Raptors avoid humiliation but can't complete comeback against Celtics

The Toronto Raptors played some of their worst and best basketball of the season all in the same game on Sunday afternoon.

The visiting Boston Celtics scored 75 points on them in the first half, built up a lead as big as 23 and appeared to be on the way to an easy win before things surprisingly shifted and Toronto actually took the lead briefly in the fourth quarter.

In the end, a rolling Celtics team (wins in 10 of 12) survived and handed Toronto its fifth loss in six games, but the Raptors at least woke up and made it close, showing some heart in the 121-113 defeat.

Instead of rallying from possibly the worst performance of the season Friday against Charlotte, the Raptors got bullied, out-worked and were completely outclassed by the Celtics, who launched three-pointer after three-pointer and moved the ball around beautifully early.

With the full NBA spotlight set to shine on the team on Tuesday for its NBA Cup semifinal game against the New York Knicks, it looked like that one might be an ugly spectacle based on how they were playing. But Brandon Ingram (30 points) and Scottie Barnes (18, plus 11 rebounds and eight assists) were strong, several little-used reserves stepped up, and a complete disaster was averted.

“They were not the same guys. Energy was different,” Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said of what changed in the second half.

“Urgency was different. Couple other guys stepped up over there in the second half and helped us … I’m demanding more urgency from the whole team, demanding more scrappiness, because when we do that like we did it in the second half, we’re a completely different team, and we can compete with any team in this league. We just got to do that over the course of 48 minutes. It cannot be just one half,” Rajakovic said.

More takeaways from a strange afternoon for the Raptors:

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Most thought this would be a “gap year” for the Celtics, since perennial MVP candidate Jayson Tatum was expected to be lost for the season as he recovers from a right Achilles tear suffered in May. The thinking was they would struggle without Tatum and off-season castoffs such as Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday and Al Horford, and would settle for a high draft pick and return to contender status next year.

Instead, Tatum has been working to a return at some point and Boston has vastly exceeded expectations with Jaylen Brown averaging 29 points a game (he had 30 Sunday) and the team averaging the second-most points per 100 possessions in the NBA with the fifth-best net rating (points per 100 minus points allowed per 100 possessions). They attempted 47 three-pointers to 21 for the Raptors and made 20 of them.

Sunday’s win put them ahead of the Raptors for third in the East and they’re inexplicably right back in the mix in a weak conference.

“They’re elite in pick and rolls, and they’re elite three point shooting team, and how they create that is just through simple pick and roll action and just simple passes to create closeouts,” Rajakovic said. “So they’re a really hard match up.”

HITTING A RUT

Sophomores Jamal Shead and Ja’Kobe Walter have both had their moments for the Raptors, but it has been tough sledding for them lately.

Shead came into Sunday shooting 26% from the field over his last 10 games, including 20% on three-pointers, and Walter was at 36% over his previous seven.

Shead missed his first five shots against Boston, but hit a big three-pointer that made a game that had long been a blowout to a three-possession one, and also hit three of his next four shots.

Shead said Rajakovic has stayed in his corner. “We’ve had a lot of conversations. I can’t be in my own world or own bubble. These guys need me to be a vocal leader, an energy giver, just be myself every night. We’ve had conversations about it. It’s what you do outside of here. I’ve got to get some more rest. I’ve got to get my body better and just all around be a better professional,” Shead said.

Walter (and fellow wing Gradey Dick) were all but invisible.

BARRETT NEWS ON THE WAY

Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said before the game that RJ Barrett’s status would be updated Monday after practice.

Barrett has missed eight games since suffering a non-contact knee injury, though he’s poked his head in to say hello to at least a couple of post-game media gatherings.

In the first seven games without Barrett, Toronto had been the worst offensive team in basketball (30th in offensive rating, effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage). That’s not all because of Barrett not playing, of course, but his play style and finishing ability has been missed. A return this week would be a major lift for a struggling team.

Rajakovic tried something new, playing fellow Canadian A.J. Lawson on Sunday. Lawson, a bright spot last season in a campaign without many, had been averaging 25 points a game in the G League for unbeaten Raptors 905. He scored seven points in his first seven minutes of the season against the Celtics and has some similarities stylistically with Barrett in how he can run the floor and cut to get open well and also provides more of a consistent outside shooting threat to the mix.

With Jamison Battle injured, playing Lawson made even more sense.

Lawson finished with 10 points and five fouls in 13 minutes, Ochai Agbaji added 11 in 22 minutes.

EVERYONE LOVES CHRIS

Celtics reserve Chris Boucher received a warm reception just before tipoff. It was his first game back after signing with the Celtics as a free agent after 406 games with Toronto, 12th on the franchise’s career games played list and ahead of the likes of Vince Carter, OG Anunoby and Antonio Davis.

Boucher was the last link to the championship team and one of the best stories in franchise history, having made the team out of Las Vegas Summer League and become one of the premier reserves they have employed.

Boucher waved to the crowd after the tribute video was played.

Unfortunately for Boucher, who didn’t get into the game, he hasn’t found much of a role yet in Boston, appearing in only eight games and averaging just 11.4 minutes.

@WolstatSun