 | Toronto | 104 | Final Box Score | 109 | Boston |  |
 C | D. Carroll38 MIN, 6 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 2-8 FG, 2-6 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -2 +/- Carroll had a really rough night in that he got outplayed, consistently, by Crowder. Just didn’t do much, and the team really needed more from him with DeRozan out. | |
 C | P. Patterson21 MIN, 10 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 3-6 FG, 1-4 3FG, 3-5 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 3 +/- Pat had some really good stretches in the first half, and was a big part of the Raptors building their first half lead, but he couldn’t grab rebounds late, when the team kept giving up offensive boards to the Celtics, and he missed some big 3s late that could’ve been the difference. | |
 B+ | J. Valanciunas12 MIN, 3 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 1-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 1-2 FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, -10 +/- Can’t fault him at all for the fouls that kept his minutes down, and he really was pretty good when he was on the floor. Phantom fouls kept him from playing more on a night the team could’ve used him out there. | |
 A+ | K. Lowry38 MIN, 32 PTS, 2 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL, 12-20 FG, 4-11 3FG, 4-6 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, -2 +/- He had to be exhausted by the end of this one, and Kyle tried his best to keep the Raptors in this one. Incredible offensive performance from him, and unfortunately the team just couldn’t deliver the support he needed. | |
 B- | N. Powell32 MIN, 12 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 6-9 FG, 0-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 4 TO, 0 +/- There was a lot of good from Norm tonight – scored pretty efficiently, and was solid defensively most of the game. On the negative side though, he continues to be cold from 3pt range and when put on Isaiah Thomas late he struggled mightily, as IT seemed to get whatever he wanted against Norm. | |
 B | L. Nogueira28 MIN, 10 PTS, 5 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 3-4 FG, 0-1 3FG, 4-4 FT, 4 BLK, 1 TO, 7 +/- Solid night overall from Bebe, and he was the only one getting boards late. Had some nice blocked shots, and was probably the team’s second best player after Lowry. | |
 C | C. Joseph23 MIN, 8 PTS, 1 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 4-10 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-1 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -9 +/- CoJo created some offense in the first half, helped the team go on their big second quarter run, but he was brutal defensively once again, as he has been for a while. | |
 D- | T. Ross23 MIN, 6 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 3-10 FG, 0-4 3FG, 0-2 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 0 +/- Might’ve been Ross’ worst game of the season. The only positives were a dunk in the halfcourt and a fastbreak give and go with Bebe, but he missed a lot of wide open shots, blew defensive rotations, and just generally looked out of place. Simply put, he must be better. | |
 B | J. Sullinger16 MIN, 13 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 5-8 FG, 1-3 3FG, 2-5 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -8 +/- Sully gave the team good first half minutes, and looked like he was on his way to a big game early with some nice first half play. Struggled defensively though, as he continues to look not quite in game shape yet. | |
 B+ | J. Poeltl9 MIN, 4 PTS, 4 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 2-2 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -4 +/- In the first half minutes he got due to foul trouble, I thought Poeltl was really good for the Raptors. Worked hard on both ends, and he’s a cerebral player who sees the floor well. | |
 C- | Dwane Casey Can’t really fault him for this one overall, because I don’t expect him to go out on the floor and guard Isaiah Thomas himself, but the rotation wasn’t great. Waited too long in the fourth quarter to go back to Pat and Bebe, and left Ross in way too long when he clearly didn’t have it tonight. | |
Things We Saw
- Isaiah Thomas is really, really good. Just took over the game in the fourth, and maybe it was the back-to-back, or DeRozan’s absence, or both, but Lowry just ran out of steam at the end of the game and couldn’t match Thomas’ performance.
- The defense continues to be where the Raptors problems begin. They gave up another big scoring night to an opposing point guard, and at some point these problems have to be considered more than just outlying struggles, and maybe they’re indicative instead of a team that overperformed on that end of the floor early in the season.
- This one hurts a little bit more than most recent losses, because it gives the Celtics a 1.5 game lead in the Atlantic division and probably gives Brad Stevens the role of coaching the Eastern Conference All-Stars.
