Boston Celtics remind East how dangerous they can be vs. Raptors

Boston Celtics show their dominance once again

The matchup between the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors was a highly anticipated one. A battle of two of the Eastern Conference’s biggest heavyweights was sure to mean yet another competitive game in the NBA’s restart.

Unfortunately, the result was anything but competitive in a surprising way. The Toronto Raptors came into their game against Boston as one of only two undefeated teams in the NBA’s restart. Playing with great defense and excellent ball-movement the Raptors were looking like defending champions.

Just down the sideline, the Celtics were a team still looking to find their footing. After being one of the strongest teams in the NBA’s regular season, Boston was just 2-2 coming in against the reigning champs. The team’s defense had not been up to the fifth-ranked level they held during the regular season while the Celtics offense struggled with shooting and chemistry.

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The game was expected to be a battle, one that would see either two offenses go off on each other or two top-10 defenses playing chess for 48 minutes. With how Toronto has played though surely it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see the Raptors get another dominant win. Seeing Boston earn one was though.

A big-time 122-100 win for the Celtics marked a turnaround for Boston, the team rounded back into form on both ends of the floor while head coach Brad Stevens seemed to also solidify what will become his playoff rotation going forward.

How the Boston Celtics found its groove

For the Celtics, they figured themselves out against the Raptors by playing the game just like Toronto. Boston started their game with an emphasis on defense and not letting up. Over the course of the Celtics time in the bubble, they had consistently started slow on that end of the floor but not against the Raptors.

Not selling out on ball-fakes, making smart switches, and forcing turnovers was key to Boston playing their most cohesive defensive game since the season’s restart. Holding the Raptors to a season-low 37 first-half points. They finished the game holding the Raptors to a mere 100 points.

It was a bounce-back performance specifically for the team’s rim-protection and the defense of Boston’s star wings Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. The Raptors ended with 17 turnovers for the game and the performance eventually bled into the team’s offense.

After coming alive against the lowly Nets for 149 points, Boston’s offense looked even better once they got going against Toronto. It really looked like Brad Stevens took notes from the Raptors even as Boston was insistent on moving the ball consistently and finding the best shot.

The result was again strong offensive performances from Brown and Tatum. Brown scored a team-high 20 points while Tatum scored 18 points. Those numbers may seem low but they are actually positive because Boston was so good the duo didn’t need to play the fourth quarter and they both played in the flow of Stevens offense.

The result was a balanced scoring attack that also saw Kemba Walker score 17 points while role-players like Brad Wanamaker, Daniel Theis, and Robert Williams scored in double figures as well. The team play was quite impressive as the Celtics finished with 27 assists.

A finalized rotation for Brad Stevens?

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said that his plan for the last of the team’s seeding games was for the team to play normal minutes the rest of the way, essentially meaning that team’s rotation come playoff time is locked in or close to finalized.

From this game against the Raptors, the Celtics relied on obvious players Walker, Brown, Tatum, forward Gordon Hayward, Theis, and sixth-man Marcus Smart along with a second-unit filled out by Brad Wanamaker and Robert Williams. Missing was big man Enes Kanter who was rested against the Raptors.

That means that Stevens is primarily rolling with a nine-man rotation of his veteran players going into the playoffs. A move that could be questionable for the team given their bench performance for much of the regular season.

Moving forward

Starting with just the game, if the Boston Celtics can carry the play they showcased against Toronto the rest of the way then they’re a dangerous team. A team with 4-5 legitimate scoring and ball-handling options is extremely rare and could be back into Eastern Conference contention.

When Boston’s main contributors are on, there’s just no stopping them and the performance they provide means that the team can cover up for a poor bench unit. After all, the NBA is a player’s league where most champions win from the ability to ride their star players.

Stevens’ rotation is still a question, though. There’s no doubt that Brad Stevens is one of the best coaches in the league and his tenure with Boston has been highly successful often over-performing with less but his rotations have always been questionable.

Look at last season, the Celtics had an extremely talented roster that was much of this team with the addition of players: Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, Terry Rozier, and Marcus Morris. Now last year’s Celtics failed for a variety of reasons but one of them was Stevens’ failure to properly stagger the talent the team had.

This season, Boston has severely limited their rotations and all four rookie contributors for this team aren’t playing major rotation minutes. First-round picks Romeo Langford and Grant Williams along with second-round selections Carsen Edwards and Tremont Waters have barely played and probably won’t play much come playoff time.

Stevens likes to make young players really earn their keep and often they sit in their first season as Jaylen Brown did. Is this the right move for a team looking to go on an NBA Finals run but lacks a strong second unit?

Only time will tell what this up-and-down Boston Celtics team will show the rest of the NBA come playoff time. For now, let’s just focus on the fact that the Celtics put the league on notice by tearing through the Raptors.