Put Celts in their place
Toronto is tough on Green
TORONTO — Few road stops in the Brad Stevens era have been as frustrating as the Air Canada Centre or, as it has been renamed, Scotiabank Arena.
“Does anybody have a good record in here? That would be my first question,” Stevens said. “It’s a tough place to play. We go to a lot of great places with a lot of great fans that are on top of you. Then you add in great talent and cohesion — it’s a hard place to play.”
And so the tough times continued here for the Celtics last night with a 113-101 loss to the Raptors.
Kyrie Irving picked up his offensive production from a slow opening night with 21 points on 10-of-20 shooting, to go along with another 16 from Jayson Tatum.
But at least the regularseason dynamic between these two teams hasn’t changed.
Kawhi Leonard answered the crowd’s M-V-P chants with a worthy performance of 31 points on 10-of-25 shooting, to go along with 10 rebounds and three assists.
Toronto put the night away with a 13-2 run in the last 2:28 that gained its power with back-to-back 3-pointers from Danny Green and Kyle Lowry.
The Celtics struggled from the field, shooting 40.4 percent, though Gordon Hayward continued to improve, this time with 14 points on 6-for-13 shooting.
The Celtics tied the score at 84-84 on an Irving drive, followed by a Hayward three-point play, and lost it just as quickly when, following Jaylen Brown’s third 3-pointer of the night for a brief 87-86 lead, the Raptors ran off six straight points for a 92-87 lead.
The Celtics hung tight over the next two minutes thanks to Al Horford’s put-back, a Marcus Morris 3-pointer and two Tatum free throws, cutting the Toronto lead to 97-94.
But Serge Ibaka’s work on the offensive glass extended possessions for the Raptors following Leonard’s second trey. Ibaka and Leonard then sandwiched jumpers around an Irving 20-footer as Toronto’s lead was at 10196 with 3:35 left.
Horford’s 3-pointer off an Irving kick-out pass with 2:53 left briefly cut the Toronto lead to 101-99, before Toronto hit a pair of daggers with the back-to-back 3-pointers from Green and Lowry.
The Raptors carried that 107-99 lead into the last two minutes, with Leonard hunting down Tatum on a chase-down block to preserve the edge.
The Toronto run extended to 10-0 on a Lowry 20-footer and an Ibaka putback for a 111-99 lead with 32.9 seconds left.
The Celtics carried a 5349 lead into the half that featured an improving Irving, who scored seven of his nine points in the second quarter.
Tatum had nine points and five boards, and overall the Celtics shot the ball decently at 46.7 percent, 41.2 on 3-pointers.
With Leonard scoring six straight Raptors points during a heated opening to the third, Toronto pulled within 60-59 of the Celtics, only to lose ground to a Morris 3-pointer.
But the exchange continued, with Leonard cutting the C’s lead to 67-66 on free throws after catching Irving with an up-fake beyond the arc.
Tatum answered with a dunk, but two 3-pointers by Toronto’s Green kept the Celtics at bay.
With four straight points from the line, Toronto took a 78-74 lead late in the third.
Hayward seemed to find his range, first with a 3-pointer and then a 15-footer that trimmed the Toronto lead to 82-79 by the end of the third.