Celtics vs Raptors: Tatum Leads 22-Point Comeback in 98-93 Win
Jayson Tatum's late free throws capped Boston's rally from 59-37 down in Toronto, the Celtics' fifth straight win without Paul George.
Down 22 on the road, on the second night of a back-to-back, and without Paul George. The Boston Celtics still found a way.
Jayson Tatum hit the tying and go-ahead free throws with 25.2 seconds left, and Boston erased a 22-point hole to beat the Toronto Raptors 98-93 on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena. Celtics vs Raptors looked like a blowout for most of the first half. It ended as Boston’s fifth straight win.
The Celtics are now 10-2. Toronto fell to 5-6, under .500 for the first time this season.
Toronto came out on fire
The Raptors buried 10 threes in the first quarter alone, tying a franchise record, and led 38-29 after one. It got worse for Boston in the second. Jamal Shead’s free throw with 5:24 left in the half made it 59-37.
That was Toronto’s high-water mark. And this was a Raptors team playing without Scottie Barnes and Kawhi Leonard.
The 16-0 run that changed Celtics vs Raptors
Boston answered with 16 straight points, and Tatum carried the front end of it by himself, according to the AP.
The wildest part was a seven-point trip. Collin Murray-Boyles was called for a flagrant foul as Tatum knocked down a 3-pointer. Tatum made the free throw, Boston kept the ball, and 12 seconds later Tatum found Baylor Scheierman for another triple, per the Celtics’ official recap.
Halftime: Toronto 61, Boston 54.
The Celtics grabbed their first lead since the opening minutes at the 7:09 mark of the third. The Raptors went cold from deep, making 3 of 9 threes in the third after a 12-for-26 first half, as Raptors HQ noted. Toronto still took an 80-75 lead into the fourth.
An 8-0 finish
RJ Barrett scored back-to-back buckets to put Toronto up 93-90 with about a minute left. The Raptors didn’t score again.
Boston closed on an 8-0 run. Tatum’s two free throws with 25.2 seconds left tied it and then put the Celtics ahead, and Boston iced it at the line from there. Toronto scored 13 points in the fourth quarter and 32 in the entire second half.
Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic liked his team’s defense anyway. “We did a good job of containing the ball,” he said.
Tatum’s ugly line, big night
This wasn’t pretty shooting. Tatum went 6 for 21 from the field and 2 for 11 from deep. He made up for it everywhere else:
| Celtics | PTS | REB | AST | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jayson Tatum | 24 | 7 | 8 | 10-of-12 FT, 2 blocks |
| Derrick White | 19 | 1 | 7 | 4 blocks |
| Payton Pritchard | 14 | 1 | 1 | Off the bench |
| Neemias Queta | 11 | 13 | 3 | Plus-27 |
Tatum got to the line 12 times, and Boston went 24 of 28 as a team. His first block of the night was the 395th of his career, which moved him past Kevin Garnett into ninth on the franchise’s all-time blocks list.
Queta might have been the quiet MVP. Boston won by five and was plus-27 with him on the floor, which means the Celtics were outscored by 22 in the minutes he sat.
Hardwood Houdini, as cited by Yahoo Sports, reported the comeback ties for the second-largest of the Joe Mazzulla era.
Celtics roll without Paul George
George missed the game with an illness, one night after he dropped 36 points on the 76ers in Philadelphia. Boston won that one too, 123-101, and finished a four-game road trip 4-0: Charlotte, Milwaukee, Philly and Toronto.
The Celtics are also 4-0 against the Atlantic Division, while division rival New York just lost to James Harden and the Cavaliers. Boston’s streak is still well short of San Antonio’s, which hit 10 straight with Victor Wembanyama’s comeback in Chicago.
What it means for Toronto
Ja’Kobe Walter led the Raptors with 17 points and five threes, and rookie Allen Graves added a career-high 13. Barrett finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists on 5-of-16 shooting.
The bench and the role players kept Toronto in it. Without Barnes and Leonard, though, the offense went dry in the final minute. The Raptors have lost two straight.
The Celtics finally get a break. They’re back home Sunday, Nov. 15, against the Dallas Mavericks at 6 p.m. ET, with Orlando coming to TD Garden the next night.
Sources: AP via WPRI, Celtics.com, The Canadian Press, Raptors HQ, The Sports Leader, Yahoo Sports
