The Boston Celtics came out aggressive against the Toronto Raptors as they sought their first win streak of the Disney bubble, and it produced despite the Raptors throwing out the clamps early.
The Celtics broke out their clamps as well, though, and held the Raptors scoreless for more than two minutes to start the game while jumping out to an early 12-2 lead.
Toronto fought back with a couple of quick makes, cutting the lead to 16-10 on a Fred Van Vleet trey, but Boston kept the pressure on and pushed the lead as high as 10, the first frame ending with the Celtics up 21-14.
Came out aggressive ☘️ pic.twitter.com/DRiyan1ABd
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) August 8, 2020
The second quarter began with All-Star forward Jayson Tatum running a layup right down the Raptors’ throat, and a quick layup from wing Jaylen Brown pushed the lead to 13.
Toronto responded with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 32-23 off of a Pascal Siakam floater, but All-Star point guard Kemba Walker hit a trey that was nearly a four-point play before a successful Raptors coaches’ challenge by Toronto head coach Nick Nurse.
The Raptors kept the pressure on though, cutting the lead to 12 with just over four minutes in the half, but Theis responded with a trey of his own — and then another to push the lead to 18.
A Chris Boucher 3-pointer and a trip for Van Vleet to the line cut into the lead ahead of the break, Toronto trailing 52-37 at the half.
.@dtheis10 is doing it all tonight 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/LvhCCspbMS
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) August 8, 2020
Boston let Siakam score on a layup to start the penultimate frame, and a stepback from center Marc Gasol to 55-41. The Raptors kept attacking, cutting the lead to 10 with as many minutes left in the quarter.
A Walker trey after the time out and a floater and a 3 from Tatum gave Boston back their big lead back, and the Celtics kept their foot on the gas, pushing their lead even higher to 21 points at the 5:30 mark of the quarter.
Brown hit another to extend the lead to 24, and another pair of back-to-back treys for the Georgia native and a layup by reserve guard Brad Wanamaker pushed the lead to 29. Another pair of bucket from Walker set the lead at 91-57, their biggest lead of the game.
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) August 8, 2020
The Celtics started the fourth quarter giving up a 3-pointer to Matt Thomas, and the Raptors looked like they were gearing up for a final push before Serge Ibaka took a hit to the face on a Gordon Hayward drive to the cup.
The Raptors big headed back to the locker room under his own power, and Boston pulled their starters soon after. The second and third string got some run for both teams, with Boston coming away with a wire-to-wire win.
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