The Celtics extended their winning streak to five games on Sunday with a 121-113 road victory over the Raptors at Scotiabank Arena.
Boston led by as many as 23 points in the third quarter, but a furious 23-4 run by Toronto helped to erase that deficit early in the fourth quarter. However, Boston’s starters were able to regain control in crunch time with Derrick White and Jaylen Brown scoring eight points each in the final frame, while also clamping down on the Raptors offense to help extend their winning streak to an East-best five games.
Jaylen Brown led the way for Boston in the win with 30 points, eight rebounds, and five assists over 39 minutes. Derrick White added 27 points, five assists and three blocks as five different Celtics players scored in double figures.
Brandon Ingram finished with a team-high 30 points for the Raptors in the setback, leading seven different Toronto players in double figures. The Raptors have now lost three games in a row and dropped behind Boston (15-9) for the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Celtics will get three days of rest now before hitting the road again for Milwaukee on Thursday night to face a Bucks squad that will be without Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Here are four takeaways from the Celtics’ win on Sunday night.
Celtics offense keeps rolling in the first half: The Celtics have been scoring at a special level over the last two weeks and that trend continued in the first half north of the border. Boston erupted for 77 first half points after shooting 56 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point range. On top of the hot shooting from Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, Boston also crushed the offensive glass hard, piling up 15 second chance points on nine offensive rebounds to build a 21-point lead at intermission.
Third quarter saw a defensive letdown: The Celtics have not had to rely on their defense much in recent weeks but they sprung a major leak in the third quarter. The hosts climbed back into the game with a 23-4 spurt and did so with some sharpshooting all over the court. Toronto hit 65 percent of their shots in the third quarter and also hit all 3 of their 3-point attempts, with Brandon Ingram leading the comeback with 11 points in the frame. The outburst helped the Raptors erase a 23-point lead by the Celtics by the early minutes in the fourth quarter.
Raptors bench outplay Celtics reserves: Boston’s depth has been one of their more valuable assets in recent weeks but they were outproduced in this matchup especially in the second half. Four Raptors reserves scored nine of or more points while Anfernee Simons was the only Boston backup to crack double figures in points. Those second half struggles against the Raptors bench led to Joe Mazzulla going back to the Celtics starters with nine minutes remaining in regulation, a move that paid off as that group fought back to seal the win.
Some well-deserved rest on the horizon for the Celtics: Boston wrapped up six games in nine days with a 5-1 record after Sunday’s win, and they are also 10-2 in their last 12 games. However, plenty of time to rest up is looming in the next two weeks, as Boston only plays three games in their next 12 days with three days off before their next contest in Milwaukee on Thursday. With the Celtics having tallied wins over all the other top-six teams in the Eastern Conference on their way to the third seed in the East, Joe Mazzulla and his staff will have plenty to feel good about as they prepare for the new year.