Celtics close out first half of season with 132-125 win over Toronto
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They’ll be on opposite sides of Sunday’s NBA All-Star game — Jayson Tatum as a member of Team Durant and Jaylen “Under-appreciated” Brown, as LeBron James called him, playing for the Lakers’ star.
But the two still-young Celtics’ stars finished off the first half of the season where they belonged, at the head of a 132-125 win over Toronto on Thursday night. The Celtics, answering a challenge from Brad Stevens four games ago, when life had a cloudier look, thus extended their win streak to four straight.
Tatum scored 18 of his 27 points in the second half. Brown, on the attack all night, scored 11 of his 21 points from the line on 11-for-16 free-throw shooting, though he was 4-for-8 from the line down the fourth-quarter stretch.
Chris Boucher’s 3-pointer cut the Celtics lead to 121-117 with 3:03 left, but the Raptors center also fouled Brown, who hit the second of two free throws for a five-point lead.
Brown returned the favor, fouling Boucher, who hit twice from the line, cutting the Celtics edge to three points.
Brown went back to the line with 2:25 left, again missed his first attempt before hitting the second, and Kemba Walker drew a charge on Norman Powell. Tatum responded with an 18-footer for a 125-119 lead, and Jeff Teague followed with a floater with 1:16 left that boosted the edge to eight points.
Stanley Johnson hit from downtown, but Tatum, under pressure, hit a fadeaway over Johnson. Boucher cut the Celtics lead to four with a 3-pointer, but Brown again missed his first free throw before hitting the second with 29.1 seconds left for a 130-125 lead and, essentially, the game.
Tatum’s 11-point third quarter broke the game open for the Celtics, who carried a 101-92 lead into the fourth after trailing for most of the first half.
Opening up more room was a problem, though thanks to improved defensive presence, the Celtics kept the Raptors at arm’s length. Rob Williams’ conversion of a Payton Pritchard lob was good for an eight-point lead with 8:25 left, though the Raptors were back in an offensive flow.
But Brown’s 3-pointer with 7:20 left was good for an 11-point lead. Grant Williams, with 17 points at this stage, was a fine supplement at both ends for his teammates, along with fellow reserves Pritchard and Teague.
Grant Williams’ ability to foil a lob to Boucher set the stage for a Tristan Thompson three-point play that gave the Celtics a 119-108 lead with 5:33 left. Brown’s transition drive off a Walker feed boosted the edge to 121-109.
Powell, an unrestricted free agent this summer, made a great case for himself with a 21-point, 6-for-12, four-trey first half that found the Celtics trailing, 70-66.
Their lack of defensive intensity was largely responsible for the Raptors shooting 55.6% on the way to a 70-point half.
The Celtics began the third with better defensive intensity, cut the Toronto lead to a point on a Tatum free throw that was undone by a Powell hoop, and the pattern continued until Brown drove off a rebound for a 75-74 Celtics lead. Brown drove again, this time drawing the foul and hitting twice for a 77-74 lead.
Brown’s seventh straight Celtics point was followed by a Tatum dunk, and with 7:37 left in the third, their lead now had some heft at 82-77.
Tatum carried on from there. His 3-pointer was good for a 96-87 lead with 1:20 left in the third, with a Grant Williams corner trey boosting the lead to 99-89.