Brown leads Celtics to rare win in Toronto

TORONTO » Boston’s Jaylen Brown celebrated Christmas with something he had never enjoyed before: a road win at Toronto.

Brown scored 30 points, Kemba Walker had 22 and the Celtics beat the Raptors, 118-102, Dec. 25 in the first Christmas Day NBA game played in Canada.

“It was good to get a win here on Christmas,” said Brown, who made five 3-pointers and shot 10 for 13 from the field. “I’ve never won here period, so it was great to just get one.”

Enes Kanter had 12 points and 11 rebounds as the Celtics snapped an eight-game losing streak north of the border and became the first Atlantic Division opponent to win in

Toronto in more than four years.

The Celtics have won four straight to improve to 8-2 in December.

Boston’s Gordon Hayward returned to the starting lineup after missing the past three games because of a sore left foot. He scored 14 points in 26 minutes.

“It’s still a little sore but it’s playable,” Hayward said. “It’s good, it’s good.”

Fred VanVleet scored 27 points in the Raptors’ second straight loss, and Chris Boucher had a career-high 24.

“We weren’t quite physical enough, I thought, for most stretches of the game,” Toronto coach Nick Nurse said.

The Raptors are 2-2 since losing center Marc Gasol (left hamstring), guard Norman Powell (left shoulder) and forward Pascal Siakam (groin) to injuries. Nurse had no update on the status of the trio, but acknowledged their absence is making life difficult.

“Scoring is not very easy for us right now,” Nurse said. “It’s tough.”

Toronto had gone an NBA-record 34 games between home losses to division foes. The Raptors’ last home loss to an Atlantic team was a 111-109 defeat to the New York Knicks on Nov. 10, 2015.

Kyle Lowry scored 14 points and Serge Ibaka had 12 for Toronto. The Raptors shot 8 for 23 from 3-point range.

Kanter arrived dressed in a black t-shirt that read ‘Freedom for ALL’ in white letters. He played outside the United States for the first time since visiting Toronto with the Knicks on Nov. 10, 2018.

COLE BURSTON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Raptors guard Fred VanVleet (23) and teammate Kyle Lowry defend as the Celtics’ Kemba Walker goes to the basket Dec. 25 in Toronto.