With the Toronto Blue Jays in the middle of a captivating playoff run and the Toronto Maple Leafs starting a new season with a victory over the rival Montreal Canadiens, an NBA Preseason game between the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics probably wasn’t top of mind for many people.
Just don’t tell that to anyone inside Scotiabank Arena.
Jonathan Mogbo capped a furious second-half comeback with a game-winning lay-in with 1.3 seconds
remaining as the Raptors defeated the Celtics, 107-105, in front of a raucous crowd. Gradey Dick led Toronto with 22 points, seemingly providing the only source of scoring for the Raptors’ struggling first-half offense. Chucky Hepburn led the fourth-quarter comeback, finishing with 13 points, 8 assists, and 4 steals. Boston was led by Peyton Pritchard and Chris Boucher, making his return to Toronto after playing 7 seasons with the Raptors, who each scored 19 points.
Playing its third game in five days, Coach Rajakovic opted to sit all of his starters — Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Brandon Ingram, Scottie Barnes, and Jakob Poeltl — along with Ulrich Chomche. With Jamal Shead, Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji, Collin Murray-Boyles, and Sandro Mamukelashvili starting, the Raptors offense unsurprisingly struggled to score. Toronto scored 12 of its 19 first-quarter points via transition or the free throw line.
Boston was also lacking star power, as Derrick White and Jaylen Brown both sat out after playing in Wednesday’s preseason opener. The Celtics still had Pritchard, who was the closest thing to a star for Boston and played like it. He scored 15 points in the first half and never looked like he was breaking a sweat.
Boston’s best player was a familiar face for the folks at Scotiabank Arena. The fans were treated to an evening full of the “Boucher Experience.” He was drawing charges, hitting threes and, surprise, was a game-high +22. Chris finished one rebound shy of a double-double.
With Toronto’s main playmakers sitting out, Darko’s troops crashed the glass with reckless abandon. Dick led the way with four offensive boards in the first quarter. The extra possessions didn’t amount to much as Toronto trailed for much of the first half.
One of the few bright spots was Murray-Boyles. CMB showed off his defensive versatility, guarding Pritchard, Queta, and Boucher in the first few possessions. However, Boucher got the better of the rookie, scoring a fallaway jumper while drawing the foul. CMB returned the favour, posting up the skinny former Raptor and bullying his way for a bucket. On the next trip, CMB took a handoff and drove hard into the paint for a tough lay-in over Boucher and Queta. Unfortunately for the promising rookie, he only had one shift as he was ruled out at halftime with an elbow contusion. Post-game, Rajakovic said CMB’s x-rays were positive and that he should be fine.
For a third consecutive preseason game, the Raptors were without Jakob Poeltl. While Sandro Mamukelashvili had shown flashes of his offensive prowess in the first two games, his first Raptors game at Scotiabank Arena was not a pleasant experience. He took 4 three-pointers in the second quarter and missed all of them.
Boucher took over near the end of the first half. He hit three-pointers on consecutive offensive possessions. The first was a familiar sight for Raptors fans as Boucher found himself open from the corner for an open triple. On the next trip down the floor, it was a rare sight as Boucher hit a pull-up three in transition. Jamison Battle clued into Boucher’s hot streak and stepped out to defend another three-point attempt by Chris on the next possession. Unfortunately, he planted his feet in Boucher’s landing area, thus, drawing a flagrant foul.
Toronto went ice cold in second quarter, with only a Battle three-pointer over the final 4:27 of the half. The Celtics outscored the Raptors 20-3 during that span, scoring the final 14 points of the half. Boston led 63-42 at the break.
Anfernee Simons, whom the Celtics acquired during the offseason in a trade that sent Jrue Holiday to Portland, started the game slowly, scoring 8 points on 2-for-7 shooting in the first half. In the third quarter, however, Simons came out strong, scoring 13 points in the quarter on increasingly difficult, and well-contested shots.
The Celtics would push the lead up to 27 points in the third quarter, but the Raptors fought back and entered the fourth quarter trailing 87-77. Toronto’s comeback was led by Dick, who added another 11 points in the quarter, and Chucky Hepburn, who had 8 points in the quarter, was a +10 in six minutes, and hit a three at the buzzer to energize the crowd.
As the fourth quarter wore on, both coaches pulled their starters. Just like in Vegas Summer League, Toronto’s group of young, feisty defenders took over the game. With Boston up by 14 with three minutes remaining, the Raptors kicked up the intensity by a few notches. In the span of 30 seconds, Hepburn hit a contested layup plus a free throw, followed by a steal and layup by Jared Rhoden, followed by another steal (by Jonathan Mogbo), which ended with a David Roddy triple. The roof almost blew off as the Raptors had trimmed the lead down to six with two-and-a-half minutes to play.
After Boston turned the ball over a sixth(!!) time over the last three minutes, AJ Lawson hit a game-tying layup. Wendell Moore Jr and David Roddy traded layups to set the stage for Mogbo’s heroics.
The Raptors head to Washington to face the Wizards on Sunday before a rematch with the Celtics in Boston next Wednesday. Toronto ends the preseason schedule next Friday at home to Brooklyn, on Brandon Ingram Night at Scotiabank Arena.
