Post Game - Celtics vs. Raptors - Friday, November 11 (W)

Celtics-Raptors takeaways: Tatum, C's dominate on second night of back to back

https://sports.yahoo.com/celtics-raptors-takeaways-tatum-cs-024345904.html

Justin Leger
Sat, Nov 11, 2023, 9:47 PM EST·4 min read




Celtics-Raptors takeaways: Tatum, C's dominate on second night of back to back originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Three Key Storylines

Tatum and Brown shine
Porzingis puts on a show
Hauser on fire from 3

On the second night of a back to back, the Boston Celtics picked up where they left off against a well-rested Toronto Raptors squad.

The C's followed Friday night's win over the Brooklyn Nets with a 117-94 victory in Saturday's game at TD Garden. After a slow start, Boston went on a 21-2 run over the first and second quarters to open up a double-digit lead over Toronto. The Raptors answered with a couple runs of their own, but the Celtics pulled away with a strong third quarter and didn't look back.

Jaylen Brown (29 points), Jayson Tatum (27 points) and Kristaps Porzingis (21 points) paced the Celtics in scoring. Pascal Siakam (17 points) and ex-Celtic Dennis Schroder (14 points) did their part for the Raptors in a losing effort.

The Celtics will return to action Monday when they host the New York Knicks at 7:30 p.m. ET. Before we turn the page, here are our takeaways from Saturday's victory.

A masterclass from the Jays

You'd never know it was the second night of a back to back just by watching Tatum. The Celtics' superstar made everything look easy in Saturday's win.

Tatum didn't make his first shot until about 10 minutes into the first quarter. From there, he caught fire with 17 first-half points.



The Tatum effect was evident when he was off the floor. As pointed out by Celtics radio voice Sean Grande and The Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach, the C's struggled mightily when Tatum was on the bench and pulled away from the Raptors when he was in the game. That continued what has been a trend for Boston so far this season.





Tatum went on to finish with 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting (3-9 3-PT). He added five rebounds and four assists and, perhaps most notably, was a +42 on the night. He leads the NBA in plus-minus at +166.

Jaylen Brown gave the TD Garden crowd an encore after his stellar performance in Friday's win. He erupted for 21 of his game-high 29 points (12-20 FG) in the second half to help the Celtics run away with the victory over Toronto.



Kristaps Porzingis makes presence felt

Porzingis was oddly quiet on Friday against Brooklyn. The 7-foot-3 star attempted only four shots in the win and ended up with a modest nine points in 25 minutes.

His aggressiveness returned on Saturday night. He played a huge role in the dominant victory with 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-7 from deep.

Porzingis helped the C's pull away in the third quarter with two deep 3s and two loud dunks. When he's on, this Celtics offense is nearly impossible to stop.



Tatum, Brown, and Porzingis combined for 77 of the C's 117 points. You'd be hard pressed to name a better trio in the NBA right now.



Sam Hauser's scorching November continues

Hauser continues to step up as the spark plug Boston needs off the bench. He has found his groove after shooting just 3-of-15 from 3-point range in October.

He hit four of his six 3s on Saturday, making him 24-for-42 (57.1 percent) from beyond the arc so far in the month of November.



The Celtics second unit has been the subject of criticism through the early part of the season, but Hauser's recent play has helped to quiet those concerns. As long as he's shooting like this, it'll be tough for anyone to keep pace with Boston's relentless offense.

Hauser finished with 12 points and four rebounds in 18 minutes.



__________________________________________________________________

Jaylen Brown scores 29, Jayson Tatum 27 to lead Celtics to easy 117-94 win over Toronto

https://www.yahoo.com/news/jaylen-brown-scores-29-jayson-022322931.html

BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown scored 29 points, Jayson Tatum had 27 and the Boston Celtics cruised to a 117-94 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night.

Kristaps Porzingis added 21 points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes for the Celtics, who won their second straight after a 14-point victory over Brooklyn in their first NBA In-Season Tournament game on Friday night.

Pascal Siakam led the Raptors with 17 points and seven rebounds. Dennis Schroder had 14 points and Jakob Poeltl 12.

Toronto, which had won its last two games — both on the road — shot just 10 for 37 on 3-point attempts.

Brown scored 14 in the third quarter when the Celtics pushed their nine-point halftime edge to 24 points midway into the quarter. He started his scoring spree with a left-corner 3 and capped it with a putback jam, coming in on the baseline.

Brown had 28 points in the win on Friday. Tatum added 23.

Boston led 88-71 after three quarters.

With Brown on the bench at the start of the fourth, it was Tatum’s turn. He nailed 3s on back-to-back possessions, pushing Boston’s lead to 96-71.

Later, he set up Brown for a crowd-pleasing, fast-break jam that made it 101-73 with just over 8 minutes left.

With the Raptors misfiring early and often from 3-point range, it ended up being a relatively easy night for Boston’s starters with all of them on the bench enjoying the final minutes.

TD Garden had its traditional parquet floor a night after the tournament game on an NBA-mandated floor with a tournament-themed look.

Boston center Al Horford was back in the lineup after having Friday’s game off to manage a right-knee injury. He scored seven points with seven rebounds in 24 minutes.

UP NEXT

Raptors: Host the Wizards on Monday night, the first of four straight at home.

Celtics: Face the Knicks on Monday night, closing a three-game homestand

From another perspective:

Raptors’ humbling loss to Celtics proves how far Toronto is from a title

https://raptorsrapture.com/2023/11/11/raptors-humbling-loss-celtics-proves-far-toronto-title/

by Mike Luciano33 minutes ago

The Toronto Raptors may have caught the rival Boston Celtics on the back end of a back-to-back, but Darko Rajakovic is not in a position to look down on what has become a defensive juggernaut. Even with Gary Trent Jr. sitting this game out due to a foot injury, Scottie Barnes and the Raptors would have their hands full here.

After blowing out Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks just a few days before a dominant road victory in Dallas against the Mavericks, the Raptors have once again continued to give some of the best teams in the league some headaches. Boston, however, seemed to have no trouble pulling away from their division rivals.

The Celtics pummeled Toronto into the dirt thanks to a 117-94 scoreline. The Raptors shot just 38% from the field and 27% from 3-point range. Barnes had the worst game of his impressive year by a mile, and Pascal Siakam looked nothing like the star who helped lead Toronto to a win vs. Dallas.

Some might not like to make sweeping judgments based on the first few games of the year. However, the shocking difference in talent, preparation, and execution between the two teams goes to show just how far away this core is from ever being taken seriously as a team with eyes on a championship.



Scottie Barnes and the Toronto Raptors were humiliated by the Boston Celtics.

Boston is a tough matchup for anyone, but the Raptors, in particular, will have a tough time. Barnes and Siakam were unable to throw their weight around in the paint thanks to Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis, leaving a poor-shooting team to snipe from 3-point range unsuccessfully.

With Trent sitting out, a lackluster bench could not do much of anything despite playing a rotation that features just eight players who suited up 24 hours earlier in a win against the Nets. Once the usually rock-solid defense broke down, Toronto’s chances of victory evaporated into nothingness.

Losing to Boston isn’t cause for alarm. However, looking non-competitive, getting outcoached on both ends, and struggling in what are supposed to be areas of strength should set off some alarm bells. If Masai Ujiri wants to keep this team together, nights like Saturday simply can’t happen anymore.



A strong coach who has command of the locker room will be able to learn from this night and make improvements, while a cohesive roster will take it on the chin and get back to their winning ways without letting the loss linger. Fans will find out exactly what kind of guys they have after this humiliation.

bobc33 wrote:GYSO that “ from another perspective “ is a really good read.  Thanks for adding this to the postgame.

GYSO,

Make that a +2


Bob


.

Up 4 after 1, up 9 at the half and then BOOM!  So what was different in our locker room at halftime from other games?  We came out for the 3rd with fire, we attacked, we defended and we were up by 17 after 3.  4-5 minutes left in the 3rd we were up 24 and it was only a rally by Toronto to close out the quarter that got it under 20.  Obviously I don't have a problem with it, I'd just like to know why it happened so we can bottle it.


Shout out to Sam for another good game.  4th highest Celtic scorer with 12 on 4-6.  He is now shooting 42.6% from 3.

Our bigs off the bench, Al and Luke, combined for 9 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and zero turnovers in a combined 33 minutes.  That's what we need.  Maybe a little more scoring, but solid rebounding and defense while Z sits.  Luke played double-big with Al for a while and was instrumental in keeping O-boards alive.

Payton Pritchard is getting it done, especially on the boards.  He had 6 again last night, 3 of them offensive.  He's 6' freaking 1!!!  Only 7 points but 4 assists with only 1 turnover and that is a key metric for him.  He has to learn how to become a steady, productive NBA floor general.  So far this season he's averaging 3.6apg and only .8TOpg in 20mpg.  That's excellent.

Svi's not earning himself minutes.  He showed up with the rep of being a more well-rounded Sam Hauser and I'm not seeing him outperform Sam on either end of the court.  

And, Jeez, wtf do I have to do to get Lamar on the court?!  He was the only Celtic to not take off his warmups.


Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
24 hours after passing Kareem, Jayson Tatum's 7 in the first quarter tonight against Toronto just moved him past former Raptor Chris Bosh (10,090) into 13th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list for players 25 and under.

Decent name up next.




Tatum added 20 more after those initial 7 and is now at 10,114, just 124 points behind MJ. Jayson is 25 years and 254 days today. That leaves him 111 days, almost 3 1/2 months, to move up the ranks. He could, repeat 'could', pass Giannis for 8th place all-time and that would be impressive.


Bob


.

Bobby Manning @RealBobManning
yesterday
The #Celtics only scored 9 fast break pts tonight & played 87.5% of their possessions in the half court (@cleantheglass). They created 114.3 points per play on those sets, which would rank #1 in the league by nearly 9 points. This was their finest offensive execution all year.…


Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
yesterday
Kristaps Porziņģis on chemistry with Jaylen Brown: "We're still in the beginning stages because I think our chemistry, it's just going to get so much better. Like, I'm telling you, you're just going to see, like. it's going to get a lot better. But I love playing with him."


Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
yesterday
Joe Mazzulla on Kristaps Porziņģis: "His open-mindedness towards being coached has way far exceeded my expectations and his ability to just, ‘What can I do to make our team get better?’"



Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
yesterday
Joe Mazzulla on spacing and screening: "That’s like the most important thing. It’s beautiful."



Bob


.

By Feb we will be AMAZED at how good this team had become. Mo betta and mo betta each week.

Meanwhile, Rob, whom we love, is out for the year with knee surgery. So functionally we got Jrue just for Malcolm. Brad is one savvy and lucky GM.

bobheckler wrote:

bobc33 wrote:GYSO that “ from another perspective “ is a really good read.  Thanks for adding this to the postgame.

GYSO,

Make that a +2


Bob


.

Thanks guys.

The idea came while I was waiting for my favorite local post-game article to show up and the other team's article was available first. You do the "Comments from the Other Side" and I thought this was a good companion piece to add after each game.

Now we can see how our team is viewed by both the fans and now, their local media.

My wife and I have this thing going while the Celtic games are on.  She is on her computer typically and not looking directly at the screen.  I've made an effort this season to bark out, "Lay up" or "Dunk" so she'll know.  And besides, I'm a noisy fan.  

Anyway, I've found myself barking out either one of those an inordinate number of times this year with the addition of Floor Spreader KP.  Then I've taken a look after each game and discovered that the number of shot attempts for FG's, now mostly uncontested layups and dunks vs. our old nemesis 3-bombing and I am starting to see what is baffling defenders.  There is little or no difference between the numbers.  

When we were 3-bombing til the cows came home last season, we were easily 60%/40% 3's vs. 2-point attempts.  So defenses knew that if we would hit the court, most of our attempts would be 3's.  Now, it's a coin flip.  Defenses hate the middle.  So Inside/Out works like a charm.  Our flow is so much better.  If you're wide open for a 3, take it!  But let's humiliate the crap out of your defense and look for Holiday to KP for a dunk and maybe a frustration foul first.  Must have seen that 4-5 times last night.  

Again, most of our 2-pointers have been with 4 feet of the basket via chippy, dunk or layup.

Our bench line looks like what I would call all hands on deck.  Everyone contributed a good line with hustle, rebounds, assists, points, +/-.  Doogie stood out with 12 points via 3-ball but that's what we are going to expect from him..12-15 points a game plus whatever else you want to add to that.  He just needs to begin to develop more than the 3-point shooting as he doesn't want to become a one-trick pony.  The league loves that.  Al, Pritchard, Kornet and Doogie all contributed solidly across the board.  This looks like 6-9 going forward.  If we can continue to give the starter the 4th quarters off, 10-13 can develop.  

When Pritchard is going downhill, lots of great things happen.  He is and is going to be huge.  He plays like he has ADD, all over the place.  He's extremely productive.  He never sits still.  That has to annoy the crap out of the opposing teams!  Gotta love that!

OK, Knicks up again next.  Let's see if we can get out of the trenches with them vs. the last time and run them ragged.  

db

P.S. For those looking for an entertaining, possibly cring-worthy Sunday afternoon game today, tune in at 3:30pm for Memphis vs. LAC. You'll get to see Marcus, of course, plus you'll get all the fallout from the Mavs announcer that went off on Hardhead. Looks like a Hoot while we wait for tomorrow night!

Plus IND @ PHI could be entertaining but only if IND wins. Going to take a miracle with line PHI(-7.5). My advice? Record and check in. If it's a blowout...erase! PHI has two games to our one before Wednesday. Plus, we show up on Day 2 of BTB for them!
Nice!! Nothing else sticks out the rest of today.

dboss,

How about Walsh? How long does he have to stay in Maine before we bring him down? Is he doing well up there? We know his D is outstanding. And O is improving. Might work.

db

He is there for a while, he will get to learn the game the way he should instead of sitting here in Boston. Remember, he is 19 years old, and has a lot to learn. With those stats BobH posted, seems like it is a good place for him. Also remember, come January, the Celtics will have a couple of decisions to make about non guaranteed contract players. So the room at the inn may be available come wintertime

https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar-post-20231111-celtics-dominate-raps-inside-the-arc-complete-back-to-back-sweep



C’s Dominate Raps Inside the Arc, Complete Back-to-Back Sweep


Taylor Snow
Sr. Writer


BOSTON – The Boston Celtics stowed away their flashy, In-Season Tournament court following a 121-107 win over the Brooklyn Nets Friday night and brought back the classic parquet for a matchup with the Toronto Raptors just 24 hours later.

Playing on different wood against a different Atlantic Division opponent, Boston produced a similar result, blowing out Toronto, 117-94, to complete a back-to-back sweep inside TD Garden.

The C’s were led by their trio of high-volume-scoring stars, as Jaylen Brown (29 points), Jayson Tatum (27 points), and Kristaps Porzingis (21 points) combined for 65.8 percent of their scoring production in a game which they led by as many as 30 points.

Where the Celtics did most of their damage was inside the 3-point arc. They consistently got into the paint and shot 32-of-42 from 2-point range for a mark of 76.2 percent – the most efficient 2-point shooting game by any NBA team this season.

The crazy part is that the last time the Celtics shot that high from inside the arc happened to also be the last time they played Toronto on April 7, 2023, when they shot 30-of-37 for a mark of 81.1 percent –the most efficient 2-point mark by any NBA team in the 1,230 games played last season.


Taylor Snow
@taylorcsnow
Crazy stat 🤯

The Celtics shot 76.2% from 2-point range vs. Toronto tonight – the best mark by any NBA team this season.

Last time they shot that high from 2 happened to be the last time they played Toronto (4/7/23) when they made 81.1% – the best mark by any team last season.




The Celtics have clearly found their sweet spot against the Raptors, and this time they were able to exploit Toronto inside even more thanks to the addition of Porzingis, who had a career-high-tying five dunks.

“His screening,” was key, said head coach Joe Mazzulla. “He was able to help our pick-and-roll ball-handler get some separation away from the screen, and they weren’t veering at first, and so we were able to throw back and get into a closeout and kind of create a second side action. Once they started veering, we were able to get their bigs away from the rim, and that’s where we were able to either give it to him in the post, or we were able to drive it without any rim protection.”

Also key was the presence of Tatum. The All-NBA wing posted a ridiculous plus-42 in 34 minutes of action, the third-best plus/minus mark of his career. He was also a plus-28 the previous night, giving him a total plus/minus of plus-70 over a 24-hour span.

Now, Tatum is up to a plus-166 on the season, which is by far the highest mark in the league. The next closest is teammate Jrue Holiday at plus-111. Porzingis and Derrick White are tied for seventh with plus-95s, and Brown rounds out the starting five in 14th place at plus-67.

“I just try to make good things happen when I'm on the floor, play right away, and try to impact winning,”  Tatum said. “I don't necessarily think about plus/minus, I just try to go out there every time I'm on the floor and do the things that help us win. So hopefully I can keep that up because that means I’m doing something right.”


Mazzulla Empowers Bench

On the topic of doing right, we have to touch on the way Mazzulla is empowering his bench right now. The second-year head coach has spoken a few times early this season on how he plans to coach his second- and third-stringers during garbage time just as hard as he coaches the starters at the beginning of the game. He proved his point Saturday night.

With 3:39 remaining in a 27-point game, Toronto’s Thaddeus Young tipped the ball out of bounds, which the officials initially ruled was deflected off Boston’s Oshae Brissett. However, Brissett insisted that he never touched the ball, and so Mazzulla elected to challenge the call.

Rarely does a coach issue a challenge when his team is blowing out its opponent late in a game, and some of Toronto’s players were visibly frustrated by the decision. However, Mazzulla explained after the game that this was just an example of his desire to empower his reserves no matter the time or score.

“I don’t know if it was disrespectful or cheap to challenge in that situation, and I don’t really agree or disagree,” Mazzulla stated. “I think at the end of the day, my responsibility is to my players first. And having respect for the game, we’ve been in that situation before where we don’t shoot the last shot, we let the clock go out, we do that all the time. But with three and a half minutes to go, when you have a group of guys that check in and they are playing as hard as they can, I think it’s my responsibility to my players first. It was a clear opportunity for me to empower the players, let them know that I’m coaching you, and those minutes to me are just as important as the start of the game.”

Second-unit wing Sam Hauser understood the decision and appreciates how much Mazzulla values his and his fellow reserves' playing time.

“That’s important to all of us too,” said Hauser, who shot 4-of-6 from long range in a 12-point effort. “If we’re out there, we want him to have our backs, and I think he does that.”


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"Doesn't matter who's in the game... [Joe] treats those minutes like any other minutes"

Hauser talks about Joe Mazzulla coaching hard, even if it is just bench guys in the game

Presented by your New England Ford Dealers

https://twitter.com/i/status/1723548232901386517



Bob
MY NOTE:


Adam Himmelsbach @AdamHimmelsbach
yesterday
New: Cedric Maxwell said if he played for the Raptors, Joe Mazzulla’s late challenge would’ve pissed him off. But he liked the move. “It sends a message to the rest of his team, like, ‘I’m going to back you regardless.’ I love that.”




.

Bobh,

You and everyone may find this hard to believe, but when I watch games this year, I am more excited to see what the bench does than the starters. If that starting 5 (or 6) can't get things steamrolling come playoff time, then just forget it. No other team ever will.

Joe's comment only proves my point. Mark my words, this bench is going to flourish. They will rise up.
Denver going 16-3 in the playoffs? Well, we can thank a list of fall apart Western Conference opponent's and a weak East representative for the hall pass they got in the Finals, but I will bet dboss's paycheck that we beat that 16-3 record this year.

(mic drop)

db