POST GAME TORONTO - AWAY

Celtics suffer blowout loss to Raptors, 111-91

NBC SPORTS BOSTON By A. Sherrod Blakely February 06, 2018 9:42 PM

It all seemed so familiar, except for the ending.

Boston fell behind early and faced a 21-point halftime deficit.

The runs that we've come to expect from the Boston Celtics never came, and the end result was an emphatic 111-91 loss to the Toronto Raptors.

Toronto (37-16) moves to within one game of the Celtics (39-16) for the best record in the Eastern Conference, in addition to evening up the head-to-head series at one game apiece.

Although Boston (39-16) has been one of the best road teams in the NBA this season, Toronto's success this season has been in large part because of their play at home.

In fact, Toronto came into the game with the best home record in the NBA (21-4).

Kyle Lowry led all scorers with 23 points along with eight rebounds and four assists, with DeMar DeRozan chipping in 15 points and six assists.

The Celtics were led by Terry Rozier’s 18 points to go with five rebounds and four assists.

Kyrie Irving, who returned to the lineup after missing three games with a right quadriceps injury, had 17 points and three assists.

The hole Boston found itself in only got deeper as the game wore on, with the Raptors getting strong contributions from just about every player who set foot on the court.

And there wasn’t any one particular area that set Toronto’s beat-down of Boston in motion.

More than anything else, it was a matter of the Raptors making all right decisions on offense and proper reads defensively.

And while the Celtics' effort has often been a major factor in their losses, this pummeling had nothing to do with effort.

Toronto played a better game, at both ends of the floor.

It was that simple.

A blowout did not seem to be on the horizon at the game’s outset, as both teams struggled to generate a ton of points.

The first quarter was a low-scoring affair, the kind of game that played more to Boston’s defensive-minded strengths.

Trailing Toronto 22-18 after the first, the Raptor’s second unit was what created the separation the Raptors needed in order to take control of the game.

Fred VanVleet and Delon Wright had combined for 21 of the 30 points scored by Toronto’s bench which was indeed the difference in the first half which ended with the Raptors holding a commanding 58-37 lead.

The third quarter was more of a stalemate by both teams, which was not good for the Celtics who failed to make up the kind of ground we’re so often used to seeing them cover quickly.

Boston’s 21-point deficit at the half wound up being slightly deeper going into the fourth quarter as the Raptors had a commanding 83-60 lead.
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Celtics Notes: Bad Loss To Raptors Highlights Boston’s Trade Deadline Need

NESN by Nicholas Goss on Tue, Feb 6, 2018 at 10:38PM

The NBA trade deadline is Thursday, and for the Boston Celtics to make a run to the 2018 NBA Finals, they need to add a quality scorer to their roster. The C’s were embarrassed Tuesday night in Toronto with a 111-91 loss to the Raptors. The Celtics had no answers for the Raptors’ hot shooting and deep, high-scoring bench. The Celtics have struggled offensively for most of the season.

Their offensive rating is just 104.6 (20th in the league), but they’ve been able to stay atop the Eastern Conference standings because of the league’s top defensive rating and several double-digit comeback wins. The C’s have one reliable scorer in Kyrie Irving, but when he’s not scoring at an efficient rate, Boston’s job becomes a lot tougher. Al Horford positively impacts the game in a lot of areas, but he’s not a volume scorer. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have shown flashes of offensive excellence, but it’s unwise for a top contender to depend on first- and second-year players to be focal points of the offense.

The bench has been hit or miss all season. The Celtics are one of just three teams currently in a playoff spot in the East that doesn’t have two players averaging at least 15 points per game.

The main goal for the Celtics before Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline is to acquire a scorer, preferably someone who can come off the bench and create his own offense by attacking the basket and/or consistently knocking down 3-point shots. Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams is the ideal target, but he won’t be acquired for cheap.

Williams is scoring 23.3 points with 5.3 assists per game this season, and he’s shooting 38 percent on 3-point shots and 90 percent on free throws. Memphis Grizzlies guard

Tyreke Evans is another good trade target for Boston. He’s averaging 19.5 points per game and shooting 39.2 percent from beyond the arc, but he hasn’t shown the consistency offensively throughout his career that Williams has. The Celtics are an elite defensive team and their rebounding will improve when veteran center

Greg Monroe is signed. The area that president of basketball operations Danny Ainge must address is offense, and with a plethora of draft picks and young players to trade, he has the assets to pull off a deal that gives the C’s a great chance to win the East. And with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers looking like a severely weakened opponent, why shouldn’t the Celtics be aggressive at the trade deadline?

Here are some other notes from Celtics-Raptors. — Toronto has won five straight games at home against Boston, including nine wins in its last 10 versus the Celtics at Air Canada Centre. The Raptors now are just one game behind the Celtics for the No. 1 seed in the East. Toronto is 22-4 at home this season, so homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs could be a huge factor for them in May. This is why it’s important for the Celtics to finish ahead of the Raptors in the standings to make sure a potential Game 7 in a playoff series is played at TD Garden and not the ACC. — The Raptors bench was the difference Tuesday. The unit scored 59 points, led by C.J. Miles pouring in 20. The Celtics bench scored 51 points, but a lot of those points came in garbage time because Brad Stevens didn’t play his starters in the fourth quarter. Toronto’s reserves were key to its second-quarter run that blew the game open. — Speaking of that second quarter, Toronto outscored Boston 36-19 in the frame, tying the most points the C’s have give up in a single quarter all season. The Raptors shot 5-for-8 from 3-point land, out-rebounded the C’s 10-13 and outscored them 14-6 in the paint during the second quarter.
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112288

The edge Toronto has over Boston is one big reason why we need Marcus Smart.  He never gets pushed around.

Last year The Celtics did not have to play them in the playoffs.

I would like to see a matchup this year.  

Dboss

I want to say this was ugly, but I don't have anything against ugly and don't want to insult it.

Rozier played well. Kyrie played well, just not all the way through. Baynes had 8 rebounds, 3 offensive and played Valanciunas even up. I suppose we should call that a win.

Horford stunk. Tatum stunk (2-9 and 1 rebound). Brown started off hot and then disappeared. Morris was rusty (4-13). I'm being nice and blaming it on rust. Semi stunk going 0-4 and committing dumb defensive plays.

Our perimeter defense was slow. They were getting open looks and hit 47% from 3, and they took 36 of them. 80 fgas and almost half were 3s. What's worse is that they shot 50% (40-80) on the game which means they shot 52% from 2. Give up the 3s or the 2s but not both!

Their bench scored 59 points. Our starters scored 40.

A couple of days to lick our self-inflicted wounds and get ready for Washington and, perhaps, Moose Monroe.

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400975544



bob



.

The Gem Show has stopped me from watching much. too bad I caught the second half. LOL Not much to say except this is not the Celtics team going forward. Things are about to change. It's all about the upgrade.

bobheckler wrote:I want to say this was ugly, but I don't have anything against ugly and don't want to insult it.

bob
.

Can't say it any better than that.

This was only one game of eighty two. We will be different the next time.

Yes, only one game, but it was a really bad one game.

DBOSS is one million percent correct in mentioning that the Cs do not get pushed around (like last night) when Marcus Smart is on the court. He may not shoot well enough for many folks, but he is literally our defensive leader in many, many ways as he forces his teammates to play harder, braver and better.

Ainge can probably get a draft pick for Smart if that is his want, but our defense clearly takes a huge hit without him. This is not something that a team with the best record in the east should be looking for, in my opinion.

After last night's game, the race for the #1 seed just got a lot tighter.

The Raptors are now tied with Boston in the loss column.  While this is just one game, one loss that can be absorbed into a long season, it further illustrates the problems that the Celtics have when going up against the Raptors.  This is not a new issue.  Over the past 10 games against Toronto, Boston is 3-7.  Their record at Toronto is 1-9.  They have dropped 6 straight on the road to them.  The Celtics last win on the road was almost 3 years ago in April 2015 where they pulled off an OT win 117-116.

Every team has a nemesis and the Raptors are  the Celtics nemesis in the East.  

The Celtics should still win the East because Toronto, while posting the best home record in the NBA at 22-4, is just 3 games on the plus side on the road at 15-12.  Last year the Celtics avoided the Raptors because they won the East.  With 30 games remaining, Boston has a great opportunity to secure the #1 seed which will give them home court advantage in the playoffs (East)

The Celtics have 30 games to integrate Monroe into their schemes.  The Celtics should not trade Marcus Smart unless a deal is so good it cannot be refused.  That deal is not likely to happen and Boston will need Smart who may be their x-factor.  

The Celtics have not figured out how to  consistently beat the Raptors but that day of reckoning cannot be ignored.

Raptors played harder than us, their home court was a big factor. Jaylens fg% was great, he just didn’t attack enough, as did the whole team. Takes a while for young team to learn to win on the road against the best competition, their fans were really loud.

I don't think it's exactly panic time, but to dboss's point, people are waking up to how good Toronto is, and the fact that the East isn't a runaway.

ESPN polling now makes Toronto odds-on-favorites to win the East, with Boston and Cleveland tied behind them.

By itself, that doesn't mean a thing. But, it's one more indication that The Raptors are getting noticed for their competitive standing.

I believe dboss has a good point that Boston needs to start thinking about their strategy for Toronto, if they haven't already.

NYCelt wrote:I don't think it's exactly panic time, but to dboss's point, people are waking up to how good Toronto is, and the fact that the East isn't a runaway.

ESPN polling now makes Toronto odds-on-favorites to win the East, with Boston and Cleveland tied behind them.

By itself, that doesn't mean a thing. But, it's one more indication that The Raptors are getting noticed for their competitive standing.

I believe dboss has a good point that Boston needs to start thinking about their strategy for Toronto, if they haven't already.

NY

Is the ESPN Poll > pre or post Monroe?

112288

112288 wrote:

NYCelt wrote:I don't think it's exactly panic time, but to dboss's point, people are waking up to how good Toronto is, and the fact that the East isn't a runaway.

ESPN polling now makes Toronto odds-on-favorites to win the East, with Boston and Cleveland tied behind them.

By itself, that doesn't mean a thing. But, it's one more indication that The Raptors are getting noticed for their competitive standing.

I believe dboss has a good point that Boston needs to start thinking about their strategy for Toronto, if they haven't already.

NY

Is the ESPN Poll >  pre or post Monroe?

112288

Post Monroe, and post Toronto game. It was aired this morning.

Almost made me choke on my bagel. Got to remember not to yell at the TV when I'm having breakfast.

NYCelt wrote:

112288 wrote:

NYCelt wrote:I don't think it's exactly panic time, but to dboss's point, people are waking up to how good Toronto is, and the fact that the East isn't a runaway.

ESPN polling now makes Toronto odds-on-favorites to win the East, with Boston and Cleveland tied behind them.

By itself, that doesn't mean a thing. But, it's one more indication that The Raptors are getting noticed for their competitive standing.

I believe dboss has a good point that Boston needs to start thinking about their strategy for Toronto, if they haven't already.

NY

Is the ESPN Poll >  pre or post Monroe?

112288

Post Monroe, and post Toronto game. It was aired this morning.

Almost made me choke on my bagel. Got to remember not to yell at the TV when I'm having breakfast.

Bon Appétit !

112288