For their last game before All-Star weekend, the Celtics (19-17 overall, 12-5 home) couldn't have asked for a much better situation. The Raptors (17-19 overall, 9-11 away) limped into Boston without five players-including two of their best in Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet-due to health & safety protocols along with head coach Nick Nurse and some of his assistants. Toronto gave it their best effort and they made it way harder on the Celts than it should have been but thankfully, the C's hung on for a no defense allowed 132-125 victory at the TD Garden. Eight Celtics scored in double figures as they completed a perfect homestand (4-0) at just the right time after last week when they were on the verge of a complete disaster of a season.
Boston's young All-Star swingmen Jayson Tatum (team-high 27 points, game-high 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals) and Jaylen Brown (21 points, 7 rebounds) of course led the way and you'd hope that they'd sit out the festivities in Atlanta this weekend but unfortunately, that's not how NBA players roll in the personal brand driven world of 2021. Point guard Kemba Walker (15 points, 6 assists, 2 blocks) can always use a rest with his gimpy knee so the next game being in a week should help him although you could also argue that he was just getting into a bit of a groove. Power forward Tristan Thompson was the other starter to reach double digits in points (13) for Boston. Toronto only had eight guys available so it made sense that the Celtics could eventually wear them down as they played 10 guys and four of their five bench players were really good: power forward Grant Williams (17 points) had one of his best games as a pro, point guard Jeff Teague added 14 points, center Robert Williams (10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks) and rookie guard Payton Pritchard (10 points, 2 steals) both ended the first half on a high note.
How were the shorthanded Raptors able to hang in there for that long? Well basically it came down to the 3-point line as they hit an incredible 21-of-50 (42%) 3-pointers. Power forward Chris Boucher had a game-high 30 points and five rebounds off the bench for Toronto while shooting guard Terence Davis scored 22 off the bench before leaving late with a sprained ankle. Point guard Kyle Lowry was really the only star that played for the Raptors and he more than carried that load with 14 points and an absurd 19 assists. Shooting guard Norman Powell scored 25 points for Toronto while old friend Aron Baynes had 13 points and nine rebounds and small forward Stanley Johnson notched 14 points (remember when he was a lottery pick in 2015? Weird times).
The first half was basically an AAU summer league game as Toronto outscored Boston 34-31 in the first quarter and found themselves with a surprising 70-66 halftime lead. The Celtics dominated in the third quarter (35-22) and was able to hang on in the fourth (33-31 Raptors) despite a barrage of 3-pointers by Toronto. Boston made 15 more free throws (29-14), they grabbed 11 more rebounds (39-28) including 10 more defensive boards (30-20) on the rare occasions that anybody missed their shots. The C's also blocked six more shots (7-1) and scored 10 more points in the paint (54-44) which makes sense since the Raptors were missing their starting forwards and center-a less than ideal situation against one of their top rivals.
After Tatum and Brown have their fun in Atlanta, they'll rejoin the group in Boston next week as they prepare for a brief two-game road trip against one of the best teams in the NBA and then one of the worst. The C's make the short trip to red-hot Brooklyn (24-13 overall, 13-6 home) on Thursday (7:30, TNT) and follow that with a visit to Houston (11-23 overall, 5-10 home) on Saturday night (8, NBC Sports Boston). The Nets are 9-1 in their last 10 games and I feel like it's only a matter of time before they take over first-place in the Eastern Conference from the Sixers (24-12 overall). On the other end of the league landscape, the Rockets are tanking for that No. 1 pick like you read about. They have lost 13 games in a row which is quite depressing. It was such a weird first half for the Celtics (would you expect anything less in a pandemic?), but they somehow still find themselves sitting in fourth-place in the East. This is the same club that was recently out of the top eight in the conference so I guess we should be happy that they've recovered and gotten their season back on the right track.
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