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The Toronto Raptors visited the TD Garden to face the Boston Celtics in a battle between two of the Eastern Conference heavyweights.
The Celtics emerged victorious with a 117-108 scoreline after a 17-4 run with Kyrie Irving again closing out the deal for the Celtics.
The Celtics had lost three straight road games heading into this one and looked set for another loss after Leonard converted a three-point play to give Raptors a four-point lead. But the Celtics responded in the clutch moments and got a crucial win.
This was the third encounter of the year between the two teams with the Celtics winning on two occasions.
With the victory, the Celtics improve to a 26-18 record and are the fifth best team in the Eastern Conference. The Raptors drop to the second spot in the Eastern Conference with a 33-13 record.
Let's have a look at the hits and flops from this match:
Flop - Kyle Lowry
Kyle Lowry is an All-Star point guard running the show for the Raptors. But on this occasion, he failed to live up to the expectations. In a tantalizing point guard battle with Irving, Lowry did not deliver.
Lowry ended the match with just 10 points to go along with his 6 rebounds and 7 assists. His season average is around 15 points and 9.6 assists. He is one of the leaders in assists per game and has one of the best win shares this season.
But Lowry seemed off in this match. He only shot 3-10 from the field and 1-5 from the 3PT line. The Raptors struggled when Lowry missed matches while nursing an injury and he has been critical to their success this season. In a big match like this one, Lowry was outperformed by his matchup.
Hit - Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi Leonard has been one of the leading contenders for the MVP this season. He has led the Raptors to one of the best records in the NBA and they are the favorites to emerge out from the LeBron-less East.
Leonard was again putting on a show tonight. Leonard ended the match with 33 points and 4 steals. He was also very efficient from the field going 10-19 from the floor and 11-11 from the FT line.
Leonard was very aggressive in driving the basketball and made several great plays for the Raptors.
He put the team in a great situation to win but the Celtics made several clutch plays late in the fourth quarter to deny his team.
Leonard has been averaging 27.6 points per game on 50.4% shooting from the field for the season.
The Raptors are going to get great plays from Leonard and it will be interesting to see how deep they manage to go this season.
Flop - Jaylen Brown
Much was expected of Jaylen Brown after he guided the Celtics to the Eastern Conference finals in the absence of Irving and Hayward, making some terrific plays in the playoffs. But this year has been a struggle for Brown.
He is averaging 12 points per game for the season and has been inefficient from the field. He is shooting 44.8% from the floor, 65.7% from the FT line and 30% from the 3PT line.
Brown again failed to produce for the Celtics in this match. He finished the match with just 7 points on 2-9 shooting from the field and 2-4 shooting from the FT line in 22 minutes of action.
Brown's inconsistent displays have hurt the Celtics offence this season. He has failed to live up to the hype of the last season.
Hit - Kyrie Irving
Kyrie Irving is one of the biggest superstars in the NBA today. His clutch displays are as good as it can get.
Irving was again great in the clutch moments for the Celtics. He ended the game with career-high 18 assists. He also scored 27 points on a very efficient 11-19 shooting from the floor and slammed the door on the Raptors late in the fourth quarter.
Irving had 10 points and 6 assists in the fourth quarter alone. He set up the last three buckets for the Celtics which helped them get away from the Raptors.
Irving has been very vocal about the lack of experience in the team. He stepped up brilliantly and engaged his teammates in the critical junctures of this match.
Kyrie Irving has been averaging 23 points per game on 49% shooting from the field for the season. The Celtics will rely on every bit of magic from their superstar to contend in the East.
Guess the Lakers players!
