The Celtics looked more like the team fans expect to see for a Thursday night smackdown of the Raptors, in which they never surrendered the lead en route to a 120-106 victory. Blazing-hot offense in the first quarter gave way to some defensive indifference in the second, though not enough for Boston to surrender its advantage to Toronto. The second half had a similar dynamic: heavy Cs firepower to start, then some hairy stretches at the top of the 4th but not enough for the Raptors to change the inevitable.
Toronto’s fatal flaw lay in a defensive strategy where they denied Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum shot opportunities and left virtually every other Celtic wide open.