The Boston Celtics traveled across the border to the Scotiabank Arena Saturday night to take on the third-placed Toronto Raptors. The lead see-sawed throughout the first three quarters, but Boston rolled the Raptors in the fourth to take a big win, 112-96. Pritchard led the way on the road with 33 points, 10 assists and 8 boards as Boston move to 17 wins on the season.
Jaylen Brown was not available for the visiting Celtics due to illness, whilst RJ Barrett and Jakob Poeltl were also ruled out for the home side. Sam Hauser got the starting nod for Boston alongside White, Pritchard, Queta, and Walsh.
Neemias Queta scored the first points of the game with a soft floater in the key off a dive and dish from Pritchard. Pritchard nailed a deep straight-on triple with his first shot of the night. Payton had the ball in his hands to create for the team on the first three plays of the night with JB out.
Former Pelican Brandon Ingram drilled a tough corner three, and Mamukelashvili hit his first three-pointer of the game to take an early 11-5 lead. Pritchard found Queta rolling to the key to convert on a layup as the Portuguese big man had 5 early points.
Pritchard danced with the ball outside the three-point line before taking Mamukelashvili inside and hitting a step-back foul-line pull-up jumper over the Raptor big man. Boston wasn’t providing much resistance at the other end, as the Raps had seven makes early and a 3-point lead.
Mazzulla made wholesale changes to the lineup at the 5-minute mark as Garza, Simons, Gonzalez, and Minott joined Payton Pritchard to close out the first quarter. Garza converted 2 free throws for Boston in his first significant game-time action since the December 5th clash against the Wizards. Garza followed up, scoring 4 strong points in the paint for Boston as the bench crew took a 5-point lead.
The energy shifted in Boston’s favor; the road C’s reeled off 16 straight points to end the quarter up by 12 points, 32-20. Garza and Gonzalez are providing the spark off the bench, with Garza battling on the interior and the Spanish rookie picking up Raptors in full-court pressure.
Luka Garza recorded 5 offensive boards in the first quarter alone as Joe Mazzulla rolled with the former T-Wolf to start the second quarter. The start of the second quarter was less fluid for both teams, and Boston logged its sixth turnover of the night to Toronto’s four. The Raptors were shooting just 32 percent from the field, highlighted by a poor 5-19 from three with 8 minutes left in the quarter.
Gonzalez picked up three fouls midway through the second and had to take a seat as Toronto started to chip away at the Boston advantage to just 8 points, 41-33, with 5 minutes to go in the half. Sam Hauser’s first three-pointer came at the 2-minute mark, as Boston held a shaky 6-point lead.
Queta was whistled for a Flagrant Foul 1 on Scottie Barnes after the Raptor wing sold a pump fake and got clocked for his efforts under the basket. Barnes came alive after the foul and dunked the ball for his fifth point of the game.
Immanuel Quickley drained a triple at the top of the key as the home team completed the comeback and finally took back the lead. Boston was outscored 31-17 in the second quarter, its lowest total of the season. With Jaylen Brown out of the clash, the Celtics went scoreless for the final 2 and a half minutes of the half.
Pritchard got to work to start the third, draining a three-point pull-up and getting into the lane; the guard had 13 points and counting to start the third quarter. Mamukelashvili and Ingram hit back-to-back triples to answer.
A between-the-legs, step-back corner three-pointer for Pritchard saw the sixth lead change of the night. Anfernee Simons hit a tough shot over rookie Murray-Boyles, his 11th point.
Baylor Scheierman saw his first court time of the game late in the third quarter as Mazzulla was searching for a spark to lift the C’s in the SEGABABA. Grady Dick converted on an up-and-under layup as Toronto once again retook the lead. Boston was led by Pritchard, who had 19 points in the quarter. Payton was stuffing the stat sheet for Boston in the third; he logged his ninth assist, sixth rebound, and a team-high 27 points as Boston battled back to lead 83-80.
Boston had 42 points in the paint to start the 4th quarter; Toronto had just 26 points. The Celtics also were out rebounding the home team, 48-40, at the start of the final stanza. Anfernee Simons hit 5 straight points to start the fourth quarter for the C’s.
Garza scored in the paint on a follow tip-in after a Simons’ drive attempt; Luka was probably having his best game of the season with a quarter to go. Derrick White’s third triple of the night over an outstretched Brandon Ingram gave the C’s a ten-point lead with nine minutes to go in the game.
Garza, Scheierman, Gonzalez, White, and Simons were super solid for Boston as Pritch got some much-needed rest for Boston. Derrick White started to have his way with Toronto and got the hoop and harm over Ja’Kobe Walter, his 14th point of the game.
Luka Garza recorded a staggering ninth offensive rebound of the game; his hustle was infectious for Boston on the road back-to-back. Garza and Queta both saw playing time as Mazzulla opted for a double big lineup in a huge stretch to try and close it out. That experiment didn’t last long though, as Mazzulla went back to Hauser and Gonzalez alongside White, Pritchard, and Queta.
19 year-old Spanish rook, stole the ball on the entry pass to Ingram, Hugo then dribbled past three Toronto flat footed defenders to sky for the loud two-handed jam. ¡Vamos! HUGO. Pritchard’s step back jumper called game on the contest as Boston had a 12-point lead with 2 minutes left in the game. The C’s would hold on to win bigtime on the road, missing the team’s best player in Jaylen Brown.
Boston next faces the Indiana Pacers at home on Monday night at 7:30pm in their final game before Christmas.
