allen added 13 of his own.

Toronto's Anthony Parker scored 13 in his team's losing cause, and three other Raptors added 12 each. It was a decidedly different showing than Toronto's last outing, the game where they scored 123 points against Phoenix (we still can't believe a team can score 123 points and lose a game). But there were injury woes on Friday night and, well, they were playing the Celtics. Hello.

-- Much more ripe with drama is the anticipation over Sunday. We'll obviously get into that more tomorrow, but let's put it this way: folks out there in Sports Journo Land are murmuring that the last couple of Patriots games have shown cracks in the foundation. There are some who think that Anthony Smith might be onto something.

-- Sox fans: the time to reunite with your good friend, the Virtual Waiting Room, has come. Tickets for select Red Sox games go on sale today at 10 a.m. If you didn't score an invite to Christmas at Fenway (and don't worry, we're right there with you), remember that the VWR historically refreshes every 30 seconds. If you leave your computer, you will get in and then get bounced back out before you return. So have your food, newspapers, cell phones, and anything else within arm's reach. Check out the Spring Training schedule. Debate Barry Bond's brief court appearance on Friday. And then settle in for the wait.

We like the Raptors well enough, so here's a friendly reminder of the love back up in Canada. Photo by Flickr user A.H.1987