Traveling to Ontario, after dominating the Nets the day before, in Brooklyn, the best team in the league did the job and above all showed that it was at the top of its game. Even without Al Horford and Malcolm Brogdon, or Robert Williams of course.
Opposed to Raptorsthem Celtics have thus won their twentieth success of the season (116-110), having only needed a simple boost, carried out in the third quarter (35-18), to get to the shelter and ensure a relatively peaceful end to the match.
As often, these are Jayson Tatum (31 points, 12 rebounds) and Jaylen Brown (22 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists) who guided Boston to victory, to resist a good but lonely Pascal Siakam (29 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists) on the side of Toronto.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
— Boston struck after the break. At the end of a very balanced first half, between two almost mirror teams, the Celtics accelerated once the start of the third quarter was recorded. Under the impetus of Jaylen Brown (6 points) and Marcus Smart (7 points), but above all Jayson Tatum (17 points), they quickly blew up the Raptors (35-18), unable to resist their physical intensity, their aggressiveness and their address. Easy, the C’s didn’t force anything and just gave the impression of reciting their scales, being enhanced by all the talent of the elusive and active Tatum.
— The “Jay’s” in control. Are there still doubts about the identity of the best duo in the league? Certainly not, both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are walking on water this season. Above all, they do so by only very rarely giving the air of surpassing themselves. As if they finally kept some under their feet. New illustration this night when, as soon as it was necessary to accelerate or in any case do what was necessary for Boston to stay in contact and then take shelter, the Tatum/Brown pair took turns to punish the Canadian defense. Like the third quarter, where the two All-Stars made the difference, in scoring or passing…
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Pascal Siakam. As a good leader of the Raptors, the Cameroonian held the Canadian house as best he could, first putting his team on track in the first period, to give them the advantage at half-time, before being the only one to float after the break, when the Celtics began to take the lead over Toronto. Aggressive and present in all aspects of the game, “Spicy P” did not disappoint and held its rank this night, unlike others…
✅ Marcus Smart. Third thief of the Celtic “Big Three”, the reigning Defender of the Year has been true to himself in defense, sacrificing himself as soon as possible to recover possessions and contributing in particular to the poor game of Fred VanVleet, in addition to playing the X factors in attack. Because, with his 18 points and 7 assists at 4/8 at 3-pts, the Boston leader simply knew how to exploit his balls received on this side of the floor to perfection. In particular in the third quarter where, with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, he allowed the C’s to stand out on the scoreboard, with his various banderillas from afar.
✅ Blake Griffin. Relaunched and downright established by Joe Mazzulla, to make up for the absence of Al Horford, the six-time All-Star responded and delivered one of his best outings of the season, if not the best: 13 points and 8 rebounds in 32 minutes, 5/6 on shots. Active, combative and efficient, the former interior of the Clippers, Pistons and Nets has excelled in the skin of the role player luxury and above all he proved to his coach that he could call on him, even on short streaks, once the players who are ahead of him in Boston’s rotation have recovered.
⛔ Fred VanVleet. Only 8 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists in 38 minutes, 3/14 on shots and 1/6 at 3-pts. So much for the stats of the Raptors point guard, clearly not on his plate today offensively and who dropped the team’s other All-Star, Pascal Siakam. A failed performance, in all respects, but ultimately like his last seven meetings: 14.6 points and 6.3 assists on average, but at 31% on shots and 24% at 3-pts. No coincidence, therefore, if Toronto is in the hard with this third defeat conceded in four games…
THE FOLLOWING
Toronto (12-12) : reception of the Lakers, on the night of Wednesday to Thursday (01:30).
Boston (20-5) : trip to Phoenix, in the night from Wednesday to Thursday (04:00).
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