Final: Celtics 108, Raptors 105 - Raptors give C's a scare

BOSTON CELTICS at TORONTO RAPTORS

7:30 p.m., NBCS Boston    

Line: Boston -9.5

INJURIES

Boston: None

Toronto: OG Anunoby (OUT, finger), Otto Porter (OUT, personal reasons), Christian Koloko (OUT, Illness), Thaddeus Young (OUT, Illness)

LAST TIME: Celtics 117, Raptors 94, at TD Garden

Things started a little slow but the Celtics actually ended up with an efficient first quarter (60% shooting) thanks to Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis. They went on a 19-2 run spanning both quarters but went cold after the lead hit 14. Toronto slowly walked the lead down to four, but Tatum returned to the lineup and they went into the half up 9. Then things escalated quickly in the third as Boston laid the hammer down, pushed their lead to 24 and basically cruised from there.  

NOTES: This is an In-Season Tournament game

THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR

1. Taking care of business: Obviously I’d love to see Boston do what they’ve been doing to bad teams … jump on them early, don’t let up, let the bench handle the fourth quarter. There's a back-to-back coming up on the road, so any built in rest they can get would be great.

2. Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis: Let’s continue to see this buddy cop movie unfold on the court. With both guys taking the day off against Philadelphia, they should have the legs to handle things in the early going. Let’s see how much of the load they're able to handle. 

3. Bench minutes: Regardless of how the game goes, these next three games are a chance for Mazzulla to go deeper into his bench. These are guys who have not gotten a ton of time, so the lesser competition is a chance to spread the wealth, keep his main guys fresh, and keep everyone happy. 

Follow along with my thoughts as the game goes on. They’ll show up below and in the comments section, so hop in and share your opinion as well.