Welcome to the Garden

Welcome to TD Garden, where the Boston Celtics (36-19) will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers (44-14) at 8 p.m. (note the late start time for national television).

Colleague Julian Benbow shot the Ray Allen video (above) in which Allen previews tonight’s game and talks about, among other things, LeBron James. Allen will be important tonight if Paul Pierce and Marquis Daniels don’t play. We’ll update you on the status of both players as soon as we know anything definite.

The Celtics are 6 1/2 games back of Cleveland right now in the Eastern Conference, so tonight’s game isn’t so much about catching the Cavs as it is about keeping pace with Orlando and Atlanta. A win tonight would also go a long way in proving the Celtics can beat good teams.

Back with more updates in a bit.