The Boston Celtics (9-6) 123 - 166 Toronto Raptors (12-4)

First published November 17th, 2018

A dog fight of a game. Kyrie looked like the man that i hated in 2016, amazing. And i'm not gonna talk about refs but they sure were noticeable.

Considering how easily the Celtics switch on D, the most interesting player to watch is Irving. His teammates cover for him when he's being attacked but should one of the two Boston players be caught in the screen during the action, his order not to switch always creates a split second of a wide open Toronto player. In one of those plays i like at least that he kinda slides a bit with Leonard so he got a good spot in the corner but couldn't get a drive.

On offense Kyrie came in putting on a show, with every shot he got off the dribble seemingly going in. This would be the case at the start of the game and would show itself again at the very end. He's lightning quick accelerating and before you know it he hits the open man.

When Irving left the floor, Nurse went full "your outside shot is trash, fight me" mode with a 2-3 zone defense, always to great effect. The penetration and pass combo or the swinging of the ball around the perimeter was producing nothing. This is not to say that the switch defense of Boston was being less effective and Toronto's famous bench unit had an awful time trying to get points. FVV's was a shocker. Toronto finally equalized on the last minutes of the first half with Lowry repeatedly penetrating to the rim and getting to the free throw line. Overall though, his influence this game wasn't anywhere near what it's been for the season.

I have grown to love everything Baynes does. His weird stroke on three pointers, his bullying in the paint, the well set screens and the bulldozing his way on the roll. He was an incredible force in the run to end the third quarter and there's almost a 80's pro wrestling feel to watch him and JV battle it out.

Already into the fourth Irving had another crazy run that seemed to revive the crowd. A note to the defensive approach where Baynes hedges the PnR but tracks back to help out at the rim, instead of directly marking the roll man who is picked up by the wing defender. Toronto would start to get some transition points and keep the game close as the inconsistency of the Celtics jump shots continues to haunt them.

Overall, dealing with Leonard is a hard task. They started doubling him but he kicked it out for an open shot, so then he attacked on 1v1 post ups or get a pull up mid-range if playing in isolation. And he was also getting a ton of boards. However he didn't have the best of games pushing in transition and for most of the game transition points were a non factor for the Raptors.

Big play down the stretch of regulation: great use of length from Ibaka, Siakam and Leonard but Lowry stopping the first attempt of Horford to get the ball is just awesome. Morris would travel in the following play, stacking the odds for Toronto. Good Ol' Gordon Hayward would be the one bringing the game back to a draw with 24.5s remaining after another steal and a couple of free throws in back-to-back plays.

Boston got a lead during OT attacking mismatches, getting one of their wings in on the Toronto guards and posting up. They had to go away from Kyrie who was being picked up full court and double team as soon as he started to dribble inside. I'm not sure what Toronto was trying out get here... Anyway, Siakam would foul out, and being the second starter to do so this felt pretty much finished. Irving would still add the icing on the cake with two more assists including a great final play to run out the clock.

Other notes:

For all the criticism Hayward gets as he's still finding his offense groove, i hear too little about how active he is on defense because every game i see of him he's getting a bunch of well timed strips or deflections. He also does a pretty good job handling the ball on the PnR. I can't believe i saw posts comparing his season and Melo's.

The Celtics have this weird habit of, every so often, they do a stupid contested three some 3 seconds into the halfcourt offense.

KINSHASAAAAAAAAAAAA. Total no-sell by Lowry afterwards and Tatum's got to work on slapping that leg.

(Reddit)