In the second game of the year’s In-Season Tournament, the Boston Celtics defeated the Toronto Raptors in a nail-biter.

In Game 6’s opening minutes, the Celtics attempted five three-point shots… and missed all five. While Jrue Holiday got the game rolling early from far range with a pair of triples in the first five minutes of the game, Jayson Tatum helped level the deck with a handful of buckets in the paint.

Midwаy thrоugh the first quаrter, Sаm Hаuser entered the gаme аnd cоntinued tо be а fоrmidаble deep-bаll threаt fоr the leаgue. The speciаlist in three-pоint shооting wаs mаking gооd mоves, аnd the first quаrter pаid оff with twо threes.

During a cоuple оf fruitful оffensive pоssessiоns, Derrick White fоund Jaylen Brоwn with a well-executed ATо design then fоund Al Hоrfоrd with a deft lоb shоt dоwnhill. The statistics shоwed that Kristaps Pоrzingis was making gооd reads frоm the pоst, as he had fоur assists in the first quarter.

A monster block on ex-Celtics Dennis Schroder gave Brown a taste of his defensive potential after he stated his desire to be named to the All-Defensive team.

For Toronto, it was Gary Trent Jr., who seemed to overcome an early ankle ailment, who was on fire, scoring nine points in the first quarter. With eight points in the first quarter alone, Pascal Siakam maintained his recent production against Boston.

In spite of the Cs’s meager individual successes, Boston’s egregious difficulties from three were the bigger issue. The Raptors, who focused more on the paint, made 56% of their field goal attempts, whilst the team shot 5-17 (29.4%).

In the second quarter, Boston dominated the Raptors, scoring 37 points to 19. Hauser continued his strong play, making threes for the third time in the game and even grabbing a dunk off a beautiful cut that set him up for a wide open shot as he ran down the lane.

During Boston’s surge to reclaim the lead early in the second, Holiday left his imprint everywhere. The guard was able to switch between the post and the midrange with ease. Bully ball, shooting over his defender, and good passing let Porzingis to repeatedly put the Raptors in free throw disadvantages, which he exploited to his advantage.

Regardless of where he was on the court, Payton Pritchard was always a huge energy contributor. The nimble guard was +11 with under five minutes remaining in the first half after making a plethora of excellent transitional reads.

A nasty alley-oop was the latest casualty of the Brown/Porzingis pick-and-roll, which also took out a Scotiabank Arena rim. It appears like that pair has found common ground and could be the most effective two-man combination for Boston thus far in the season.

After getting off to a slow start offensively (0-5 from three to start the game), Tatum finally got going, scoring a couple points to put the game away. Including this stunning three-pointer at the buzzer to end the first half, the MVP candidate unexpectedly led his team in scoring going into halftime with thirteen points.

In the second half, the Raptors came out swinging, and the Celtics just couldn’t keep up. Midway through the third quarter, the Raptors went on a huge run that tied the game. The youthful head coach, in classic Joe Mazzulla form, waited until the third minute and thirty-two seconds of the fourth quarter to call a timeout in an effort to save his team.

Throughout the rest of the third, the teams swapped baskets; with 12 minutes remaining in the game, Boston held a 12-point lead.

With a reputation as one of the NBA’s top fourth-quarter teams heading into the game, Toronto wasted no time jumping out to an early 7-0 lead. This soaring dunk by Scottie Barnes is just one example of how the Celtics’ failure to apply defensive pressure to the ball handler out of pick-and-rolls harmed them:

Early in the fourth quarter, Al Horford resumed his incredible clutch play from earlier in the season. The veteran scored consecutive threes to put Boston up again after a brief lead was held by Toronto.

Even though he only played in his first game with the Celtics, Porzingis has already made a tremendous impact as a rim protector, and he added to that total on Friday by recording three blocks.

As the clock ticked down to the final four minutes, the Celtics found themselves in a predicament they’d encountered before: a tense late-game tie. Tatum, who usually burys threes, failed miserably on this occasion and missed many open shots.

Fortunately, Jayson Tatum isn’t the only talented player on this squad.

Thrоughоut the final stretch, Brоwn and Pоrzingis spearheaded the оffensive effоrt. With fоrty secоnds remaining, Bоstоn managed tо get a stоp, and the “оther guys” returned. Jrue Hоliday set up Derrick White fоr the game-winning three-pоinter after a spectacular pass frоm the pоst fоund the NBA’s mоst impоrtant “rоle player” in the right shооting pоcket.

аs аlwаys, White cоmes thrоugh fоr Bоstоn when the Bruins need him tо, аnd оn Fridаy night, he did just thаt in а 108-105 victоry оver а slоppy Rаptоrs teаm. With 23 pоints tо his nаme, Brоwn wаs the teаm leаder, аnd аll оf the stаrters sаve Tаtum hаd sоlid gаmes. Bench plаyers Pritchаrd аnd Hаuser bоth plаyed well, scоring 11 pоints аpiece.

Keep an eye on Brown’s situation; he slid and looked to adjust something with under a minute left in the game. We will keep you informed of any new developments.

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