The Boston Celtics authored another chapter in their growing book of escapes Wednesday night, erasing a 22-point first-half hole to steal a 98-93 victory over the Toronto Raptors. It marked Boston’s fifth consecutive win and pushed the defending champions to a league-best 10-2, while Toronto slipped below .500 for the first time this season at 5-6.
A Familiar Script, Flipped on Its Head
Scotiabank Arena was rocking early. The Raptors, missing both Scottie Barnes and Kawhi Leonard, didn’t just compete — they punched first. Ja’Kobe Walter, the rookie from Texas, caught fire from deep. Five three-pointers in the opening frame. Ten triples as a team in the quarter, tying a franchise record. Toronto led by 19. The building smelled like an upset.
Then the Celtics did what champions do. They tightened the screws.
Derrick White, the engine that makes Boston’s offence hum, sparked a 17-2 surge before the break. The deficit shrank to seven at intermission. By the fourth quarter, Jayson Tatum took over — five of his 24 points came in the final frame, along with the kind of calm decision-making that separates the elite from the merely good.
The Barrett Bright Spot
RJ Barrett gave the home crowd something to cheer about. The Mississauga native stuffed the stat sheet: 12 points, eight rebounds, seven assists. He attacked the rim with purpose, facilitated from the elbow, and reminded everyone why the Raptors built around him. But without Barnes’ two-way gravity and Leonard’s late-game mastery, Toronto’s margin for error was razor-thin.
Walter’s 17 points on 5-of-9 from three offered a glimpse of the future. The 19-year-old doesn’t lack confidence. He’ll need more nights like this if Toronto hopes to climb back into the play-in picture.
Tactical Chess Match
The pre-game narrative wrote itself: Boston entered averaging 42.2 three-point attempts per game, fifth in the league. Toronto? Just 35.2, 24th overall. Yet the Raptors attempted 43 triples Wednesday, connecting on 16. They tried to out-Celtic the Celtics — and nearly pulled it off.
Boston’s response was vintage Mazzulla-ball: crash the glass, protect the paint, live with the variance. The Celtics held a modest 45-42 rebounding edge but dominated second-chance points 12-8. They held Toronto to 32 second-half points. Defence, as it so often does in June, travelled in November.
The Schedule Doesn’t Relent
No time to dwell. Toronto boards a plane for Philadelphia Thursday night to face a 9-3 Sixers squad. Boston enjoys a longer reset — three days before welcoming Luka Dončić and the Dallas Mavericks to TD Garden on Sunday.
The Raptors’ injury report will dictate their ceiling. Barnes’ groin strain has now cost him three games. Leonard’s knee swelling remains day-to-day, though “not in the building” suggests more than routine maintenance. In the East’s middle tier, every absence reverberates.
Why it Matters
Boston’s ability to absorb haymakers and respond with surgical precision reinforces their status as the team to beat — not just in the East, but league-wide. For Toronto, the moral victory of pushing the champs to the brink rings hollow when the standings show a losing record and the injury report reads like a MASH unit. The Raptors’ identity crisis — caught between development and competitiveness — just got sharper.
