Boston Celtics put on defensive clinic vs. Toronto Raptors, say restart effort was ‘unacceptable for us’

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2020/08/boston-celtics-put-on-defensive-clinic-vs-toronto-raptors-say-restart-effort-was-unacceptable-for-us.html



Boston Celtics put on defensive clinic vs. Toronto Raptors, say restart effort was ‘unacceptable for us’



Updated Aug 08, 2020; Posted Aug 08, 2020




Boston Celtics' Marcus Smart, right, looks for a teammate to pass the ball during a scramble with Toronto Raptors' Fred VanVleet during the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Aug. 7, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, Pool)AP



By John Karalis | JKaralis@masslive.com



The Boston Celtics scored only 21 points in the first quarter, which is a little low in general, but especially low in the bubble where points have come in bunches.

The Toronto Raptors didn’t score their 21st point until four minutes into the second quarter.

Boston’s defense was stifling right away, and it stayed that way until Nick Nurse tapped out after the lead grew to 30 in the third quarter.


“I think the biggest thing is that we were ready to play,” Brad Stevens said after what was ultimately a 22 point win. “I thought, Wednesday we really guarded, for the most part, the way we wanted to start guarding and I thought that continued today. We have to be locked in, we have to be dialed in, we have to be good defensively to have a chance to be a good team. I don’t think it’s a surprise that your offense follows that when you are dialed in like that.”


The Celtics offense looked sublime, giving Celtics fans a taste of what this team is truly capable of doing when it puts forth a complete effort. And the problem had simply been that.

Effort.

All it took was a little embarrassment to shake it out of them.

“I saw something, we were like the last team or one of the last teams in defense in the bubble,” Jayson Tatum said. The Celtics defense bottomed out as the second-worst of the restart prior to their game against the Brooklyn Nets.”That’s just kind of unacceptable for us with the elite defenders we have on this team and just collectively, our identity, who we want to be. We have to take more pride in that. I think today was a good step in the right direction, but we’ve got to continue to get back to who we are and guard how we normally do.”


The Celtics had strong individual efforts, especially in the first half where they frustrated the Raptors with their stifling defense. Jaylen Brown handled Pascal Siakam in the post, taking away his signature spin move and holding him to 2-for-9 shooting and 2 turnovers before halftime. Marcus Smart hounded Fred VanVleet, holding him to 3-for-10 from the field. Sure, Toronto missed some open looks, but sometimes that’s how it goes when a team has to work extra hard for open looks.

“I think the last two games we were definitely better on the defensive end,” Daniel Theis said. “But today was just one game. It’s probably not the Toronto team we want to see in the playoffs, in case we’re going to play them again in the second round.”


The Celtics stopped the ball in transition. They rotated in concert with one another. They forced 18 turnovers and scored 26 points off those Raptors miscues. And while the Celtics are right about this not being the Raptors team they’ll see if they face off again, the Celtics can still be this Celtics team. That doesn’t have to change.

“We started from the first second we played defense, we didn’t give up any easy layups, any open looks,” Theis said. “That’s the way we have to play every game.”


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