Quick Reaction: Celtics 91, Raptors 105

Kyle Lowry has a few words for your suggestion he needs rest.


Boston91Final
Recap | Box Score
105Toronto
L. Scola 21 MIN | 7-12 FG | 3-5 3FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 17 PTS | +1 +/-

He outscored the Celtics in the first quarter, dropping 17 points (!!) with a mix of threes, old-man post moves, and a transition dunk. MOOD:

B. Biyombo 24 MIN | 1-4 FG | 0-0 3FG | 2-2 FT | 11 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | +5 +/-

You can’t have a career-best night every time out. He was still quote solid, and while his finishing fell on the poor side of the ledger, he was great on the glass and helped discourage Boston penetration. The Celtics went to Bang-a-Biz at the end of the 2nd and he hit both.

K. Lowry 37 MIN | 9-14 FG | 5-8 3FG | 9-14 FT | 4 REB | 5 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | 32 PTS | +19 +/-

The typical Lowry night: Dominant. He was great throughout but really picked it up in the fourth, single-handedly killing any hope the Celtics had left after closing the lead to five entering the final frame. Pull-up threes, causing havoc off the bounce, getting sneaky in passing lanes. A full Lowry game.

D. DeRozan 32 MIN | 6-14 FG | 1-2 3FG | 2-2 FT | 7 REB | 6 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 15 PTS | +3 +/-

Liked that he cracked down on the defensive glass to help the bigs and looked to distribute, particularly early. Shot wasn’t falling and he took the tough looks Bradley wanted to give him. Wasn’t terrible defensively beyond the odd back cut, but wasn’t especially good like Thursday, either. It was fine. I’m choosing to look at the assists as encouraging for how he’d handle a more swarming playoff opponent.

N. Powell 22 MIN | 3-5 FG | 2-3 3FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 10 PTS | -4 +/-

Really nice energy defensively and moved seamlessly between three different defensive assignments. That versatility could eventually be huge, almost as big as the ability from long-range he’s been showing. They’re small samples early on and recent, but his jumper looks more compact and fluid than in his senior year at UCLA, and he’s put on some masterful shooting performances in practice/shootaround. Continues to impress.

P. Patterson 20 MIN | 3-5 FG | 1-2 3FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 7 PTS | +15 +/-

Left the game early with a foot contusion after trying to play through it for a bit, and hopefully it was just a precaution with a big lead. the entire bench unit was awesome defensively, and he continued to show he’s a trustworthy option against strechier bigs. His rebounding is the issue in those scenarios, but if he defends like this, the team can find ways to work around it (like the guards cracking back).

J. Thompson 24 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-2 3FG | 3-3 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 5 PTS | +10 +/-

There’s no better word for him than “solid.” Quality minutes at the four and five, even as he’s still learning the playbook, and he covers a ton of ground on defense (he’s still learning exactly where to be). Missed his threes but both were ones he more or less had to take.

B. Caboclo 2 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 3FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | -4 +/-

He got into a game!! He made a swing pass when iced to the top to get Thompson one of his looks. It was like 90 seconds, what do you want me to say?

T. Ross 25 MIN | 4-10 FG | 1-5 3FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 9 PTS | +16 +/-

Another decent, if unspectacular game for Ross, who didn’t have his 3-point shot going but put the ball on the floor a little bit and helped make switching across a few defensive positions manageable. Eventually, he’s going to realize he can actually get to the free-throw line by going to the rim instead of pulling up from there.

L. Nogueira 7 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 3FG | 0-2 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PTS | -5 +/-

A few shaky moments, typical of Bebe, but for a seven-minute re-audition, it was fine. Blocked a couple of shots, hit the offensive glass, finished a dump-off. He missed an opportunity for another easy dunk. It’s a small sample again, but it was fine.

D. Wright 2 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 3FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | -4 +/-

It was 90 seconds and he didn’t really get to do much.

C. Joseph 26 MIN | 2-8 FG | 0-1 3FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 4 PTS | +13 +/-

His streak of shooting below 50 percent in games reaches nine, and it’s beginning to become a bit of a concern. I’d point to fatigue, but he’s still playing really well on defense, so I’m not sure that’s even the answer.

Dwane Casey

The Raptors came out a house afire, and when they started to slip, he began tinkering. Went to Nogueira early for a spark, tried Thompson out at the four, kept DeRozan to just 32 minutes (37 for Lowry). There wasn’t really a need for much high-level chess given the flow of the game, so there’s no telling what the Casey-Stevens matchup may look like (you might have a guess). Casey gets the bump because there’s not really anyone else to give credit to for a team turning in three good games in four nights.

Five Things We Saw

  1. Can the Raptors play defense like they played in the first and fourth all the time? It’d probably be exhausting, but damn, they were everywhere. Jumping passing lanes, closing out on shooters, icing the sides well. No idea what happened in the middle quarters.
  2. The Raptors just played four games in five nights, two of them on the road, three of them against likely East playoff teams, and went 3-1. The Chicago loss still stings, but the Raptors have won 6 of 7 against a “test” part of the schedule and are now 47-21 (!!!).
  3. Sadly, Cleveland won on Friday, so the gap remains two games from the No. 1 seed. That’s not all that important, especially given who may finish 7/8, but if it’s a goal, Cleveland continues to hold serve. Meanwhile, the Raptors have a 7.5-game cushion over third.
  4. Not saying it’s necessary, given how little we know about the non-minutes part of the workloads, but if someone sits Sunday, they’d have four days off, at home. Sounds nice, right? Maybe Lowry wants to binge Daredevil and asks to sit.
  5. This team is really good. And pretty consistent. And is back to doing it on both ends. This is fun. Have a great weekend.