The Boston Celtics travelled up north to Toronto to tackle the Raptors Monday night time with out Jaylen Brown and narrowly escaped with a 105-96 win.
It didn’t take lengthy for this recreation to show right into a block celebration, as Jrue Vacation and Kristaps Porzingis mixed for 3 of them within the opening two minutes.
Vacation, particularly, was in every single place proper off the bat on each side of the ball. Within the first six minutes and alter, he had racked up eight factors, two assists, two rebounds and a steal to go together with his pair of rejections.
Outdoors of Jrue, the Celtics have been sloppy offensively early on, firing a large number of errant passes that resulted in turnovers. Finally, Boston settled issues down on that facet of the ball and rattled off a string of fairly possessions to open up a slight lead.
With a couple of minutes remaining within the opening quarter, Porzingis strung collectively back-to-back robust performs, first organising Luke Kornet on the basket with a pleasant feed after which hitting a tricky layup off the drive.
Effectivity from deep proved to be the distinction within the first quarter, because the Celtics hit 5 of their 9 long-range makes an attempt (55.6%) whereas Toronto related on simply two of eight triples. Vacation and RJ Barrett led all scorers with 10 every on the break, with Boston holding a 29-25 lead.
The unit of Pritchard, White, Hauser, Horford and Kornet struggled a bit out of the gates within the second quarter, as Toronto rapidly retook the lead.
With Brown out as a consequence of a hyperextended knee, different guys wanted to step up offensively and Horford clearly obtained the memo, hitting a transition three and tallying a pair factors off a goaltend within the paint.
White entered this contest averaging 25 factors per recreation with Brown out of the lineup, and he picked up proper the place he left off regardless of the latest capturing droop. A pair of long-range buckets introduced the versatile guard as much as a dozen factors early within the second.
Oshae Brissett obtained a chance halfway via the second quarter and introduced the vitality, racking up seven factors in as many minutes.
After a comparatively quiet opening quarter, Jayson Tatum — or January Jay, as some are calling him — started trying to find his shot. The celebrity hit three seconds after checking into the sport after which transformed a tricky and-1 midrange jumper.
As he has finished all 12 months lengthy, Kristaps Porzingis gave the protection matches working out of the excessive publish. This time, Jontay Porter was the sufferer of a myriad of strikes by the Unicorn.
4 Celtics have been in double figures at halftime as Boston boasted a 61-55 lead. On Toronto’s facet, the previous New York Knicks duo of RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley stored the Raptors shut, combining for 30. The Celtics nonetheless held a major benefit from deep on the break, however they tripled Toronto’s turnovers.
Barrett picked up the place he left off early within the third quarter. Steve Nash’s godson has appeared very snug since returning to his residence nation of Canada, and that remained the case in opposition to the Cs.
Offensively, stagnation and turnovers harm Boston to open the second half. This has been a persistent challenge for the Celtics, as they entered Monday’s contest ranked seventeenth in third-quarter factors. Toronto merely appeared just like the extra lively, fluid offensive group, and within the blink of a watch the Raptors had jumped out to a 71-64 lead.
After a robust first half, Porzingis started to pressure the problem, racking up 5 turnovers midway via the third.
Regardless of the relative sloppiness offensively, the Celtics fought their method again into the sport, getting the chance to tie issues again up following a monstrous and-1 Tatum dunk.
That play proved to be an enormous momentum-shifter.
January Jay continued to earn his nickname, as he spearheaded a 20-4 Celtics run to finish the third. Tatum was as much as 19 factors on the night time by the tip of the quarter, as Boston took an 84-75 lead into the ultimate 12 minutes.
White ran the present to open the fourth, scoring seven straight for the Celtics as they opened up a 14-point lead. The 2 squads proceeded to commerce off run after run, with the Raptors chopping their deficit to 4 with two minutes remaining within the contest.
Regardless of one more inefficient capturing night time, White got here up clutch when he was known as on, hitting a 3 to place Boston up seven with 1:17 left. A defensive cease and two Vacation free throws bumped that result in 9, which lastly put any ideas of a Toronto comeback to relaxation.
It wasn’t the prettiest show of late-game execution, however the Celtics escaped Toronto with a 105-96 win, bettering to 31-9 on the season. It was a balanced effort for Boston, as White and Vacation each poured in 22 and all 5 starters completed in double figures.
Subsequent up, the Celtics host rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in TD Backyard on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
