BSJ Game Report: Celtics 125, Raptors 71 - Boston rides monster third quarter to easy win

Everything you need to know about the Celtics win over the Raptors, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

Boston missed 10 of their first 11 shots but then went on a big run to take an 11-point lead after one. The scoring didn’t pick up much in the second quarter and the lead was only 45-35 at the half. The Celtics literally doubled their point total in the third, quickly growing their lead to 37 points and putting the game away, leaving the whole fourth for the end of the bench. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Much better effort: Guys were definitely more active today. We saw a lot more deflections and steals. There wasn’t as much standing around and the effort seemed more consistent, even in the first half when they were missing a lot of their shots. 

- Shots fell … eventually: The beginning of this game was kind of gross, but the Celtics finally saw some shots go down. Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and Payton Pritchard had it going all game long, and Jayson Tatum and Sam Hauser joined them in the second half.

- Toronto was awful: I can’t even stress how bad they were in this game. It’s not just that they missed shots (they missed a TON of shots), they turned the ball over a ton (21 times for 20 Celtics points), fouled a lot, and made bad decisions all over the floor. 

TURNING POINT 

The Celtics went on a 21-6 run to end the first quarter and go up 11. They never looked back after that. If for some reason that is too early for a turning point (it wasn’t), I submit the entire 3rd quarter, which Boston won 45-13, as a backup.

THINGS I LIKED

Better effort: Not much more to add to what I said before other than we needed to see this kind of game after the last one. 

"(We were) more active," Pritchard said. "Helping each other. We had more steals, more deflections. We just gotta continue to just be conscious of making a conscious effort on the defensive end and being active and being in help and shifting."

The guards: A combined 12-16 from 3 for White, Holiday, and Pritchard. On the other end they combined for seven steals while White got four blocked shots. Holiday came out strong, Pritchard was on fire off the bench, and White was consistent throughout his whole three quarters. There really isn’t much another team can do if those guys are that locked in on both ends of the floor. 

Jayson Tatum: An easy 23 on 13 shots thanks to 11 free throw attempts and finally getting a few 3-pointers to fall (4-9). 

Jaylen Brown: Didn’t put up monster numbers but he was steady and he got in on the rebounding with a team-high nine. He also had this bully of a drive to the basket. 

Al Horford: His shooting is still way off (0-7 fg, 0-6 3pt) but he was one of three Celtics with four assists and he had a couple of steals, all in just 21 minutes. 

“You can never tell if he's playing well or not by his effort on both ends of the floor,” Joe Mazzulla said. “He does things that don't even get on the score sheet. There was a play in front of our bench where he just got a great screen and roll, read it right, rolled and got a guy an open look. And so he's a huge stability factor, especially in situations like this where we want to be playing better. He kind of sets that standard.

Jordan Walsh: He took full advantage of his fourth-quarter time, scoring 10 points in a variety of ways and also dishing a couple of assists. 

The passing: Boston finished with 29 assists but they were spread throughout the whole roster, with no one finishing with more than four. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

Hey, this category gets a break today! Happy New Year!

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- The Celtics owe their bench games like this

I know we always say the team owes it to the fans to show up and play hard, and that's always true. But I also know that it’s easy to kind of forget that aspect as a player. They don’t always walk around all day thinking about what they owe fans. 

But they do walk around with all those guys in the locker room. They are on the practice floor, in the weight room, and getting dressed next to all those guys every day after practice and before and after every game. They are aware of how much work those guys put into their craft. 

So my appeal to the top five guys on this team isn’t a new one, but a renewed one. Look at what Jordan Walsh did in those 12 minutes on the floor and how much that meant to him. He put up 10 fourth-quarter points in front of a crowd that was still hanging around. Not only is that great for his confidence, it’s a great carrot to dangle in front of him to keep him working hard. 

All of these end-of-bench guys deserve to get some run from time to time. They deserve to be coached by Mazzulla and the Boston staff. They deserve to get some TV time so their families can get excited. 

I don’t expect them to go into it saying “do it for Jordan.” But I do hope that they watch that fourth quarter and not only feel like they're getting a bit of a break, but also that they're giving these other guys their chance to earn more time. I hope they use it as part of their preparation, knowing that if they do what they do best to the best of their ability, they're going to give their teammates a reward, too. It’s important. 

Next up: The Celtics go to Minnesota to start a Western Conference swing on Thursday night.