Raptors Beat Up the Celtics

The Raptors came out of the gate ready for this playoff atmosphere type game against the top-seeded Boston Celtics. The Raptors only trail the Celtics by 2 games for the number one spot in the Eastern Conference. Getting this position will be pivotal in the playoff journey that lies await in June. The Raptors were clicking on all cylinders: the defense and the offense was great from both the starters and the bench. We defended home court and proved why we are the best home court team in the NBA for a reason.

Raptors' Kyle Lowry all smiles after returning from Philadelphia where he watched his Philadelphia Eagles win Super Bowl 52 on Sunday.

The floor general set the tone from the opening tip-off as Kyle Lowry showed his aggressiveness on the offensive end of the floor and was feisty and active chasing around Kyrie Irving on defense. Kyrie Irving was making his return from a 3-game absence in this marquee match-up between the two best teams in the Eastern Conference. The ball was popping around the perimeter for the Raptors as they were efficient in their offensive game plan. Kyle hit three shots from the outside and gave the Raptors a 22-18 lead after the first quarter of play.

Coach Brad Stevens of the Boston Celtics was asked about the Toronto Raptors bench prior to the start of this game and Stevens had nothing but praise for the energy and production the Bench Mob gives the Raptors every night. Without Marcus Smart and Shane Larkin, the Celtics were quite thin in the bench but are still talented enough to keep you honest. This was where the Raptors started to separate themselves from the Celtics as the Bench Mob came in with energy and were focused. Siakam and Poeltl were efficient on the glass and defended the paint well. CJ provided his outside shooting throughout the game. Delon and VanVleet had great games again with their play-making and scoring. The Bench Mob smashed the lead open as the Raptors were up 45-29 before the starters came in to close off the half.

The Bench Mob got a standing ovation as they were subbed off. Beautiful, selfless, and playing for one another on both sides of the floor. This reminded me of the San Antonio Spurs where there is no let down of pressure from players 1 through 10. Toronto's guards in this game were helping a lot more on the defensive rebounding and it was evident as the Raptors won the rebound battle. The Raptors went into the half up 58-37. Though every Raptors fan knows that this game is far from over. Plus, the Portland Trail Blazers were up in this situation a couple nights ago and came back to win the game and that was without Kyrie Irving.

Siakam comes in for the powerful block as the Raptors allowed nothing easy all night.

The second half started and both teams were playing with high energy. Both teams went back and forth with defensive stops and trading baskets throughout the quarter. The Celtics hit the Raptors with their best punch, but Toronto responded and pushed the pace on offense before the C's can get their half-court defense set up which was key in this game. DeMar DeRozan did not have a great game on offense tonight, but his ball movement and timely shot-making was impactful. DeMar did knock down a couple outside shots tonight as he is struggling from three-point land the past few games. The starters took care of business and maintained the lead and handed it off to the Bench Mob with an 83-60 lead into the fourth.

And that was all she wrote as the bench took care of business in the fourth. Brad Stevens waved the white flag early in the fourth as he felt the momentum was gone and there wasn't any chance to comeback in this one. The ball movement was great from the bench as always and were taking advantage by scoring in transition. Toronto won this match-up between the two teams and evened the series 1-1 in their head-to-head match-up this season. The Raptors will meet the Celtics two more times this season.

The Raptors' energy, physicality and effort on both ends of the court was the story of the game as the Celtics struggled to score all game long. Brad Stevens commented after the game of how the Raptors beat them up and could not match their physicality. It wasn't just the bigs who were physical as the guards were right up the grills of the Celtics' guards giving them no breathing room and made it awkward all-night long. This was a result of an efficiently and executed perfectly game plan. The coaching staff will be showing this tape in future reference of how good the Raptors can be if they played the right way and competed hard on every possession. Great win onto the next one against the New York Knicks where their All-Star Kristaps Porzingis was announced as out for the season as he injured his ACL tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks. Tough break for the Knicks.

Final Score: Toronto 111 - 91 Boston

The Raptors' physicality was present all night as the Raptors dominated.

Pictures courtesy of: http://www.nba.com/raptors/gallery/rapsceltics-020618