Everything you need to know about the Celtics 115-83 loss to the Toronto Raptors with BSJ insight and analysis.
The Celtics never looked sharp in this one, but they were going back-and-forth with Toronto for the first half. Then it looked like the Celtic were figuring things out in the third quarter, but then they imploded and were treated to a chorus of boos when they fell behind by 20. They never recovered.
HEADLINES
Embarrassing: Going down 0-2 is not the end of the world, but losing the way the Celtics did is quite bad. Toronto may not have a lot of high-level talent but they are always going to work hard, and the Celtics simply didn’t match that effort.
Uh oh, offense: The Celtics simply have no chance against anyone if they don’t get All-Star performances from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Tatum was okay, but he finished with 18 points on 8-14 shooting. Brown basically was the opposite of opening night, finishing with 9 points on 3-13 shooting and 0-7 from 3.
TURNING POINT
After a run cut the Raptors lead to 60-58, the Celtics fell apart and gave up a 24-6 run to close the third quarter and go down 20.
SECOND GUESS
Ime Udoka tossed an all-bench unit out there for a long stretch in the second quarter that seemed to play right into Toronto’s style. The Raptors not only built a lead, they build confidence that continued the rest of the game.
THREE UP
Al Horford: He missed a couple of makeable shots but we can chalk that up to his legs not being there. Horford was probably the only Celtic consistently giving effort, and it showed in an early third quarter that included a blocked shot that led to a Tatum alley-oop to Jaylen Brown. He finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 2 assists.
Jayson Tatum: A bit of a bounceback effort, scoring 18 points on 8-14 shooting. However, it really wasn’t the kind of great game we’re looking for from him. He only took one free throw, which is completely unacceptable. He also let non-calls affect him too much ... still.
Josh Richardson: Again, I’m reaching a little for slivers of positive and Richardson at least hit his shots. He finished 4-7, 4-4 from 3. This is probably how Richardson’s shooting is going to go, though. A couple of scorching nights followed by some super cold nights.
FOUR DOWN
Jaylen Brown: The polar opposite of his night in New York. He was 3-13, 0-7 from 3, 9 points, 5 turnovers. He had nothing tonight.
Marcus Smart: Zero points for Smart, who missed all six shots he took, including four from deep. He did have 5 assists and 2 steals with just 2 turnovers.
Payton Pritchard: He’s struggling mightily in the first two games, shooting just 1-4. The speed of these past two games has picked up but Boston still seems to be playing at preseason speed. Pritchard had one nice 3-pointer in transition, but that was it.
Dennis Schroder: The Celtics are going to need more than 4 points out of him. They’re counting on him to be a double-digit scorer. Having as many turnovers as points is not going to work.
TOP PLAY
OMG 🤯
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) October 23, 2021
AL HORFORD WITH THE BLOCK LEADING TO THE CRAZY JAYLEN BROWN OOP 🙌☘️🏀 pic.twitter.com/SbzbvX5B3L
ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
There really is only one take from this game and it’s that they should be embarrassed by this. I’ll focus this take on Ime Udoka and get more into the players in a separate piece.
Once again, Udoka is being hit with a test of his coaching. From handing out a suspension, to a benching, to trying to break bad habits, and now his recurrence of crap effort. Udoka is getting hit with both barrels, and he walked off the court in his home debut as a head coach to boos.
“You don’t want to overreact and panic,” Udoka said after the game. “We’re going to stay together and keep our head up. But I said use these boos as motivation. We deserved it, the way we played.”
Fans were calling for Brad Stevens’ head by the end of last season. Now there’s a new coach facing the same ol’ problems. Stevens never could quite get the ship steady. Can Udoka?
It sort of feels like taking a final exam four weeks into the semester, but here we are.
