Two months after putting together a season-high 43 points masterpiece against the Raptors, Kyrie Irving put on another show at the TD Garden against the NBA’s best team. He posted 27 points and a season-high 18 assists, helping the hosts rally from a four-point deficit with four minutes remaining and pull away with a much-needed 117-108 win. Kawhi Leonard had a game-high 33 points but went cold down the stretch as Irving and Al Horford (season-high 24 points) helping the Celtics snap a three-game losing streak back at the Garden. The Raptors had their five-game winning streak snapped as the C’s pulled within six games of the No. 1 seed in the East after the win. n.
GAME: No. 44 of 82
WHO: Celtics (25-18) vs. Raptors (33-12)
WHEN: 8:00 p.m.
WHERE: TD Garden
RADIO: WROR 105.7
TV: ESPN, NBC Sports Boston
Celtics
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Marcus Smart
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Marcus Morris
C: Al Horford
Raptors
PG: Kyle Lowry
SG: Danny Green
F: Pascal Siakam
F: Serge Ibaka
F: Kawhi Leonard
First Half Notes
- C's come out very sluggish in the opening six minutes. They keep looking a step slow defensively, which allows the Raptors offense to get going from all over the court as they kept the ball popping.
- Raptors also take advantage of some early miscues (nine first half turnovers by Boston) for easy points (12 in all).
- Lead gets push up all the way to 11 early before the second unit comes in to help even up the tide.
- Marcus Morris looks particularly sluggish on the defensive end out of the gate, which helps Kawhi Leonard get going.
- Interesting lineup adjustment by Brad Stevens with Marcus Smart going to the bench first, allowing him to captain the second unit for most of the second quarter.
- A completely different energy by the second unit in this one, triggered by some increased aggressiveness by Gordon Hayward. He scored a team-high 16 points before the break on 7-of-8 shooting, most of it coming on jump shots.
- Irving with a couple of absurd moves in the paint over Leonard to produce 14 points and he's also been a key facilitator in getting his teammates going, dishing out eight of the team's 16 points in the first half.
- Some of the best minutes of the year by Brown/Rozier and Baynes as well, helping the second unit combine for 34 points on 14/18 FG. Rozier in particular was very energetic on the defensive end, while Baynes showed no signs of rust in his first game back from a broken hand.
- C's ultimately double up the Raptors 34-17 in the second quarter, thanks to some cold shooting by Raptors (2-of-15) from 3, to turn an early 11-point deficit into an 11-point lead.
- Marcus Smart and Aron Baynes will be back in the lineup. Baynes had missed the past 13 games with a broken hand and the Celtics were 7-6 in his absence.
- Kawhi Leonard is playing like a man on a mission: The small forward is averaging 29.2 points per game over the last 10 contests with a whopping 9.2 free throw attempts per game while drawing over seven fouls per game. The Celtics will likely start with Marcus Morris on him in the starting five, but it's possible that Marcus Smart gets shifted his way if Pascal Siakam is bullying Jayson Tatum too much down low. Boston's starters are going to need to be far more disciplined than we saw on Monday night in Brooklyn to slow down Leonard and this offense.
- Kyle Lowry isn't himself just yet after returning from injury: He's missed a few games with a back injury and his offensive play (35 percent from field, 28 percent from 3) has been pretty lackluster in his four games since returning. He still is setting up the offense nicely (eight assists per game) but stopping other secondary options (Siakam, Ibaka) will probably be a bigger priority in this one for Boston's defense.
- No OG Anunoby should help: The Raptors have speed and size almost everywhere but they will be losing one of their best defensive weapons in this one in Anunoby (who is out for personal reasons). That should come as a pretty big boost for Boston's bench as the likes of Brown and Hayward won't have to worry about creating space against one of the best wing defenders in the league.