Collapsing like a deck of playing cards to the Toronto Raptors completely encapsulated all the things that’s been incorrect with the Boston Celtics as of late.
Toronto, a crew higher suited to tanking to draft Cooper Flagg than clinching a playoff berth, pulled the rug out from beneath Boston on Wednesday evening. The reigning champions have been in full well being and arrived at Scotiabank Enviornment because the seventh-worst 3-point capturing crew — at 32.8% — within the league because the begin of 2025, and even that wasn’t sufficient of a wake-up name.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown mixed for a season-low 26 factors, as a duo, on 9-of-31 capturing from the sphere en path to a 110-97 defeat.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla issued a message to Boston’s locker room in Toronto amid a 7-7 hunch within the crew’s final 14 video games.
“Simply stick collectively,” Mazzulla informed reporters, as seen on NBC Sports activities Boston’s postgame protection. “Clearly, we’re not taking part in our greatest basketball. You possibly can’t count on issues to at all times be straightforward. You possibly can’t have an expectation that it’s at all times purported to go your manner, trigger it’s not. We simply should discover a approach to benefit from the problem however ensure that we do it collectively. … You simply should benefit from the problem of going by means of it. That’s an awesome take a look at of what the NBA season presents so we simply gotta discover the enjoyment in that.”
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Boston, lower than 4 weeks in the past, recess bullied the identical Toronto crew throughout their New Yr’s Eve assembly at TD Backyard, issuing a 125-71 loss that marked the all-time worst in Raptors franchise historical past. This time, Toronto’s vengeance overpowered, overperformed and overwhelmed the Celtics amid a certain guess matchup.
As soon as the Raptors found the formulation for punishment — inside scoring — the uphill climb grew to become an avalanche effort from the C’s. Boston’s protection allowed Toronto to shoot 73.7%% from the ground within the third quarter and cement the game-establishing run to use the Celtics and their ongoing points — scoring, depth, and changes.
Mazzulla succumbed finally with 1:22 minutes remaining within the fourth quarter making a five-man change to unload the bench.
“We simply weren’t nice on both finish of the ground,” Mazzulla stated.
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Payton Pritchard’s 20 factors off the bench and Tatum’s close to triple-double (16 factors, 10 rebounds and 7 assists) have been the few rays of hope that stored the Celtics within the operating for a victory. Tatum’s sluggish 5-for-15 efficiency from the sphere didn’t get in the way in which of the five-time All-Star’s involvement in each different space, however it was removed from sufficient to scrub up the bigger-picture mess.
Derrick White’s All-Star candidacy collapse — White has shot 22% from three over his final 5 video games — coupled with the crew’s defensive wrestle in opposition to the pick-and-roll with cellular massive males, subjected the C’s to pay the worth. That worth was too steep for Mazzulla’s clipboard, Tatum’s toughness and Boston’s will to play catch-up.
Toronto snapped its 10-game shedding streak when dealing with the Celtics, dropping them to 28-12 on the marketing campaign, following their 21-5 begin.
Till Boston places its foot down firmly, groups throughout the league will proceed to poke at their vulnerabilities and exploit the title defenders in ways in which’ll query whether or not or not the championship hangover is in play.
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