On Monday night, the Boston Celtics defeated the Toronto Raptors in a nail-biter in Toronto.

The game quickly became a block bash as Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis scored three of them in the first two minutes of play.

Particularly оn the first pitch, Hоliday was all оver the place. He gоt eight pоints, twо assists, twо rebоunds, and a steal in the оpening six minutes and twenty-five secоnds, in additiоn tо his twо turnоvers.

In the first half, the Celtics’ offense was haphazard, with few exceptions (Jrue), leading to numerous turnovers. At long last, Boston got their defensive act together and scored a couple of goals on a succession of well-executed plays to take a slim lead.

A few minutes intо the first quarter, Pоrzingis put tоgether a pair оf impressive plays. He fed Luke Kоrnet at the rim with a lоvely dish, and then he hit a difficult layup оff the drive.

The opening quarter came down to efficiency from deep, with the Celtics making five of nine tries from long range (55.6% of the time) and Toronto making just two of eight triples. At halftime, Boston led 29-25, with 10 points each from Holiday and RJ Barrett.

The Pritchard, White, Hauser, Horford, and Kornet combo had some trouble getting going in the second quarter, and Toronto swiftly regained the lead.

Horford scored two points off a goaltend in the paint and made a transition three, proving that he understood the message that Jaylen Brown was out with a hyperextended knee and that other players needed to step up offensively.

In Brown’s absence, White averaged 25 points a game heading into this game; despite a shooting slump recently, he continued exactly where he had left off. Early in the second quarter, the dynamic guard increased his point total to twelve thanks to two long-range baskets.

Midway through the second quarter, Oshae Brissett had a chance to score, and he wasted no time jumping on the chance. Brissett finished the quarter with seven points.

Jayson Tatum, aka January Jay, started looking for his shot after a rather quiet first quarter. In the three seconds following his entry into the game, the superstar made a difficult and-1 midrange jumper.

Kristaps Porzingis, as he has done throughout the season, caused problems for the defense when playing in the post. This time, the Unicorn pulled a fast one on Jontay Porter.

With a 61-55 lead at halftime, four different Celtics scored in double figures. Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, two former New York Knicks, scored 30 points apiece to keep the Raptors in the game. Despite tripping up Toronto’s turnovers, the Celtics maintained a commanding lead into halftime.

Barrett continued his strong play from the beginning of the third quarter onward. It was true against the Cs, but it was also true that Steve Nash’s godson appeared completely at ease after returning to Canada.

In the first pоrtiоn оf the secоnd half, Bоstоn’s оffense stalled as they cоmmitted turnоvers. The Celtics came intо Mоnday’s game ranked seventeenth in third-quarter pоints, sо this has been an оngоing prоblem fоr them. The Raptоrs raced оut tо a 71-64 lead in the span оf a secоnd because they appeared tо be the mоre dynamic and energetic оffensive squad.

After dominating in the first half, Porzingis started to make things happen in the second half, leading to five turnovers.

The Celtics’ offense was very sloppy, but they clawed their way back into the game and had a chance to tie it up after a monster and-1 dunk by Tatum.

A huge change in momentum occurred as a result of that play.

Leading the Celtics to a 20-4 run at the end of the third, January Jay lived up to his moniker. At the conclusion of the quarter, Tatum had scored 19 points for the game, and Boston went into the last 12 minutes of the game leading 84-75.

In the first seven points of the fourth quarter, White was unstoppable, helping the Celtics to a 14-point advantage. With two minutes left in the game, the Raptors were able to trim their deficit to four points as the two teams continued to trade runs.

White made a three to put Boston up seven with 1:17 left, despite having another unproductive shooting night. A defensive stop and two three-pointers by Holiday extended the advantage to nine, thus ending any possibility of a comeback by Toronto.

With a 105-96 victory over Toronto, the Celtics improved to 31-9 for the season, though it wasn’t exactly a masterpiece of fourth-quarter execution. All five of Boston’s starters reached double digits, and the offense was well-rounded thanks to 22 points from White and Holiday.

The following game, on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET, will be the Celtics’ visit to TD Garden against the San Antonio Spurs and rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama.