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BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JANUARY 09: Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics goes to the basket against the Toronto Raptors during the second half at the TD Garden on January 09, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Brian Fluharty\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The Boston Celtics continued their strong run with a 115-101 win over the Toronto Raptors<\/a> on Sunday, powered by a balanced effort and a dominant interior presence. Jaylen Brown<\/a> led the way with 26 points, while Jayson Tatum<\/a> added 23 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists as Boston controlled the game<\/a> late, per Reuters.<\/p>\n After the win, Brown did not overlook the opponent. Instead, he offered a measured and respectful assessment of a Toronto team that pushed Boston through three quarters.<\/p>\n \u201cToronto\u2019s a good team. They\u2019ve had some injuries. They\u2019ve had some good spurts,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n He went further, pointing to the Raptors\u2019 roster depth and physicality.<\/p>\n \u201cThey got some players. Brandon Ingram<\/a>, Scottie, RJ Barrett<\/a>, Quickley over there, who\u2019s also hurt, P\u00f6ltl. They got some good young players. Some of their rookie players\u2019 physical. Good defenders. They got some good players.\u201d<\/p>\n Celtics Lean on Paint Dominance to Pull Away<\/p>\n Boston\u2019s edge came from its ability to attack the rim. The Celtics piled up 76 points in the paint, their highest total in the play-by-play era, showing a clear shift in approach when outside shots did not fall.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s big for us is getting downhill, getting to that paint,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI think that opens up a lot of our 3s.\u201d<\/p>\n Boston shot just 8-for-28 from beyond the arc, yet still created separation by consistently pressuring the interior. Neemias Queta<\/a> played a major role in that effort, finishing with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Payton Pritchard<\/a> added 17 and Derrick White<\/a> chipped in 10.<\/p>\n Queta explained how the offense opened up once Boston broke through Toronto\u2019s perimeter pressure.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like they\u2019re a team that pressures a lot, so once you get past the main guy, you get an advantage created,\u201d Queta said. \u201cOur mentality was to just attack the paint and get downhill.\u201d<\/p>\n Boston Closes Strong After Tight Battle<\/p>\n The game stayed competitive early. Toronto erased a slow start and battled to a 26-26 tie after the first quarter, then used a second-quarter run to take control briefly. The Raptors even tied the game at 75 late in the third quarter before Boston responded.<\/p>\n The Celtics entered the fourth quarter up 80-77 and quickly created distance. Tatum\u2019s free throws pushed the lead to double digits, and a late sequence from Queta and White sealed the outcome.<\/p>\n Head coach Joe Mazzulla pointed to a stretch<\/a> in the second quarter as the turning point, Mass Live reports.<\/p>\n \u201cThe game opened up for us in the middle of the second quarter, where we were playing really good defense,\u201d Mazzulla said. \u201cThen I thought the whole fourth quarter we played well.\u201d<\/p>\n Toronto received 16 points from Ja\u2019Kobe Walter<\/a>, while Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett each added 15. Despite the loss, the Raptors showed flashes of cohesion, something Brown acknowledged postgame.<\/p>\n Boston improved to 53-25 with the win and continued its dominance over Toronto, especially at home. Still, Brown\u2019s comments reflected a broader understanding of the challenge ahead. Even in victory, he made it clear the Raptors remain a team with talent, depth, and potential to cause problems.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tBurtland Dixon<\/a> Burtland Dixon is a sports journalist covering the NBA and athlete culture for Heavy.com. A former Division II athlete turned journalist, he offers a unique blend of locker room perspective and storytelling expertise. He has more than eight years of experience in digital media and previously served as an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints, with additional bylines at Idolator, Trend Chaser, and Buzznet. Burtland is based between California and New York. Instagram: @showmi_more More about Burtland Dixon<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Celtics\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JANUARY 09: Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics goes to the basket against the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3770],"tags":[7,6,681,680,476,3820],"class_list":{"0":"post-701553","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-raptors","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-raptors","11":"tag-toronto","12":"tag-toronto-raptors","13":"tag-torontoraptors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116358565152765579","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}