BSJ Game Report: Raptors 118, Celtics 95 - Another second quarter no-show taken at Scotiaank Arena (Celtics)

(Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)

Celtics

BSJ Game Report: Raptors 118, Celtics 95 - Another second quarter no-show

By Brian Robb

Feb 26, 2019 • 10:46 pm

0comment-bubble

Everything you need to know about the Raptors beating the Celtics 118-95 with BSJ insight and analysis

Box Score 

HEADLINES

Second quarter no-show leads to blowout: In a game that was eerily reminiscent of Saturday’s performance in Chicago, the Celtics were completely blown out of the water in the second quarter for the second straight contest. Toronto outscored them 36-13 in the period behind the hot shooting of Kawhi Leonard (25 points), Pascal Siakam (21 points) and Norm Powell (11 points). The Celtics’ offense self-combusted yet again during the 12 minutes (26 percent shooting, eight turnovers) digging themselves a 21-point hole at halftime that they were unable to climb out of. Marcus Morris had a team-high 17 points, while Kyrie Irving (seven points) and Al Horford (six points) had their minutes cut short in the second half due to extended garbage time. It was one of the worst quarters and performances of the season for Boston as the C’s had their losing streak extended to three out of the All-Star Break.  

Celtics have now dropped eight straight in Toronto: Tuesday’s loss now gives the Celtics eight straight loss at Scotiabank Arena dating back to April 2015. Brad Stevens has won just one time in Toronto during his career in Boston, making the arena a continual house of horrors for Boston for the entire decade. Given the fact that the Celtics are likely going to have to win a game in this building to advance to the NBA Finals, it’s going to be a fairly large hill to climb for this group.   

TURNING POINT

The Raptors ripped off an 18-0 run in the opening stages of the second quarter while Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum rested on the Celtics bench. Tremendous 3-point shooting from Marc Gasol and Powell combined with missed open looks from Gordon Hayward and Marcus Morris turned the game into a disaster zone for Boston for the second straight game on the road.

ZERO UP

No one was good tonight on both ends of the floor. Some positive offensive nights (Tatum, Morris) were outweighed by defensive woes.

THREE DOWN

Gordon Hayward: He misses a number of wide-open looks in the second quarter with misses that led to points the other way, producing a 1-of-5 first half. While his skillset is understandably coming back with time, the team needs more out of him at this stage of the year in a tough road atmosphere.

Marcus Morris: The Celtics' defense has been in a complete nosedive lately and the forward is a big reason why. He’s been slow on closeouts and rotations and was routinely abused by Leonard during the opening three quarters. Some regression was expected after an unbelievable first half of the season, but as his outside shooting has dipped, he’s been a liability for this team for a couple weeks now.

Brad Stevens: He made the tweak to stagger Irving and Smart more but he still was a little too slow to react as the Celtics were melting down amid an 18-0 run in the second quarter (just one timeout before that deficit hit). With the Celtics failing to respond to adversity well all year long, it’s time for him to be a bit more proactive in trying to stop the bleeding when the team is in danger of melting down.  

TOP PLAY




TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER


The Raptors are the worst matchup for the Celtics this postseason:
The Celtics may have finished the season series tied 2-2 with Toronto but there is no question that this is the team that gives Boston the most problems among the top-4 in the East. Boston has no answer for Leonard and the athleticism in the Raptors’ frontline with Pascal Siakam and Serge Ibaka presents major problems in the paint and on the glass. A healthy Aron Baynes will help to combat Marc Gasol when he returns but this is a group with shooting and depth at every position. Given that Toronto has been a house of horrors for the Boston (eight straight losses), this is will be the biggest test that the Celtics face this postseason, assuming they advance far enough to see the Raptors in the first place. The margin of error for this Celtics roster against them is very small.   


The defense is officially a concern:
While the C’s locked down with an impressive defensive performance against the Bucks out of the All-Star break, there has been some major regression with this group on that end over the past nine games. They rank in the bottom five in the league in defensive rating over that stretch and looked essentially hopeless at stopping Toronto in certain stretches of the middle two quarters on Tuesday night. With the performance dropoff with slower players like Morris and an unwillingness to go deeper into the bench for defensive-minded players (Semi Ojeleye), Stevens has his work cut out for himself to figure out who to match up with against elite offenses around the East that made upgrades around the trade deadline. Baynes will help obviously but with his availability in question for at least the next two weeks, it’s going to a challenge to stop the bleeding and stay out of the No. 5 spot with so many tough offenses (Rockets, Blazers, Warriors, Kings) on the horizon.     

Show Comments
Loading...
Loading...
Loading sidebar...
0
Show comments for this article