The Celtics led for much of this game and though a Raptors’ come-from-behind victory seemed within reach, the former ultimately put their stamp on this game in clutch time, winning 121-113.
When asked about the Celtics moving up to third place in the East, head coach Joe Mazulla said frankly, “It doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t show you anything. There’s ebbs and flows along the way.” He said his team has a strong identity and that “the season presents opportunities and challenges and tests to [see] how long you can stay the best version of yourself and when you don’t, how quickly can you get back.”
If the Raptors are in the second test of this season, they’ve squeaked only one win against the Blazers. They took the Lakers down to the wire and lost, and got destroyed by the lowly Hornets (after losing to them before). Yesterday, the Raptors lost convincingly against the Celtics, but there’s a lot to reflect on in Mazulla’s response. Who are the Raptors? And will they be steadfast in their identity when there’s variability, noise and randomness? The Raps’ identity is continuing to be tested, and, like Mazulla, Rajakovic too is process-oriented, referring to things “trending upwards” after the game.
But how the hell are things trending upwards, you might say. There were certainly ugly parts – the Celtics picked on IQ and Poeltl, the Raps had an open-door policy in the first half, allowing easy paint touches, and the Celtics once built a 23-point lead.
In the first quarter, Derrick White came into the paint and did whatever he wanted. Anfernee Simons, too, took Scottie off the dribble and scored inside. Those easy paint touches continued into the second. Raptor killer Payton Pritchard touched the paint and found Gonzalez in the corner for an easy 3. Pritchard continued attacking and scoring inside – most embarrassingly, as he parted the A.J. Lawson and Ja’Kobe Walter sea with ease, scoring in transition after Walter missed his 3-pointer. A much-needed timeout was called, but Sam Hauser, who made three 3s during the game, cashed a triple off a wide pindown by Neemias Queta. Lawson got clipped on the screen and rearview contested, but it wasn’t enough.
So, Scottie took on all of Bawston by himself. He bullied Josh Minott, putting his ass on the floor and stared at him. He scored on him again, and then he flexed his biceps. When picking on Minott got boring, Scottie bodied Jordan Walsh. And when Scottie overhelped on defence and gave Hugo Gonzalez too much space to splash a triple, the former demanded and got the ball, attacked the basket, and found IQ. Scottie also had a nice drive-and-kick to Mamu for a 3.
In a poor first half, Scottie’s reliable two-way game and BI being able to make tough Kobe-esque shots may have been the only positives, but the second half was a different story.
After halftime, the Raptors showed a glimpse of how things might be “trending upwards.” Pritchard hit a 3 to cap off a 8-0 run, but that’s when the Raptors decided to fight back – and IQ, who had been picked on defensively, sparked the charge. He pushed the pace, hit a floater, drew a foul on a pull-up transition 3, and made a lay-up. Down 91-79, Rajakovic subbed in Shead, Mamu, and CMB. BI remained the fulcrum of the offense – finishing a give-and-go with a nice scoop after getting the ball back from CMB from the corner. BI had a great pass out of the post to Agbaji for a weakside corner 3 that forced a Celtics timeout. Then, Shead hit a triple and Ingram had a ‘Jaylen, I can do step-backs better than you’ mid-range jumper to inch within five points.
But like Mazulla’s post-game demeanour, the Celtics remained methodical and unfazed. In clutch time, Scottie bullied Pritchard from the top of the arc and scored, but in the ensuing offensive possession, BI missed and Mamu got pushed into the baseline after fighting down low. That created a 5-on-4 advantage with the Raptor killer wide open for a transition 3. Splash! like a giant piece of toxic trash thrown into Lake Ontario. Then, White made a tough 3. The Celtics’ six-point lead quickly turned into nine.
When Scottie and Shead doubled White and forced a turnover at half-court, Mamu had a two-handed dunk on White (and drew the foul) that may soon grace the walls of young Georgian hoopers. The turnover was a flashback to the Raptors’ ball pressure that made the pre-season Celtics look like a high school team, but, unfortunately for us, history did not repeat itself. Baylor Scheierman wasn’t handling tha ball, though he did get playing time. With a minute left, BI splashed a 3 to inch within six points, but it was a little too late.
As Will Lou alluded to on Hello and Welcome, if the Raps are focused on winning now, showing up and fighting only in certain parts of the game isn’t “trending upwards.” But how we will look back on this second test will largely depend on whether the Raptors win against the Knicks in the NBA Cup quarter-finals tomorrow – and how they’lll perform in it.
