Quick Reaction: Celtics 105, Raptors 96

A quality bounce back after a four-point outing against the Utah Jazz. You’re going to get showings like that every so often, and Raptors fans will have to stomach that. But they’ll be far less frequent than they were in the Big Apple, and that’s a plus. Barrett came out of the gates swinging and didn’t let up. 10 of his 11 makes were in the paint area, as Barrett got whatever he wanted with his left hand, powering through, and connecting at the rim.

Defensively, Pascal Siakam’s efforts weren’t in question, as was the case for a good chunk of his teammates. After shooting 10-of-14 from 3-point range over his last three outings, Siakam put up a giant goose egg from deep which spread like wildfire through the rest of the roster. Good shots were generated, but the basketball Gods had other plans after Siakam went nine games in a row shooting better than 54 percent.

Starting Jontay Porter was a necessity to combat the Horford-Porzingis frontcourt, but it was also well-deserved with his recent play. However, staying on the court proved difficult because of foul trouble, including a fourth which occurred just 10 seconds into the third quarter. Porter gets a slight uptick for the two-man game he ran with Barrett that resulted in a sweet dime from the big man.

The eye test shows that Scottie Barnes is still trying to find a balance of when to be aggressive on offense and when to defer to his new teammates. Mentally, Barnes wants to be the Magic Johnson-esque playmaker who can impact games without dropping massive scoring totals, but in games like this, the Raptors needed him to take over more. Having the same amount of shot attempts as Jalen McDaniels at halftime simply can’t happen.

The Raptors function far greater when Immanuel Quickley dictates tempo on offense. They weren’t a constant, but Quickley had moments where he took an elite defender in Jrue Holiday off the dribble and went right to the bucket for two, which is a lot easier to type than to actually complete. He only had five points in the second half after dropping 16 through two quarters. It was a disappearing act at an inopportune time, but with Holiday in your face, at least it can be justified.

The Celtics made several of their key runs with Dennis Schroder on the floor for Toronto, evident by his team-worst plus-minus rating. His 13 points carried the second unit on that front, yet Schroder’s defense didn’t live up to the standard set by several of his fellow Raptors on this night. It certainly wasn’t the reason Toronto fell, but it absolutely didn’t help.

Jalen McDaniels contributed one of Toronto’s four made 3-pointers, and that’s about as eventful as his evening got.

The Raptors’ DNP All-Star, once glued to the bench before getting the call for substantial minutes, delivered the goods in the PT he had. Young did everything asked of him other than put the ball in the cylinder, including picking the pocket of both Jayson Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis. The veteran was one of two Raptors with a positive plus-minus and deserves his flowers for another quality performance as of late.

Boucher’s shot would have blended in perfectly standing outside of Scotiabank Arena because it was ice cold. Baskets have been few and far between since he went a perfect 7-of-7 against the Golden State Warriors, but a lot of that falls on shot selection and forcing attempts with defenders draped all over him. Toronto needs more from him on both ends with Jakob Poeltl out.

There was simply no response to the Celtics torching Toronto from the perimeter to the degree they did. Certain players likely got more run due to a lack of size in the middle (*cough* Boucher *cough*), but the Raptors did bring their work shoes on the defensive end and should be commended for that, albeit against a Jaylen Brown-less opponent.