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The Boston Celtics were coming off a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on the road just a night ago and they had previously beaten the Raptors at home last Saturday. When these sides met last Saturday, the Raptors lost the plot in the fourth quarter. This fixture failed to live up to its expectation, which considered by pundits to be a glimpse of the Playoffs before the game started. The absence of Kyrie Irving was felt significantly today. Terry Rozier, who was rested due to ankle concerns against the Bucks, returned to the starting line up, although his contribution was insignificant.
The Raptors, meanwhile, were coming off a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road, were determined to maintain their home record. They are currently matching their franchise home record for games won in the regular season, sitting currently at 32-7, with their record previously 32-9. They still have two homes game left in the regular season.
Here are the five talking points from the game:
#5 Boston's offensive failure
Tonight was definitely a night to forget for the Celtics. They came off short on all ends of the offensive side of the floor. They were barely connecting on jump shots and three's. The previous meeting, Boston was running the floor and penetrating the paint continuously. This time they failed miserably.
Jayson Tatum, the highly rated rookie came out empty although firing from all cylinders finishing the game with just eight points. A lot of pressure and hope is riding on Tatum to perform in the playoffs as Irving will be absent till the second round. Terry Rozier picked up only two points shooting only an FG% of 11.1% throughout the game.
The Celtics had only three players who scored points in double digits. Marcus Morris ended the night with 21 points on an efficient shooting of 50%. Al Horford and Greg Monroe contributed 16 and 17 points respectively with Monroe shooting at 57.1%. The Celtics were fouled plenty by the Raptors (28 free-throws as compared to 8 by Toronto) and sent to the line continuously but missing several chances for three-point plays.
The team maintained an 89.3% free throw completion rate.
#4 Raptors role players beastly performance
The Raptors also did not have huge success on the scoring front. They did take huge advantages of their opponents' errors. The bench and role players contributed to a not so great offensive night for the Raptors. Their bench alone scored 44 points with stand out performances from Delon Wright, Fred VanVleet, and Jack Poeltl.
Delon Wright had a night to remember. He was effective on both sides of the floor and contributed to the cause with a superb eight points, eight assists, 9 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. He was outstanding driving to the basket and taking on the Boston defense, which is one of the best in the NBA this season.
Fred VanVleet was effective from beyond the arc scoring thrice. He ended the game with 15 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds. Poeltl scored 9 points and his tiptoe lay in over Al Horford in the second quarter was the highlight of his evening.
Serge Ibaka had a brilliant fourth quarter. He dominated initially with his defensive display under the board with two blocks but ended the night with 15 points. He will be huge in the Playoffs for the Raptors and will be depending on his defensive displays if they want to go deep in the Playoffs.
#3 Butter Fingers Boston
It was evident when Boston lost the ball so many times in transition tonight. They gave the Raptors easy access to fast break transition points. They pushed the Raptors to foul trouble but still failed to capitalize on the three-point opportunities, credits to the Raptors defense for making sure they were minimized completely.
The Celtics gave away 16 turnovers, far higher than their season average of 13.9, leading to the Raptors offense capitalizing on their mistakes. They won as many offensive rebounds in comparison to the Raptors but still failed to capitalize on scoring points. The Raptors on the other hand, with Anunoby, were capturing the highlight reel with strong offensive rebounding and scoring without a dribble.
The Celtics were desperately missing their star point guard Irving in this fixture. They would probably hope for a speedy recovery as Terry Rozier was also completely shut off in the offensive end by Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka. This was a shadow of the second best NBA defense in the league.
#4 Raptors holding the fort
In the first quarter, the penetration into the paint started by Boston. It was held as a unit by the Raptors' defense. Within the first few minutes, Ibaka raised the bar on defense set by the team. Rozier drove into the paint to lay it in, it was blocked very effectively by Ibaka.
DeRozan and Lowry also contributed with blocks, recording one each. The Raptors were effective on offensive and defensive rebounding. They secured and scored with every chance. They made a couple of good fouls to stop the Celtics from driving into the paint sending them to the free throw line. Al Horford was a victim of their good fouls missing easy chances to gain favorable three-point plays.
#1 DeRozan and Lowry's subpar performances
Last playoffs, DeRozan and Lowry failed from beyond the arc. They failed to be clutch and consistent with what they do best. This season, there's been a dip in DeRozan's recent form is evident, especially missing a few easy chances in today's game. He made 17 attempts in total, in that only making 6 of them and ending the game with only 16 points. He has not been shooting well from beyond the arc this season shooting below 30% but today made 3 three-pointers out of the four attempted. A positive sign before the Playoffs.
Kyle Lowry was very good defensively. He took responsibility for rotating the ball on the offensive end of the court. His shooting percentage was much better than DeRozan today with 45% but needs to improve if they are to go deep in the playoffs.
Guess the Lakers players!
