Quick Reaction: Raptors 117, Celtics 125

Sloppy opener for CMB as he fumbled an offensive rebound, forced a three-ball that he didn’t need to and then got stuffed by Derrick White late in the shot clock midway through the quarter. Some really poor fouls early in the second quarter as he bailed out Gonzales late in the shot clock and then tripped another Celtic shortly after, but he came back on the offensive end with a nasty poster on Payton Pritchard after making up for the foul with a steal immediately. Boyles started the second half with a beautiful and one with a nice pick and roll action with him and IQ, but his second-half minutes were cut significantly as Darko elected to ride the bench since they were on fire tonight, but CMB picked things up after a poor start in general that looked like it could’ve led to a horrible outing for him.

Great start as he went two for two from beyond the arc early, plus a few assists. He cooled off after an early Darko timeout as he missed his next two shots and a one-for-two trip at the free throw line. Pretty quiet start to his second quarter as he got stuffed on the fast break, but played some nice defence in consecutive possession on Jaylen Brown that gave Toronto two stops, and he rebounded nicely with two triples to finish out the first half. Kept the good momentum going early in the third quarter with an instant three and a huge defensive rebound. He didn’t shoot much in the fourth quarter, but surprisingly, IQ made some solid plays on the defensive end tonight and offered amazing playmaking for his teammates.

Poor start for Walter as he committed a shooting foul on Jalen Brown on the opening possession of the game, and then turned into a statue on offence, where he killed way too much shot clock just holding onto the ball. He rebounded a few possessions later, knocking down a catch-and-shoot triple off an IQ feed. He had a solid start to the second quarter, though, as he got started with a finish down low and then another catch and shoot triple, this time from the corner, but he kept firing away and finished the quarter with more misses than makes. Walter made a great hustle play to save a ball that was going out midway through the third quarter, and the misses did not rattle his confidence as the sophomore made a no-hesitation triple midway through the fourth quarter, followed by two more threes just a few minutes later. He gave it his all to keep Toronto in the game in the fourth, but Boston was on fire tonight.

Started off early with two shots in the first few minutes of the game, making one, but most of the first quarter was Barrett playmaking for his teammates, and he did a good job of that, setting up some clean looks and coming away with a couple of assists. Made his first shot in the second quarter beyond the arc to give Toronto its first lead of the game at 47-46 around the 6-minute mark. His second half was solid, as his scoring slowed down a bit, but the playmaking was consistent all night long, and he unfortunately had to leave the game early around the five-minute mark in the fourth quarter when it looked like he sprained his ankle on a drive to the rim. Also, a successful night at the free-throw line, which is his bane. Hopefully he’s alright as Toronto were without Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram and Jakob Poeltl, so they really can’t afford to miss another starter if the others continue to miss time.

Poor start on both ends for Mamu as he was getting cooked defensively and took a bad three-pointer that was contested early in the game. However, he started running the floor later in the quarter and made two easy ones at the rim. He made an impressive finish in the air from a baseline inbound from RJ Barrett early in the fourth quarter to trim the Celtics’ lead back to single digits at 88-97, his offence was much better super late in the game when the game was out of reach but his defence and rebounding were way better in the second half, unfortunatley the Celtics just kept making tough shots over him. Looks like a good stat line, but he came alive a bit too late in my opinion.

Got stuffed hard on his first shot of the game in transition by Celtics rookie Hugo Gonzales, which was initially ruled a shooting foul, but unfortunately for Dick, it was as clean as a block can get. His energy picked up in the second half as he had two decent offensive rebounds, but unfortunately, nothing came from them. He made a three shortly after and finished a layup on the break. Showed some great strength, tying up Jaylen Brown late in the third quarter and winning the jump right after. Dick has been playing much better lately, as even though he continues to struggle with his shot, he is showing fight, and tonight was no different.

Instant impact off the bench, making a nice catch and shoot three from an RJ feed. He had another three late in the first quarter from a nice Alijah Martin dish. Started the second quarter with good momentum as he made an instant floater, followed by a three-pointer a few minutes later. Shead had a poor shooting start in the second half as he missed back-to-back triples as soon as he checked in to the game, and his offence really slowed down in the final quarters, but his defensive energy was much better, and the first half performance mostly carried his grade tonight.

Early run as he checked into the game as the first Raptor off the bench, surprisingly and had an immediate impact with a good stop on the defensive end when the Celtics were red hot offensively. He followed it up with a nice finish at the rim off an IQ feed when he ran the floor hard in transition. He kept the energy going a few minutes later on the defensive end as he was able to hit the floor to secure a steal for the team with a nice double team with Gradey Dick. Got the offence going for Toronto early in the second half with a nice finish through contact at the rim, and then finished a nice two-man action from a Jamal Shead feed with a free dunk midway through the third quarter. Loved the effort from Mogbo tonight, who has struggled for minutes and had poor showings prior to this, so we can easily say that it was his best showing this season.

A very quiet first half as he only had a rebound to his name on top of a missed three. Came up with a nice steal on Neemias Queta in the post late in the third quarter and followed it up with a nice contest on a Anfernee Simons mid-range jumper into a finish at the rim in the following offensive possession, thanks to a nice cut. A poor start, but Battle battled hard at the end and gave Toronto a boost to get a big run going late in the third quarter.

Instant corner three off the bench midway through the second quarter after a Raptors timeout. He followed it up with a bad miss after a nice offensive rebound, where he kind of rushed his shot and missed a wide-open corner three when Derrick White hit him with the Luke Kornett contest of jumping from super far away to distract and block the shooter’s view of the rim. That was enough for coach Darko as Lawson was eliminated from the rotation in the second half after a quick start, followed by some poor moments.

Made a beautiful dribble move between the legs, plus a drive and kick for a Shead three-ball on his first offensive possession, plus he played great defence on Payton Pritchard at the buzzer to get a stop at the end of the first quarter. He showed good hands early in the second quarter when he won a fifty-fifty ball by the sideline as he tipped the ball off a Celtic player and set up Jamal Shead yet again for another three a few minutes later. Registered his first career points in true Raptors fashion in the break off a contact layup. Second career bucket was also on the break, and this time he hammered home a huge dunk. He added a huge three-pointer early in the fourth quarter, but missed out on a few really clean looks; his heart was on full display despite a few hiccups. Please check out the interview with him and William Lou, which is at the bottom of the quick react, as it was a really good one.

Poor challenge early in the second half as the game was slipping away from the Raptors, and Coach Darko tried to save a foul call on a Ja’Kobe Walter reach-in that put Boston into the bonus at the 5:49 mark in the third quarter. He tried to ride the hot bench in the second half and even eliminated AJ Lawson, so he tried almost everything, but Garrett Temple and Ochai Agbaji, who got the cold shoulder of a did not play – coaches’ decision tonight. Would’ve liked to see CMB out there more in the second half as he was turning things around after a horrible start, plus more Mogbo, as I thought he gave Toronto a good boost tonight.