Over the years, the Raptors have been bullied and beaten by the perennial championship contending Boston Celtics (remember The Truth putting CB4 in the fetal position?). Most recently, a week and a half ago, they were embarassed by the Celtics 100-64 at TD Garden.
Tonight, the Raptors had a chance to gain some measure of revenge, and that they did. Toronto came out with intensity right from the get go, outscoring Boston 26-14 in the first and kept their effort level up the whole night to get the 86-74. Their solid D allowed them to get out and run a little bit, scoring 12 fast break points. On offense, they were aggressive, outscoring the Celtics in points in the paint 42-28. The Raptors never trailed in this game.
As a Raps fan, not too much to complain about tonight. The bench was off, shooting only 7-25 from the field combined, but it didn’t matter as the starters were on their A-game tonight. Amir had 12 pts, 12 rebs and 2 blks while James Johnson continued his strong play at both ends with 14 pts, 7 rebs, 3 stls, 2 blks. Jose had one of his ultra-efficient nights, scoring 17 pts while dishing out 14 asts with no turnovers. And DeMar was once again the agressive version of himself, scoring 21 pts including 7-7 from the free throw line. Aaron Gray chipped in with 11 rebs.
Next up: The Lakers visit the ACC on Sunday. Will the Raptors put an end to more bullying from another storied franchise (Raps fans will never forget Kobe’s 81)? Tune in Sunday afternoon!
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