Playing in the second night of a back-to-back and in the third game of a four-game road trip, the Celtics (5-3 overall, 3-2 away) weren't content with the requisite difficulty that comes from that typical situation in the NBA regular season (nevermind when it is during a pandemic). Nope, that wasn't enough for Boston as they visited Tampa Bay's Amalie Arena this evening to play the struggling Raptors (1-5 overall, 1-2 home). In addition to the jet lag and fatigue from traveling in such a crazy time, the C's also ruled out point guards Marcus Smart (sprained thumb) and Jeff Teague (sprained ankle) before tip-off but it hardly mattered as they rolled to a 126-114 victory behind a game-high 40 points from forward Jayson Tatum (6 rebounds, 2 blocks) who was easily the individual star of the game while Boston's bench which outscored Toronto 60-29 was also incredible in their own right.
Second-year point guard Tremont Waters (5 points, 5 assists, 4 turnovers, 4 fouls in 24 minutes) got only his second ever start for the Celtics (this ain't the G-League where he was an All-Star last season) and he understandably was a mess against one of the best backcourts in the league: point guard Kyle Lowry (18 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals) and shooting guard Fred VanVleet (team-high 35 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals). Celts center Tristan Thompson (7 rebounds, 2 blocks) was scoreless and power forward Daniel Theis (2 points) was not much better as Boston stumbled out of the gates in a major way, twice trailing by as many as 13 points (23-10 and 28-15) before cutting it to a little more manageable deficit at the end of the first quarter (32-23).
The C's immediately followed up that turd with their best frame of the season as they nearly tripled the Raptors' scoring output in the second quarter (38-14) to take a double-digit lead (61-46) into halftime. Their defense wasn't nearly as good in the third quarter but their offense was still on fire in the third quarter (39-35) so they were able to fly into the fourth quarter and let the bench put it to bed for the most part. Shooting guard Jaylen Brown (19 points, 5 rebounds) took a back seat to Tatum after he was so good yesterday afternoon in Detroit (1-6). Besides Tatum's brilliance, Boston's substitutes were the real story led by rookie point guard Payton Pritchard (23 points, 8 assists) who continues to defy expectations. He tied Tatum for the second most minutes played this evening (32), only two behind Brown-showing you how much C's head coach Brad Stevens already trusts him in just about any situation. Forward Semi Ojeleye continued his good work against the Pistons with 12 points and eight rebounds in what had to be a career-high 30 minutes of action. Power forward Grant Williams (14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks) was great and center Robert Williams (11 points, 15 rebounds, 2 blocks) had a double-double in only 20 minutes of play.
As you can surmise from their awful start to this campaign and specifically how quickly this contest turned on its head, Toronto is a bit of a mess right now with the second worst record in both the Eastern Conference and the NBA at the moment. Power forward Pascal Siakam (22 points, 6 rebounds) is a decent player but you'll recall how much he was exposed in the bubble last season and you wonder how he'll recover from that. Luckily, the Raptors have way too much money already invested in him so they have little choice but to try and build his fragile confidence back up. Good luck with that as he was already suspended by the team for a game last week as punishment for going to the locker room after he fouled out in the previous game. Haha way to be a team player big guy! Small forward OG Anunoby scored 10 points and the only other Raptor to reach double-figures was shooting guard Terence Davis who added 13 points in garbage time off the bench.
All in all, this was a hell of an effort by Boston who as I already pointed out, had numerous excuses to play poorly tonight and lose to what figured to be a desperate rival. Instead, they showed some heart as they shot 8.8% better from the field than Toronto (48.8%-40%), hit two more three-pointers (15-13), dominated on the glass with 19 more rebounds overall (56-37) including 15 more defensive boards (44-29) and they blocked more than twice as many shots (9-4). Their reward is a few days in the Florida sunshine (don't forget your masks guys!) and their first showdown of the season with the Heat (3-3) on Wednesday night (7:30, NBC Boston). It's a great way to end their first long, multi-city road trip of 2020-21 by going up against the team that knocked them out in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals in September. Forward Jimmy Butler has been banged up already this season with an ankle injury of his own that he initially suffered in their Christmas Day game but as we saw just a few months ago, Miami is a bad matchup for Boston because of its guards Tyler Herro and Goran Dragic who along with center Bam Adebayo all took over that series at different times. I don't expect a win against the Heat but if it happens, it would be an awesome result that would further prove that the Celtics can compete with anyone in the East.
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