Boston took on Toronto Raptors on the second night of a back-to-back in Toronto Wednesday night. The Raptors had the lead at halftime after an explosive shooting display to start the game. It wasn’t pretty and it went down to the wire at Scotiabank arena, the Celtics hang on to win a tense game on the road, 98-93. Queta was big late, 11 points and 13 rebounds in the game including a game winning block, Jayson Tatum had 24 points and 8 assists. The Celtics move clear in the Eastern with 10 wins and counting.
Boston rested Paul George after a tremendous performance against his former team in Philadelphia last night. The Celtics went double big in this one, with Derrick White, Baylor Scheierman, Jayson Tatum, Luka Garza, and Neemias Queta. The Toronto Raptors are currently beset by a slew of injuries to the squad, including Scottie Barnes and Kawhi Leonard. The hobbled Raptors started Jamal Shead, RJ Barrett, Ja’Kobe Walter, Collin Murray-Boyles, and Jakob Poeltl.
Derrick White in the Celtics’ green road uniforms got the Celtics on board early with a three-pointer, and Neemias Queta followed that up with a triple of his own, with Jayson Tatum credited with two early assists. Toronto was letting it fly early; they went 3-8 on three-pointers in the first 4 minutes of action.
Toronto was up for the challenge, forcing 3 early turnovers; they had a 14-13 lead after six minutes of play. Mitchell Robinson, Sam Hauser, and Payton Pritchard were the first players off the bench for Boston.
Both teams traded baskets throughout the first quarter, with Toronto keeping the C’s at arm’s length throughout. The story of the first quarter was the Raps’ stunning 3-point barrage. The Toronto Raptors would finish with 10-18 from deep, matching a franchise record with zero turnovers. They took a 9-point lead into the second quarter, 29-38.
Garza and Queta had 5 points, and Pritchard had 4 points in the first quarter for the C’s. As he has done for most of the season, Jayson Tatum played the entire first quarter, orchestrating the action for Boston with 9 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds.
With Paul George resting this game, Boston would need someone to step up and fill the scoring void. Unfortunately, it was Toronto who outscored the C’s 8-3 to start the quarter before head coach Joe Mazzulla called a timeout before things got out of hand.
Boston only scored 6 points as Tatum sat on the bench to start the second quarter. The Raptors were in the midst of a 14-3 run before JT returned to the action. The Raptors managed to extend their lead to 19 points, with Boston not taking care of the ball at all in the first half, with 8 turnovers.
Neemias Queta fed Jayson Tatum for a loud tomahawk dunk, cutting the Toronto lead back to 15 points. On the next possession, Tatum nailed a three-pointer over Colin Murray-Boyles. Murray-Boyles fouled JT on the play, and the call was upgraded to a flagrant. The possession resulted in 7 points for Boston as Baylor Scheierman nailed a no-dip three-pointer.
Boston finally came alive late in the second quarter outplaying the Raptors. The C’s managed to get back into the contest despite shooting just 41% from the field and having more turnovers. Boston down by just 7 points at halftime after the Raptors pushed the Celtics.
Derrick White hit the first two shots of the third quarter as Toronto fans were still finding their seats. Boston cut the Toronto lead to a point, White drilling a three-pointer for his 16th point of the night. Derrick White was doing it on both ends, blocking RJ Barrett’s layup attempt for his third of the game.
Toronto missed 11 straight three-point attempts after a stellar first half shooting display. Payton Pritchard hit his twelfth point of the game with a pullup jumper over Jamal Shead. Toronto were outscored by just two points in the quarter as they held a 5-point lead, 75-80.
Boston came into the game winning 11 of the last 12 meetings against the Toronto Raptors, which looked in jeopardy after three quarters. Pritchard, Scheierman, Walsh, White, and Queta started the fourth quarter for Boston.
Payton Pritchard snapped a 10-0 Toronto scoring run with a baseline two-point jumper. A Baylor Scheierman trailing three-pointer cut Toronto’s lead to 2 points. But the Raptors kept coming at Boston with 13 offensive rebounds, giving Toronto plenty of extra possessions.
The Raps stretched the lead back to six points before Derrick White drained a stepback three. Jayson Tatum returned to the court after a decent break with 6 minutes to go in the game, Toronto up by just 3 points, 83-86.
Boston would need to dig deep against the fresher legs of Toronto as both teams traded missed baskets late in the fourth. Tatum bounced a pass into Queta on the low block with the much smaller Shead defending him and drew a shooting foul. Queta only hit one of two free throws to cut the lead to one point, 88-89.
The game would go down to the wire, with Barrett fouling Tatum on a drive with 25 seconds to go in the game. Tatum hit both free throws to give Boston a one-point lead, 94-93, and Toronto handed a chance to close it out at home. Queta blocked an RJ Barrett drive and hit both free throws to give Boston a big 3-point lead, 96-93, and the win.
The Celtics now have three days off before a two-game home stand in Boston; they host Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving, and the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday at 6pm EST.
