Playing short-handed, the Celtics once again showed their multi-faceted potential.
The Celtics were short-handed on the second night of a back-to-back on Friday, but they pulled out a hard-fought 120-118 victory over the Raptors to stay perfect at home.
Here are the takeaways.
1. The Celtics survived a wild finish.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Celtics held a 13-point advantage, but with Jaylen Brown on the bench (and with Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford all sidelined for maladies that are likely euphemisms for “rest”), the Raptors needed fewer than four minutes to go on an 18-3 run and take a 104-102 lead.
The next eight minutes went back and forth. The Celtics took a three-point lead on a layup by Derrick White with just over a minute remaining, but Scottie Barnes — who scored 30 points overall — buried a 3-pointer. The Celtics took a two-point lead on a lob from Brown to Luke Kornet, but Dennis Schröder was fouled driving to the hoop and had a chance to tie.
That’s when things started to get weird. Schröder went 1-for-2. The Celtics inbounded the ball (barely) and Pascal Siakam fouled Jrue Holiday (barely). With a chance to put the Celtics up by three, Holiday went 1-for-2, giving the Raptors life. Barnes then beat Holiday off the dribble, but Oshae Brissett made a nice defensive play to force a miss. The Celtics got the ball to Holiday, and he went back to the free-throw line … where he went 1-for-2 again.
The Raptors missed a half-court heave at the buzzer, which should have been the end of things, but the game wasn’t quite done being weird. Officials summoned everyone back onto the court, conferred, and determined that White fouled Siakam on the rebound after Holiday’s missed free throw. That sent Siakam to the line with a chance to make the first and miss the second, which gave the Raptors a puncher’s chance to force overtime.
“I didn’t think he called it,” White said. “The game ended and then he looked and he was like, ‘No, no. Foul.’”
Siakam made and missed the requisite free throws, but Kornet tipped the rebound away, and the game — finally — was over. The Celtics remained perfect at home.
2. Jaylen Brown got off to a great start, scoring 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting in the first quarter including 4-for-4 shooting from behind the arc. Brown fired up a heat-check triple and started back down the court before it swished through.
Brown’s final totals didn’t quite match his fiery start, but he recorded 31 points on 11-for-16 shooting, as well as 10 rebounds and six assists.
