Smart leads Celtics past short-handed Raptors

TORONTO — Marcus Smart scored 21 points, Al Horford had 17 points and 11 rebounds and the Boston Celtics beat the shorthanded Toronto Raptors 109-97 on Sunday night to snap a two-game losing streak.

Josh Richardson scored 18 of Boston’s 32 bench points. Jaylen Brown added 16 points, and Grant Williams had 15 to help the Celtics improve to 11-10.

Jayson Tatum shot 2 for 16 and scored eight points, but added seven rebounds and a season-high 10 assists.

Fred Vanvleet led Toronto with 27 points, Scottie Barnes had 21, Pascal Siakam 18 and Svi Mykhailiuk 12. The Raptors lost for the sixth time in eight games to fall to 9-12.

Already without forwards OG Anunoby (left hip) and Khem Birch (right knee), who each sat for the sixth straight game, Toronto also without guards Gary Trent Jr. (bruised right calf ) and Goran Dragic. The Raptors released a statement Sunday afternoon saying Dragic had been granted leave to deal with a personal matter, with no definite timeline for his return.

Boston was without guard Dennis Schroder. He sat because of a sprained right ankle.

The Celtics led 27-26 after one. Williams scored seven points in the second and Brown and Richardson

each had six as Boston took a 54-51 lead at the half.

The Celtics took the lead four times in the third quarter before a 9-1 run triggered by four straight Al Horford points opened up enough space for an 80-76 lead by the start of the fourth.

Tatum missed twice more in the first minute of the fourth, but the Celtics scored the first four points. Toronto cut the lead to 84-81

84-81 on Mykhailiuk’s second 3-pointer of the night, and the forward scored again for a one-point game before Richardson opened some space with a 3-pointer.

Richardson’s bomb triggered a 14-2 run that also included a coast-to-coast drive from Tatum, who then picked up his eighth assist by setting up a Smart 3-pointer for a 93-83 Celtics lead with 7 minutes, 27 seconds left. Smart capped the run from downtown for a 98-85 lead.

The Celtics then answered a brief Toronto flurry, thanks largely to work on the boards by Enes Kanter Freedom and Romeo Langford, with four straight points, including a Richardson jumper, for a 104-91 lead with 2:37 left.

The Celtics made 19 straight free throws to begin the game before Tatum missed with just over a minute left in the second quarter. Boston finished 29-for31 at the line.

After making five 3-pointers in his first 20 games, Barnes had four against Boston, including three in the third quarter.

Toronto began a seven-game homestand and, including Sunday’s game, will close out 2021 by playing 12 of 15 at home.

Acquired from Miami in the trade that sent Kyle Lowry to the Heat, Dragic is averaging eight points and 1.8 assists in five games with Toronto. He’s played just once since Oct. 25.

“First of all, he’s a really good dude, extremely professional, very wise ... enjoyable guy to be around and coach,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said of Dragic.

Dragic, 35, from Slovenia, has played in just five games with the Raptors.

Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said that Dragic had the team’s “full support.”

“He has been a complete professional in the time that he has been with the Raptors. Goran has been a great mentor to our younger players and a valued teammate for our veterans,” Webster said in a statement. “He will continue to work out and stay in shape during his time away.”

Webster said there is no defi