Returning to Japanese Convention play after going 4-2 throughout a tricky stretch of Western Convention matchups, the Boston Celtics discovered more durable sledding than they may have anticipated on Wednesday night towards the Toronto Raptors. The Celtics struggled out of the gate and located themselves a step behind the Raptors all night time, and in the end misplaced 110-97, snapping a 10-game profitable streak towards Toronto.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown struggled to search out their marks tonight. The star duo mixed to shoot simply 9-of-31 from the sector, tallying simply 26 factors. Kristaps Porzingis was the most effective participant on the court docket for Boston tonight, scoring 18 factors and capturing 7-of-11 from the sector (4-of-5 from three). Payton Pritchard added 20 in an environment friendly night time off the bench, however no different Celtic managed to search out a lot consistency as a scorer. For the Raptors, RJ Barrett had one other massive efficiency towards Boston, main the Raptors with 22 factors, 11 rebounds and eight assists. All 5 of Toronto’s starters scored in double digits, supplemented by 32 factors from their bench.
The Celtics discovered themselves on their heels within the early minutes of tonight’s recreation. Toronto rattled off a fast 15-5 run to open play, prompting Joe Mazzulla to take an early timeout lower than 4 minutes into the sport. Seven of 9 Raptors to take the court docket within the first quarter recorded at the least one basket, and the Celtics discovered themselves lagging behind from deep within the early going. They have been capable of rebound, although, led by a fast eight factors from Porzingis. Boston closed out the primary quarter on a 7-0, and entered the second with a 29-25 lead.
Toronto broke a four-minute scoreless streak early within the second quarter on a jumper from Chris Boucher. After a few Celtics baskets, the Raptors launched right into a 12-0 run of their very own to surge again into command of the proceedings. Behind one other robust efficiency from Barrett (12 first half factors), Toronto had the Celtics reeling once more. They racked up quick break factors and shot effectively contained in the arc, and after Payton Pritchard hit a 3 earlier than the buzzer, the Celtics entered the halftime break trailing by two, 55-53.
Boston would have been in a considerably worse place on the break with out the efforts of Porzingis within the first half. He counterbalanced a poor-shooting offense — Tatum and Brown mixed to shoot 4-of-17 from the sector — by capturing 5-of-6 from the sector, together with 3-of-4 from deep. The Unicorn compiled 13 factors and stuffed the stat sheet with 4 rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocked photographs, and helped maintain the Celtics aggressive in an in any other case uneven half.
Porzingis opened the scoring for Boston within the second half by connecting on his fourth triple of the night time. Some youth offensively gave method to one other Toronto surge, nonetheless, because the Raptors launched into one other run — 12-3 this time — to take care of their grip on the lead. The Celtics stored Toronto from operating away with the sport, however on the similar time, they appeared incapable of pulling nearer than a two- or three-score deficit. A late quarter sequence wherein Boston grabbed three offensive rebounds however did not generate any factors felt emblematic of how the sport had gone to that time. The Celtics misplaced floor within the quarter, trailing by six getting into the ultimate 12 minutes of regulation, 88-82.
After permitting the Raptors to shoot a blistering 77% from the sector within the third quarter, the Celtics opened the fourth on a equally bitter be aware. Toronto expanded the lead within the opening minutes with yet one more run, outscoring the Celtics 9-2 within the first 4 minutes of the quarter to determine a game-high 13-point lead. The clock melted away quickly, and with half the quarter within the books, the Celtics had simply 4 factors to indicate for themselves.
Subsequent up, the Celtics will return house to host an Orlando Magic workforce that’s slowly getting getting again to full energy, this Friday at 7 PM on ESPN.
