Lingchi. Death by 1,000 cuts.
That was the way the Toronto Raptors handled the Boston Celtics on Friday to earn their 113-103 victory at TD Garden. A game that started out even – and ugly – early turned heavily in the Raptors’ favor as the second half opened, as the shot-making and foul-drawing abilities of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan became too much for even the stout Celtics perimeter defense to handle. Making matters worse, when guys like Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley were able to contain Lowry and DeRozan, guys like DeMarre Carroll and Patrick Patterson wreaked havoc as spot-up shooters and off-ball cutters.
While the game was still close in the first quarter, DeRozan and Patterson foreshadowed what the night was going to be like for the Celtics. DeRozan brought the ball up the floor and eventually dished to Patterson, who missed the corner attempt. But the bounce, as it often did Friday, went DeRozan’s way, and Patterson was left unimpeded on a smart cut to the basket as DeRozan corralled the rebound. A decent initial stop for Boston ended with hands on heads, having surrendered an easy two points.
Check out the fan-made highlight of the dunk on Grandstand here.
Patterson finished the game with eight points in 24 minutes. Carroll functioned similarly and even more effectively, capitalizing on open looks when the defense refused to stretch and breaking free with savvy cuts when they played him tight (he finished with 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting.)
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