Celtics claim in-season tournament win over Raptors: 10 takeaways

Celts

The seasonal tournament is great, but the league needs to make sure the floors are safe.

The Celtics defeated the Raptors 108-105 on Friday in their regular-season tournament. Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images

The Celtics improved to 2-0 in their regular season competition with a hard-fought 108-105 victory over the Raptors on Friday.

Here are the takeaways.

1. The Celtics have won enough lately that we don’t need to start the game. Let’s talk about the court first.

The seasonal tournament brought out a lot of cool designs and the Raptors’ stylish black and gold floor looked great. Sometimes Raptors players were a little confusing to look at because their jerseys matched the floor, but that’s a minor issue.

What the NBA absolutely cannot allow is a safety hazard, and Friday’s court appeared to be one. Several players slid across the floor multiple times in a manner that looked nothing like the normal sweat marks of an NBA game. Most troubling: On the last key play — an inbounds pass for the Celtics with eight seconds left — Jaylen Brown slipped and appeared to pull something in his groin.

Whether or not things go well for Brown in the future doesn’t matter (and they do). no guarantee he will be). This can’t happen! The league is trying to show potential broadcast partners a nice new product with a good brand name, and that’s clearly a positive, but this shouldn’t put players at risk. These special courses are eye-catching and generate some excitement on their own, but the tone will quickly change if players get hurt, and even more so if the player is as good as Jaylen Brown.

The NBA may have something trickling down with the season tournament. The least the league can do — literally the least — is make sure the floors are safe, and that needs to happen before the fun little sideshow tournament impacts the real thing at the end of the year.

2. The Celtics seemed to flounder a bit in the fourth quarter, and Friday’s result looked very much in doubt down the stretch. However, a few things happened that showed the Celtics’ resilience and improved roster.

First, the Celtics took advantage of their size, forcing the Raptors several awkward substitutions, including Dennis Schröder (more on him in a minute) on Kristaps Porzingis, as the Celtics traded baskets with the Raptors and kept pace.

Second, they started executing effectively again at just the right time after the Raptors outpaced them for nearly two quarters. With the game tied in the final minute, Jrue Holiday backed a defender and fired a pass to the corner, where Derrick White buried the triple.

The Celtics no longer have to rely on mismatches or isolation basketball. Mismatches abound in all of their best lineups, meaning a simple execution – on almost any night – should result in a great look.

3. Before getting hurt, Brown was having a very solid game: a team-high 23 points on efficient 9-for-14 shooting, including a big layup down the stretch against Jakob Poeltl. Interestingly enough, Brown seemed to take his duel with Schröder personally when given the chance. Brown enthusiastically supported his former teammate and sent Schröder packing with a particularly emphatic blocked shot.

4. Pascal Siakam did the Celtics a huge favor by committing three fouls in the first quarter. To double the problem for the Raptors, Siakam called for a challenge on the third, which the Raptors lost (costing both their challenge and a timeout). With Siakam sidelined for much of the first half, the Celtics built a 16-point lead at halftime.

With Siakam back in the lineup in the second half, the Raptors came back and took the lead several times. He finished the game at +17, even though the Raptors lost by three.

5. By the way, after watching Jrue Holiday limit Julius Randle, Joel Embiid, and countless other stars seemingly mismatched, we may have found one player he’ll have a hard time guarding. Holiday has no problem pushing back against stronger defenders, but Siakam’s slippery length and touch gave him fits.

It was shocking to see one player make the most of Holiday’s rock-solid defense, which is to say it made it clear just how elite he was on that end of the floor every other night.

6. Kristaps Porzingis had a hugely impactful game: 14 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots. The Raptors attacked him repeatedly, which was brave but foolish; he was instrumental in limiting Toronto around the edge. His two-way performances have been revelatory this season.

7. Less great on the Porzingis front: He picked up his seventh technical of the season, citing the lack of a call in the second half. Ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Sixers, Porzingis told reporters technical aspects are “definitely something I’m working on.”

“This is a little unusual for me, so much so early, but I want to put that down to passion,” Porzingis said. “I play here and enjoy playing with this team. … There are a few that I should have avoided, and I will continue.

Porzingis noted that the technicalities he got from hanging on the rim were “nonsense” and while we would largely agree with it, Friday’s call falls into the category that Porzingis probably should have avoided. He is now nine technical points away from a one-match suspension. The date is November 17.

8. Tatum had an off night (17 points and a brutal 1-for-11 performance from behind the arc), which falls completely off the radar given both the quality of the win and the fact that seven Celtics players scored in double figures scores make the difference.

However, Tatum ripped Drake after the game.

9. The Celtics are now 2-0 in the group match of their season tournament with a point differential of +17. They have two games left in their group stage: one against the Magic (who are good this year) and the Bulls (who are imploding). The Celtics lead Group C 2-0, while the Nets are 2-1. The Magic are 1-1 and the Bulls are 0-2.

A win over the Magic would allow the Celtics to move on, but they have a good reputation regardless.

10. Aside from the regular-season tournament, the Celtics conclude their road trip with a back-to-back against the Grizzlies and Hornets on Sunday and Monday before returning home to prepare for a highly anticipated showdown with the new-look Bucks.