As expected, DeMar DeRozan did not suit up for Wednesday’s contest.
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The game remained tied for the final 2:08 of regulation after a Patrick Patterson basket.
The Raptors got off to another terrible start, unable to keep Holiday contained.
The Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics meet Wednesday in National Basketball Association action at the TD Garden. Toronto led by two at the end of the first 12 minutes of action.
Thomas scored at least 20 points in the fourth quarter four times this season while no one else in the league has done it more than once. Led by Marcus Smart (10 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds), the bench helped chip away at a double-digit deficit and carried their momentum into the fourth quarter.
Despite exhausted legs, the Raptors dug deep after the halftime break to keep pace with the Celtics. “We held this team to 41 per cent shooting percentage, we shot 52, we won the rebounding”.
Toronto’s recent struggles are well-documented and this victory snapped a skid in which the team lost six of seven games.
While the Celtics and Raptors are only separated by 0.5 games in the standings, they’ve been trending in completely opposite directions since the new year. Boston’s Terry Rozier and the Raptors’ DeMarre Carroll were each given a technical foul. The Boston Celtics are averaging 108.2 points on 45.5 percent shooting and allowing 105.7 points on 45.3 percent shooting. But Valanciunas guarded the rim expertly, giving Toronto another chance.DeRozan agreed that this is the low point of the Raptors’ season.
Kyle Lowry had a team-high 32 points in 38 minutes.
The Raptors missed 11 free throws combined, shot a miserable 25 per cent from three-point range and looked exhausted at times after the overtime grind of Tuesday night.
Toronto managed to carve out a 77-75 lead heading into the fourth.
I’m going to break this down into two segments.
“You’ve just got to trap him, try to get the ball out of his hands”, Lowry said of the diminutive Celtics guard, who leads the National Basketball Association in fourth-quarter scoring.
The third of four meetings between the two teams takes place tonight at the TD Garden (7:35 p.m., TV: Comcast SportsNet; radio: WZLX-100.7 FM) with the Celtics looking to increase their slight lead over the Raptors, who are going to be shorthanded at guard this time.
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“It feels like every game is close against them and they always beat us, so it was big for us to not put our heads down and not get discouraged and keep at it”, said Isaiah Thomas. But the Pelicans’ inconsistent woes showed up again, especially in the third quarter when they couldn’t get generate enough offense and blew their lead.
