Here are the takeaways, as the Celtics were blown out 115-83 in their home opener by the Raptors.
1. Nobody reasonable panicked after the season-opening loss to the Knicks — a good team playing in front of an electric home crowd, led by a star player in Julius Randle whose archetype was tough for the Celtics without Al Horford.
Panic is still premature after Friday’s loss (some letdown after Wednesday was always possible), but the Celtics whose game plan broke down in the third and fourth quarters looked disturbingly familiar. After the NBA paid homage to former Celtics players pre-game — Paul Pierce, Satch Sanders, Cedric Maxwell, Danny Ainge, Leon Powe, and Brian Scalabrine were honored on the court — the Celtics inadvertently paid homage to last year’s team with their performance which, like so many in 2020-21, drew boos from TD Garden.