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Celtics Wrap: Kyrie Irving Goes Off In Thrilling OT Win Over Raptors

by Logan Mullen on Fri, Nov 16, 2018 at 9:51PM

BOSTON — Friday night’s clash of Eastern Conference powerhouses at TD Garden turned out to be precisely as it was billed.

In a nonstop back-and-forth affair, the Boston Celtics beat the Toronto Raptors 123-116 in overtime.

Trailing by eight at one point in the fourth quarter, the Celtics fought back to force overtime. Once in the extra period, Boston took control, never relinquishing the lead upon taking it 49 seconds in.

Kyrie Irving had a monster game, leading the Celtics with 43 points, while Jayson Tatum (21), Gordon Hayward (15), Al Horford (11) and Marcus Morris (11) also were in double figures. Kawhi Leonard paced Toronto with 29 points and was one of six Raptors in double digits.

With the win, the Celtics climb to 9-6, while the Raptors fall to 12-4.

Here’s how it all went down:

STARTING FIVE
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Jaylen Brown
F: Jayson Tatum
F: Gordon Hayward
C: Al Horford

NARROW FIRST
The energy was through the roof in the first, with both sides trading punches as the Celtics finished the frame ahead 30-27.

Trailing by four near the midway point of the quarter, the Celtics swung the momentum in their favor by stringing together a 9-0 run, taking their first lead of the game in the process while ultimately going up by five by the end of the stretch. Upon taking the lead, the Celtics never gave it up the rest of the quarter, despite Toronto pulling within two three separate times.

Irving led all players with 12 first-quarter points.

ONE RUN … AND THEN ANOTHER
Both teams put together big runs in the second period, with the Celtics getting outscored 25-24 in the stanza despite taking a 54-52 lead into halftime.

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens sent Brown and Hayward out with the second unit to begin the frame, and for the second straight game they helped kick things into gear. The first 1:49 of the quarter the Celtics went on an 8-1 run to up their lead to nine, and by the 7:36 mark they had extended their lead to double digits.

The Celtics’ lead wouldn’t last, however. Toronto showed great resolve, posting a 10-0 run over 2:30 to give it a one-point lead with 90 seconds to play in the half. Boston responded, however, by posting the half’s last three points on a free throw and a layup to take the lead just before the break.

Four players had six second-quarter points, including Irving and Morris. Irving led all players at the half with 18 points.

RAPTORS TAKE CONTROL
Although the Celtics went into the half with most of the momentum, it was the Raptors who came out of the break firing. The visitors outscored the Celtics 30-24 in the third, as they took an 82-78 lead into the final frame.

Boston saw its halftime lead quickly evaporate, as Toronto scored seven unanswered over the first two minutes of the third to grab a five-point lead, but the Celtics roared back with a 9-2 run of their own to go back ahead. But once the Celtics cut the lead to one, the Raptors opened up a 9-0 run to go up 10, their biggest lead of the game, with 3:25 left in the quarter.

The Celtics trimmed down the deficit to four in the final few minutes, but couldn’t push through enough to equalize before the end of the frame.

Leonard had a game-high eight third-quarter points.

CELTICS FORCE OVERTIME
Early on in the fourth it looked like the Celtics may fold, but they fought back to force overtime, outscoring the Raptors 29-25 in the final 12 minutes.

After clawing their way back from an eight-point deficit, the Celtics tied the game at 90 at the 7:26 mark on a deep 3-pointer from Irving, then took the lead on a layup from Irving 20 seconds later.

The Raptors regained control down the stretch, with Delon Wright knocking down a three-pointer at the 1:29 mark to put Toronto up 107-103. Tatum pulled the Celtics back within two by throwing down a dunk with 48 seconds to go. Toronto failed to convert their next trip down the floor, with Hayward then drawing a foul to get to the line, tying the game by knocking down both free throws.

Leonard had a chance at the final shot, but was guarded well by Morris and missed the 17-foot jumper, sending the game to overtime.

C’S DOMINATE OVERTIME
The Celtics controlled the OT period, outscoring the Raptors 16-9.

Boston grabbed a five-point lead with 3:09 to go, and maintained control despite a valiant effort in response from Toronto. Once the game got inside three minutes, the Celtics really started to take control, swelling their lead to as many seven.

Toronto pulled the game back within five, but an Horford dunk with 18 seconds left put the game away.

UP NEXT
The Celtics will play the second game of their home back-to-back Saturday against the Utah Jazz. Tip-off from TD Garden is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.

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CELTICS..............WELCOME TO THE LAND OF PAINT!

By far the best game the Celtics played this year.  That is what happens when you attack the paint...........you either make the shot & get fouled or you get 2 FT shots, or you kick it out to an uncontested open man to knock down a shot............a selected and wise 3 point shot!

Hope the Celtics keep playing this style of basketball and not get into  playing a pull up 3 point shooting game.

Also the Celtics had a rotational offense in the second half. No standing around flat footed......no they weaved in and out.......setting up screens and pick and roll shots!

FYI coming into this game the Celtics were last in the league in points in the paint.

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Nice win for the Cs! MrKleen and Owen were easily the stars of the night!!!

Tatum needs more work on his handle. Looked shaky a few times at least trying to dribble through a crowd.

Did Brown get hurt? He wasn’t on the court I believe coming down the stretch in regulation, and I know he was on the bench for all of OT. Did I miss something or did Brad simply want to go with Morris?

Interesting game. Points out Boston's strength and weakness all at once.

As long as the game has to go through Kyrie, this will not be a balanced club.

By the same token; nice to have Kyrie.

Will be intriguing to see where it goes over the long run.

I think we can mark this one down as a signature win.  The Celtics beat the #1 team and avenged an early season loss.

A quick look at the team statistics reveals how we did this.  The Celtics outshot the Raptors 52.8 to 43.3  We won the 3 point battle 34.6-27%,  we outrebounded them 46-43.  We were strong in the paint as they scored 52 and we scored 50.  We shot 20-24 from the line and they went 24-29.  We had 18 fast break points to their 14.  We had 25 assists to their 20.  Our only bad stat was turnovers.   18 for us and 14 for them.

Kyrie Irving was simply phenomenal.  He dropped 43 on every shot imaginable and handed out 11 assists.

He made 18-26 shots for 69% and made 3-6 from deep for 50%.  He also had 3 steals and a block.  His offensive skill level is unreal.  This is what a go-to guy is supposed to do.  This is why Danny made the trade.  

Gordon Hayward struggled in the first half but down the stretch he earned his money.  He went 6-6 from the line.  he scored 15 points and every single point was needed to secure this win.  He also had 5 boards, 5 assist and 4 steals.  He went 4-8 from the filed.  I say shoot more.  I think it is time to start getting him a lot more shot opportunities.

Jason Tatum also struggled early but he stepped up big time down the stretch with the game on the line.  He finished with 21 points on 8-13 shooting and had 7 rebounds.  

Jaylen Brown started off like he was going to have a great game.  He did not and he only played 25 minutes but I thought he did an outstanding job on Leonard in the first half (4-10).

Al Horford also struggled but when it counted he had an excellent reverse dunk and knocked down a huge 3 pointer from the corner with the game on the line.  he grabbed 9 rebounds and had 2 huge blocks.

Baynes had 4 rebounds and assists and was setting great picks all night.

Both Terry and Marcus Smart had sub-par games.

Marcus Morris lead the second unit with 11 going 4-8 from the field and also grabbing 7 rebounds.

This was a very important win for Boston.

This team is still working through  few things but tonight I thought they played the right way.  They got away from what was working in the 1st half but still managed to right the ship and bring it into port.

Kyrie Irving has started beating his man off the dribble. I think the improved offense flows from that. He had 11 assists tonight to go with his 43 points. Morris is a bulldog on defense.Hayward's coming along.Brown struggling. As far as Tatum's handle deficiencies,I think his lack of upper body strength is definitely a factor. He gets knocked off stride with some frequency, but he came on strong down the stretch.I haven't seen every game, but Rozier doesn't seem to have his rhythm.

Game Flow:



Game Flow 101:

The horizontal flat lines are scoring droughts, the steep inclines are scoring runs.  When one team's line is above the other's, the top team is in the lead (at that time).

It has been said that the Celtics suffer from scoring droughts, but these charts would indicate that both teams do.

gyso

Each team had double digit leads at some point in the game.

Kyrie is one of those superstars that you have to have in this league.
Tatum will only keep getting better and he has already shown last season he can close games too. When the game slows down for him he will take a big step forward. He challenges all jump shots on his rotations and rebounds a lot better.
Jaylen is struggling for some consistency.
Hayward plays at his own pace, rebounds, steals the ball, and is close to having his shot back. I have seen him play a lot against the Texas teams when at Utah. He does a lot of things that don't go in the boxscore.
Smart just needs to leave the 3 pointer alone unless its a must shot. Rest of game is fine.
Al is Al
I would let Rozier go in a deal if we can get something that would help us now. I just don't want him to leave for nothing.
Williams I am hoping is the big guy that can't block shots and run.

It's been a little more than a glimmer so far but the last two games show what this team is capable of.

Kyrie is a much better defender than advertised coming in. He plays hard, he dives for the ball, he makes the steal. No, he is not a great defender but some pholks need to open their eyes and watch how he plays now. His offensive games seems to be coming around. Boston's best player is starting to play like it. And the Celtics are now winning. Finally a good assist game!

The sophomore slump and the third year leap are still possibilities for our two Js. Tatum is showing what inconsistent future greatness looks like now. He has improved but not like what I had hoped. Jaylen has a good game a fair game and a bad game. Just inconsistent as he learns how to control the game now that it is slowing down. Both still have trouble dribbling into traffic but they are better, lose the ball less often, and will finish better.

TRo always starts slow. Smart is what he is. The good news is his offensive game is more under control, the better news is that he still checks all those intangible boxes.

Mercurial Morris is all in this season. He is playing very well on both sides of the ball.

Need I say more than I like Theis and more I see the better the team plays?

It's the glimmer we've been waiting for. It's the Celtics playing like the title contenders they are.

Toronto is better this year. They will go further before they go fishing.

bobc33 wrote:Nice win for the Cs!  MrKleen and Owen were easily the stars of the night!!!

Tatum needs more work on his handle.  Looked shaky a few times at least trying to dribble through a crowd.  

Did Brown get hurt?  He wasn’t on the court I believe coming down the stretch in regulation, and I know he was on the bench for all of OT.  Did I miss something or did Brad simply want to go with Morris?

On my feed ESPN couldn’t see it, you must have saw it on the Boston feed....if anyone can post it, would love to see it. Can’t think of a more worthy Celtics fan than Kleen, we’ll deserved.

I agree with dboss, this was a signature win.  Not only was it against the top team in the conference but we were down 10 with 3:25 left in the 3rd after Toronto went on a 9-0 run from 4:40-3:25.  We were down 8 with 10:24 left in the 4th.  Not huge deficits, not as big as ones we have come back against, but big vs that team.  This is the grit we saw last year in the playoffs and have been expecting this year.

This game was played like it was the playoffs.  Both coaches shortened their benches, only going 9 deep.

Kyrie was the star, obviously, scoring in every which way, but he did like the right side.

If he stays healthy we can be in every game, all the way through the playoffs.  When he is on, he is unstoppable.  He also played some excellent defense last night too.  3 steals and he tied up Kawhi Leonard for a jump ball that, somehow, we won. It is for games like this that Danny gave up IT, Jae, Zizic and Colin Sexton for Kyrie. There was no answer for him. They even put Kawhi on him for a while. When they did that, Tatum started to go wild. That's the Kyrie Effect.

I was about to make a comment on the Game On! thread about how they were playing team ball while we were Kyrie and 4 guys but then others pulled it together and began contributing.  

Hayward started off weak shooting but started to find his range later.  He had 5 points on 2-5 at the half, was 3-6 after 3 for 9 points after 3 and added 2 more points in the 4th for 3-7.  In OT he went 1-2 and hit 2 very clutch fritos.  Ending up 4-8, 15 points, isn't bad, especially for a player still trying to find his stroke again.  He also had 5 assists in his new role as a Boston Celtic as a point forward but he had 4 steals.  His hands are quick even if his legs still lack their explosiveness.

Tatum was another slow starter that came on strong later.  A VERY lackluster first half.  1-5 for 2 points.  He perked up a bit in the 3rd, going 3-3 and 7 points in that frame and, just like all good shooters, all they have to see is the ball through the net a few times to find their groove.  He was 3-4 for 8 points and 3 rebounds in the 4th and 1-1 and 2-2 fritos and 2 rebounds in OT.

So, Hayward and Tatum accounted for 8 of our total 16 OT points, a combined 2-3 and 4-4 from the line.  Irving accounts for another 4 OT points.  Al had 4 too.  As Moses Malone would have said, with a slight stutter, "fo-fo-fo-fo".  Nice balanced scoring in OT.

Jaylen started out aggressive offensively.  He is a MUCH better player when he does, but then cooled off.  He was 3-5 at halftime and ended up 3-11.  That's an 0-6 2nd half and OT.  In fact, Jaylen only played 10 minutes after halftime.  Is/did Brad see something?  He doesn't usually sit players if they are just missing open shots, just the opposite, he wants them to take open shots regardless of how many they missed already.

TRo continues his struggles.  I think he still has visions of sugar plums dancing in his head from the playoffs.

Smart battled like hell, as always, but he couldn't contain Leonard.  Morris did a very credible job, however.  He did all his offensive damage in the 1st half, going 0-2 after the break but that's ok.  Tatum and Hayward weren't putting the ball in the hole then so someone not named Kyrie had to, but his defense on Kawhi was worth it.

For those of us who miss the '80s and the Dance of the Dinosaurs in the paint last night was a trip down memory lane watching Baynes and Valanciunas trying to pound each other into paste.  Statistically, V(alan-etcetera) might have had the edge but overall who would you rather have?  I'm going with Baynes.  Not only is he a much better defender but he is shooting 34.6% from 3 this year.  Not a great percentage, but good enough to drag his man out to the arc which is how today's inside-out NBA perimeter game is being played.  Think about how much better Siakum and even Leonard would be if V could hit those?  He's taking half as many as Baynes (1.1/game vs 2.2) and only hitting 33.3%.  Not worth changing your defensive scheme for that.

Speaking of defensive schemes, we switched on just about everything.  Nobody tried to fight through screens, they just took whomever came to them.  Talk about difference with the '80s, where everybody fought through screens!  It requires an entire team of Swiss Army Knives to pull that off and Danny has given that to Brad.  We shot 52.8% against the 13th defense in the league.  For all our moaning about a lack of an inside game we scored 48 points in the paint in regulation and they are averaging 48 points given up in the paint.  So, we did fine.  Toronto is 14th in points allowed/game, 110ppg, we only scored 107 BUT they are an offensively-oriented team, #2 in the league in points per game, 116ppg.  That's how many they got off of us last night but they needed an additional 5 minutes to get them.  They are averaging 47.2% shooting this year, last night they shot 43.3%; 35.8% from 3 season, 27.6% last night.  DEFENSE!!

Lastly, I would like to mention what a great job we did, in general but especially Gordon Hayward, in running pnrs.  We scored a lot of our paint points off of probably the first basketball play ever drawn up (or maybe it was the give-and-go and pnr was 2nd? Whatever).  It still can work to perfection and we proved it last night.

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401070897





bob



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Hi,
Yes, it is a signature win. Especially on the mental side: come playoffs (very high probability we meet again) it will be tremendous help.
As for the players, I wonder that no one mentioned AH - as always he was whenever and wherever he was needed.

AK

Couple observations, when he gets in his zone, he can score in bunches better than any guy his size in history and as good as any historic great HoF type out there, any size. Kawhi might be a better all around player, but he can’t score as lethally, as easily as Kyrie. He was breathtakingly amazing.... to the non believers, no patience, glad you guys aren’t running this team. Kyrie was hurt last year and still did amazing stuff. He’s every bit as good or better than Steph IMHO.

Hayward plays really good defense, not as explosive as Jaylen and not as much length as Jayson, but very smart and cagey, has a knack for getting his hands on the ball. Can’t wait for him to get his finishing and shot better, the intangibles for contributing even without his full arsenal are evident. Gotta root for a guy like that.

bob


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