It was something out of a high school sports movie script: team puts up a fight, but gets blown out by the end of the first half. Team heads to the locker room, coach shouts motivational platitudes, and then the team gets it together and pulls off a spirited come-from-behind victory.
But last night, that was real life at Scotiabank Arena as the Toronto Raptors eked out a 107-105 dramatic comeback victory against the Boston Celtics. For Raptors fans who tuned into the third quarter, they could be forgiven for writing this game off – no starters were playing and it seemed like it was going to end in a blowout.
But, the Raptors kept fighting in the third quarter. Chucky Hepburn hit a triple at the buzzer, which made it a 10-point game right before the final 12 minutes. The Raptors had possession of the ball because Boston’s Neemias Queta set an illegal screen earlier on Hepburn, causing one of Boston’s 11 third quarter turnovers. The camera caught Boston’s expressionless head coach Joe Mazzulla shaking his head. For the Celtics, it was a harbinger for more to come.
Boston had 10 turnovers in the final frame – 21 of their total 28 turnovers came in the second half. Toronto converted them to 36 points, most notably in the fourth quarter. The Raptors gave the fans inside Scotiabank Arena the excitement of a high-stakes regular season game.
Though their fourth quarter ball pressure turned the game around, sober second thought requires fans to re-think whether it was exemplary ball pressure or simply Boston reacting terribly against it (nota bene: Anfernee Simons and Baylor Scheierman).
Even with 3:45 left in the game, Boston had a 14-point leda, but the last player to sign on the Raptors training camp roster made his presence known: Jared Rhoden.
Boston crumbled late in the game. They looked like a high school team that couldn’t break the press. Rhoden robbed Scheierman in the paint and scored a bucket. Then, Jonathan Mogbo and Rhoden trapped Amari Williams in the backcourt, the Raptors gained possession, leading to a David Roddy triple.
When Boston got past half, they couldn’t keep possession. Rhoden’s closeout forced Kendall Brown to turn the ball over. Hepburn chipped in with another triple and his POA defence on Scheierman led to a steal and trip to the free throw line.
Rhoden continued to make his name known as he got another steal at half court after he turned the ball over for travelling.
All this paved the way for Mogbo’s stal and dramatic finish off a SLOB play at the end.
Chris Boucher’s Return
The last member of the 2019 championship roster returned to Scotiabank Arena last night with Wayne Gretzky’s number. The last time he played in Toronto was, coincidentally, against Boston on February 25th, 2025. Boucher had a team-high 19-point campaign, one which started with a fall-away mid-range jumper over CMB. He had back-to-back 3s in the second quarter.
Some Player Notes
Gradey Dick wasn’t a part of the late-game heroics, but he had a game-high 22 points on a stellar two-way performance. He put pressure on the rim and made Boucher a victim of his beautiful up-and-under move. He was the recipient of two hit-ahead passes in the third quarter, both a result of the defence fuelling the offence. The latter was beautiful transition reverse lay-up. Dick’s ball pressure also forced a Simons turnover.
Mogbo‘s offense looked solid. After setting a DHO in the first quarter, he dove and and looked like he was about to dunk the ball, but then adjusted mid-air and scored a lay-up over Xavier Tillman. He had a near-impeccable defensive performance, stealing or contributing to the steals that helped fuel his team’s 18-2 run at the end of the game.
Raptors were throwing a lot of hit-ahead passes. Hepburn had one to Dick in the first quarter; Jamal Shead to Alijah Martin in the second; and two out to Dick in the third.
