BOSTON – There were plenty of possibilities that loomed as to how the challenging first nine games of the schedule would play out for the Toronto Raptors, most of them some version of: ‘how bad could this get?’.
Instead, they return to Toronto having avoided the worst outcomes and positioning themselves for better things ahead.
Was anyone prepared to bet on that when there were 1-3 through their first four games, having spit up a game in the final minutes against the Chicago Bulls, got beaten at home by the fledgling Portland Trail Blazers and getting ready to host the Milwaukee Bucks before an 11-day, four-game road trip?
Yeah, don’t think so.
It’s worth keeping in mind even as the Raptors ended the trip on a down note as they were at the wrong end of a 117-94 blowout as Boston demonstrated why they have one of the most formidable two-way lineups in the league and are deserving championship favourites.
“I just think they just played better than us tonight,” said Raptors centre Jakob Poeltl, who had 12 points in 21 minutes. “… They are obviously a talented team both on offence and on defence, but yeah, I think it just wasn't our night. I think we can play them way better than we did tonight. But they are really tough to play. So you gotta be on your ‘A’ game if you want to beat them.”
The loss dropped the Raptors to 4-5 as Boston improved to 7-2. But Toronto finishes their road trip 2-2 and avoided what could have easily been a 3-5, 2-7 or worse start which seemed like it might on the table on the heels of Toronto’s early-season three-game losing streak.
Problems? Toronto has some. Now that Scottie Barnes’ shooting stroke has cooled off – he is 8-of-30 from the floor and 2-of-13 from three over his first two starts after starting the season shooting 42 per cent from distance over the first seven games – and with Pascal Siakam (17 points on 6-of-17 shooting) seemingly unable to put together consecutive strong offensive games, scoring in anything other than transition situations continues to be a concern.
They need their defence to be good to give their offence a head start.
“We've got to be able, first of all, to get stops,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “And when we're getting stops and rebounding and getting deflections to steals, that's a way of running our offence. We scored only 12 points in transition. We're always in fast break, we're flirting with 25, 26 points in transition. So that was a big deal tonight and definitely slowed us down into entering in our offence and executing halfcourt.”
Defensively, the Celtics simply presented too many problems for the Raptors to solve. They had no answer for Tatum in one-on-one coverage, especially with the spacing provided by the deep-shooting Porzingis. The problems cascaded from there as Boston shot 55 per cent from the floor to the Raptors 38.5 per cent. Boston made 15 threes to Toronto’s 10. Boston started the third quarter with an 11-point lead and went on a 25-11 run, that was that.
Jaylen Brown led all scorers with 29 points while Tatum added 27 and Kristaps Porzingis 21. Siakam’s 17 led the Raptors who had five players in double figures scoring but no one else with more than 14.
The spiciest moment of the night came late in the fourth quarter when Celtics head coach used a coach’s challenge to stop the clock and protest a call with his team leading by 27 points with less than four minutes to play. Rajakovic and the Raptors bench voiced their displeasure at what seemed like an unneeded way to drag out their misery. Mazzulla said later that he was simply advocating for his players. Raptors guard Dennis Schroder told reporters it was “disrespectful.” Rajakovic provided only a terse-lipped "no comment."
Poeltl’s take? “I wouldn’t have done it, but I don’t care.”
The two teams meet next Friday in Toronto in the Raptors first in-season tournament game. Let the bad blood begin!
Regardless of the outcome against the Celtics, the Raptors have enough proof-of-concept to be positive about as they begin a four-game homestand. Perhaps most important is there are signs they are becoming a more cohesive team than when they left. Success tends to breed success and for a team trying to mesh with a new coaching staff and shift their style of play in the process, getting some immediate pay-off for their efforts was essential. A blowout win over Milwaukee at home before they started the trip mattered. Playing competitively in Philadelphia on the second game of a back-to-back mattered. Coming back from down 19 points in the fourth quarter against the San Antonio Spurs mattered a lot, as did an impressive team-wide effort in a win over Dallas on Wednesday.
A blowout loss to Boston? Not what was on the menu, but the Celtics have been doing that to teams this season and will again. They’re good.
On the whole? The trip was long but wasn’t particularly crowded with games. Rajakovic was able to get multiple long, almost training-camp style practices in while still getting his team a couple of welcome days off. There were team dinners and the simple act of being together for nearly two weeks this early in the season.
“There is a feel to it,” Rajakovic said of the team identity that’s forming. “Definitely conversations that guys are here and with each other. It's our locker room. It's our energy in the practices. It's all of that.
“And at the same time, we're a team that right now we're leading the league in potential assists. And that's something that we really pride ourselves in, moving the ball and playing for each other and creating opportunities for each other. And I think that we are growing as a team. We're still figuring out lineups and positions and who's in what position (and will be) most successful. But I feel that every single day the guys are more and more contributing. Every single player is contributing to the team.”
However, Boston provides a significant test for any team. The Celtics have been to five Eastern Conference Finals and one NBA Finals since 2016-17. In the off-season they acquired Porzingis and Jrue Holiday. They are built to win now and can beat you playing almost any style of game, with a foundation of strong individual defence, good perimeter shooting throughout their line-up and multiple stars who can create their own shot when needed, led by Jayson Tatum, an early-season MVP candidate.
“It's not supposed to be easy when you play against a team of this calibre, a team with a clear roster that was built to compete for a championship,” said Rajakovic. “It's a challenge. And that's what's fun about games like this … I'm always looking forward to games like this because they really show us where we're at, what we're doing well and where we need to get better and improve.”
Toronto came out of the gates with some vigour, which was to be expected given they had the benefit of two days’ rest while Boston had played at TD Garden on Friday night. Jakob Poeltl found some success attacking Porzingis and the Raptors tried to pick up where they left off against Dallas by getting the ball to Siakam in some early post-ups. Toronto led 24-19 with 3:36 left in the first quarter, but when Rajakovic went to his bench the problems began.
Toronto gave up an 11-2 run, their only basket coming on a contested jumper from Scottie Barnes as the Raptors half-court issues reared up. The problems persisted in the second quarter and by the time the starters were back in full Boston had opened up 14-point lead thank to a 21-2 run fueled by the Celtics bench which is supposed to be their weak link. Three triples by Sam Hauser – the eight-man in rotation that runs eight deep most nights – put that theory to test if only for one night.
An 8-0 burst by Toronto punctuated by an alley-oop from Pascal Siakam on a pass from Poeltl pulled them within four and caused Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla to call a time out, but then the Celtics talent gap began to show. Tatum, Holiday, and Porzingis all contributed to an 8-1 run that allowed Boston to take a 55-46 lead into the third quarter.
The dam began to bend at that point and Boston’s depth of talent began to kick it into gear. Each of Boston’s ‘big four’ – Tatum, Brown, Porzingis, and Holiday – scored in the first six minutes of the half with Brown, who was relatively quiet in the first half, erupting for 12 points in two minutes. When O.G. Anunoby missed a fast-break lay-up at one end and Brown hit a corner three at the other, Toronto found themselves down by 24 points and getting a first-hand lesson in why the Celtics came into to the game with an NBA-best +12.2-point differential and in position to build on it as they led 88-71 to start the fourth.
The Raptors couldn’t mount even a hint of a push, and the game was largely in the books in the earliest moments of the fourth.
It was their worst effort in a season that has mostly been, not so bad and an improvement on how things looked after a concerning start.
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