The Toronto Raptors entered the TD Garden looking to get revenge after being swept aside twice already this season, and to help Boston were without All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum. However, they wouldn’t get revenge, as Jaylen Brown took over having a fantastic game and finishing with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists to lead the Celtics to a 120-118 victory over the Raptors. Brown was helped by some excellent play from both guards, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White, and a career-high in points from bench big-man Luke Kornet who ended up with 20 points and 8 rebounds.
The early exchanges went favourably for the Celtics, as the highest scoring first quarter team yet again pipped the 35-point mark. This was mainly thanks to Brown who scored 15 points in the first period alone as his pace and athleticism overwhelmed the Raptors defence. The Celtics’ defence on the other hand was superb - they held Toronto to just 20 points in the first – primarily due to the outstanding off-ball defence from Holiday and White who made things extremely difficult for the Raptors’ backcourt.
Boston was not only without Tatum for this one, but they were also without both of their favoured big men (Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford), and it started to show as the Raptors’ strong interior players started to wear down the Celtics’ defence. This was led by Pascal Siakam who demonstrated glimpses of the All-Star forward that he is by putting away 15 points in the second period.
The Celtics had taken a 15-point lead into the third quarter which they maintained for the most part. However, Toronto started to get hot from behind the arc - especially Scottie Barnes who played a superb game - scoring 30 points and 10 rebounds as well as 7-15 on three-point shots. But strong play from White and Holiday allowed them to head into the fourth quarter with a 13-point lead.
Unfortunately for Boston by 8 minutes left in the game the Raptors had regained the lead at 104-102, as Toronto took advantage of the Celtics being forced to play their reserves to begin the fourth. Directly after the Raptors gained the lead Brown re-entered the game and settled straight back into his first game form, putting in a layup first play of the quarter. Then Derrick White did his thing and hit yet another clutch three-point shot to regain the lead at 110-109. The Celtics then got to the free-throw line and essentially won the game from there, especially after Luke Kornet’s alley-oop dunk, which put them up by two with 32 seconds left.
Jaylen Brown had this to say on his performances thus far this season via ESPN: “I definitely feel that I’ve grown and improved, for sure, but [in terms of the game] slowing down for me? Maybe that is not the right word. I want to play fast,”. Joe Mazzulla praised Luke Kornet for his performance post-game via ESPN: “Luke shows up every game and plays his role. It was awesome to watch him play at the level that he did”. Boston stays it perfect for the season against Toronto and gives them the opportunity to sweep the season series in early January. The Celtics will now hit the road and head to San Antonio to end 2023 against young phenom Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs.
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