Final: Raptors 137, Celtics 134 (OT) - Hot start, sloppy finish

The Celtics are in Montreal to take on the Toronto Raptors in their final preseason game. It’s their last tuneup before Tuesday’s season opener against the Philadelphia 76ers at the TD Garden. 

Since most of the rotation players sat out the third preseason game, this seems like an opportunity to run some regular rotations for extended time. So here are a few things I’d like to see in this last game.

LUKE KORNET AS A STARTER

The Celtics had a lot of defensive success going big to start games last season, and Joe Mazzulla has preached continuity and carryover. The Celtics also haven't had the opportunity to see Kornet in live action with the starters. 

So this is a prime opportunity to at least start gathering some data on this starting lineup. How well does Kornet fit in? What can he bring that's uniquely helpful? Can he reasonably mimic anything Robert Williams does, at least within the concept of team defense? 

Whatever minutes he plays won’t be enough to provide a definitive answer to those and the many other questions about him as a starter, but it will at least point us in the right direction. Doing it against the Raptors is a good test as well because they're so long and switchy that it will be a challenge for Kornet at both ends of the floor. 

The best case scenario will be Kornet showing he can catch a lob and be a vertical threat while being able to protect the rim defensively. No one is asking him to be Robert Williams, they're just asking him to fill in and handle a couple of his duties for a little while. It’d be nice to see some semblance of that tonight. 

BROGDON-LED LINEUPS

I would like to see a more realistic Malcolm Brogdon-led second quarter lineup. Who will Mazzulla throw out there with him? Will this be a chance for the Celtics to rest Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum together, or will Brogdon get to fully QB second units like he did in the first two games? 

If the minutes restrictions are off, or not as restrictive, we could see a start to the second quarter that more closely mirrors what we can expect this season. We’ve seen Brogdon out there with Sam Hauser and Grant Williams, and maybe adding Brown with Kornet (a stand in for Robert Williams) could give us a glimpse at some of the full power of this bench-featured lineup. 

On the same note, I’d like to see Brogdon hit some shots. The continuity and comfort has looked good for Brogdon so far, but as he said, “it can always get better. I feel like, right now, I haven’t made a lot or some of my open shots that I usually make. But that's all due to rhythm, new team. So those are the ones you're gonna see me knock down, as well as continuing to get guys open and play my game.”

There's a tendency to over-pass and overthink things as the new guy, especially a new guy who is also here to set up other players. It’s not imperative that Brogdon shoot 50% tonight, but it’d be nice to see him get into that rhythm now and carry it over. 

TATUM HITTING SHOTS

Speaking of which, I just want to see Tatum find his range. He’s a notoriously slow starter, but I’d like to see him bust out of that this season. How about a November Player of the Month? 

MAZZULLA’S COACHING CHOPS

I wouldn’t mind seeing a tight game that Boston has to fight to win. I want to see Mazzulla’s plan for stopping runs, out of timeout plays in critical situations, and maneuvering to win a tight game against a championship coach in Nick Nurse. 

It’d be great to get these tests out of the way early so Mazzulla can either (a) impress with his coaching acumen or (b) make big mistakes when they don’t matter so he can learn from them. 

Mazzulla has done an amazing job of keeping the guys focused and on task in the aftermath of the Ime Udoka mess. The first few preseason games haven't given him much of a coaching challenge. I want to see how he runs a tight fourth quarter with his main guys. 

I discussed things I wanted to see in this game with Tom Westerholm of Boston.com in a recent Locked On Celtics podcast. You can watch that if you’d like ahead of the game. You can pop this on instead of the pregame show. 

I’ll be here throughout the game with analysis and comments, so follow along and chime in in the comments section.