Everything you need to know about the Celtics 109-97 win over the Toronto Raptors with BSJ insight and analysis
IN A NUTSHELL
The Celtics and Raptors played it tight through most of the first three quarters with Boston taking leads and Toronto erasing them. The Celtics were sloppy with the ball early, leading to Toronto fast breaks that kept the game close. That was cleaned up a bit in the second half, but then the problem became Toronto offensive rebounds and putbacks. Still, the Celtics never fully gave up control of the game. In the fourth quarter (their worst quarter this season by far), the Celtics actually took control of the game behind Jayson Tatum’s passing (10 assists in the game) and timely plays by Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, and Enes Kanter.
HEADLINES
They’re getting the message: The team heard Ime Udoka calling them out after the loss to San Antonio and came out focused on moving the ball. They finished with 24 assists on 34 made baskets
Tatum keeps his head on bad shooting night: This is the worst start to a season Tatum has ever had. This game (2-16 shooting, 1-5 from 3) is one of his worst single shooting games (there was a 1-18 night against Dallas a couple of years ago and a 2-18 game in the bubble against Milwaukee), yet we didn’t see Tatum lose his cool. Often in these situations, Tatum is overly demonstrative about foul calls or he forces a lot of shots, but he didn’t do much of either in this one. He just kept moving the ball.
The bench stepped up: I’ll go through them more individually but the C’s had to go deeper into their bench without Robert Williams and Dennis Schröder and they largely contributed nicely.
“We've been mixing and matching lineups all season, with Dennis out tonight, Rob out tonight, Josh comes back, and just plug those holes and guys step up and play well,” Udoka said. “We haven't had a lot of continuity, it's a constant lineup changing every other night, and it's something we have to deal with until we're healthy, finally, and can get our whole group out there. I think this will be invaluable going down the stretch, guys getting time on the court, different lineups.”
TURNING POINT
The Celtics whipped off a 9-0 run after Toronto had cut the Celtics lead to 84-83. Richardson and Langford handled the first half of that, and Tatum and Marcus Smart finished it. The Celtics never lost control after that.
FIVE UP
Josh Richardson: He’s becoming Boston’s midrange master. Just call him DeJosh DeRichardzan (ok, maybe don’t).
“He held it down, did a great job there, gave us versatility in the lineups we have out there and, you know, a hell of a job by him to come back and play those many minutes off the first night after being out for a week.”
Richardson has had a pretty good stretch for the Celtics after some recent struggles. He, like others on the team, seems to be slowly putting things together.
“These last few years I've just been kind of put in a catch-and-shoot role, so that’s not really how I like to play,” he said. “I'm thankful for Ime and these coaches here just letting me be able to go out and do my thing and play like I know, like I like to play. JT made all the right plays tonight when they were helping all over the place and I was just aggressive with my catches and making them guard me honest. But when I get the ball in my hands and get to move around and that’s more so up my alley.”
Romeo Langford: It was his rebounding, of all things, that earned him this spot. He finished with 8 rebounds, 3 on the offensive glass. He was active and his individual defense was very good. He didn’t shoot well but he had a big impact.
Enes Kanter: The soon-to-be Enes K. Freedom (yes, that’s a real thing) gave his teammates some freedom to move with his pick-setting, some big rebounds, and the second-straight game of positive impact.
“He's a great screen setter,” Udoka said. “He puts pressure on the rim with his offensive rebounding. Kept balls live. Even if he doesn't get it, he takes two, three bodies to keep them off. He played well against San Antonio the other night and I thought about leaving him at the end of that game. So we with him tonight, that unit was really rolling together and did a great job.”
Marcus Smart: His 12th-straight game with five or more assists. He had a team-high 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists in this one, shooting 7-16 from the field, 4-10 from 3, and 3-3 from the line. He’s been getting into the paint much better over this stretch, and is starting to settle into his role.
Grant Williams: All I have to say about Grant is that at the quarter-pole, he is shooting 51.4% from the field, 43.1% from 3, and 90.5% from the line. I know it’s early and all that, but no one would have believed he would be a 50/40/90 guy after any significant portion of the season.
ONE DOWN
Payton Pritchard: He got 10 minutes in what was an opportunity in Schröder’s absence. It would have been more if his first stint was more meaningful. He couldn’t hit a shot and didn't have an assist. It’s a shame to see him press.
TOP PLAY
The Celtics had given up a little run and Toronto got the game to 9. Instead of going for the big clincher, they moved the ball and got this.
TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Jayson Tatum played well: I’ll repeat myself -- if all you do is watch whether the ball goes in or not, you’ll miss a lot of basketball. Tatum took a couple of tough shots, but he generally made the right play. I have no clue what is going on with his shot, but history suggests he’s going to figure that out. This was one of his best ball-movement days, and considering that’s what Udoka wants of him, I’ll take that and wait on the shots to fall.
Trust me, he wants them to fall just as much as you do.
The Grant Williams bandwagon is open for business: No one will really learn this lesson because so many people love to overreact, but a LOT of people wrote this guy off. If you served crow to everyone who wrote Grant off after last season, the birds would go onto the endangered species list.
He’s not really going to sustain 50/40/90, but it’s a testament to his work that he’s even there. The fact is that Grant Williams is a good role player who can be pressed into spot starts. He’ll have some very good games, and some very bad ones. But generally, he’s a guy who can be counted on for reliable minutes.
I’ve said that Williams is the type of guy who will probably have a 15-year career on six different teams because he’ll be the kind of player everyone wants in a trade, but not so good that he’s a deal-breaker. He’ll be the “you have to give something up to get something” guy.
For now, he’s been a big for Boston in this role, and it raises a question for Ime Udoka down the road: if this (or a reasonable facsimile of this) is what Grant Williams can give you as a starter, does it make sense to move him into the first group and have either Al Horford or Robert Williams move to the second unit to stabilize the bench?
I’ve been saying since Schröder was acquired that he and Al Horford working together would be a good idea. Now, Horford has generally been great to start the season, and I think he or Robert Williams will still close games, but considering the lack of shooting in the starting lineup, the Grant Williams option on a more regular basis might be one worth considering, especially since it can likely be done with only a slight redistribution of minutes, and no real reduction in playing time for anyone.