After loss, Boston Celtics look forward to another crack at the Toronto Raptors

“Those are the type of games you want to be part of as a competitor, honestly,” said guard Kyrie Irving. “It was a great test for us. We came up short. Another one in less than 24 hours.”

Boston (1-1) plays at the Knicks on Saturday night while Toronto (2-0) visits Washington.

The Celtics led 53-49 at the half only to see Kawhi Leonard come alive with a 15-point third quarter. Toronto led 82-79 going into the final quarter, outscoring the Celtics 31-22 in the final 12 minutes for its seventh straight home win over Boston — and 11th in its last 12 games against the Celtics at Scotiabank Arena.

After an Al Horford three-pointer narrowed the Raptors’ lead to 101-99 with 2:53 remaining, Boston made just one of its last six shots while Toronto hit four of six, scoring 10 straight points and mounting a 12-2 run to seal the deal.

“I thought they played a lot better than us in the second half,” said Boston coach Brad Stevens. “We had our moments offensively but all the rebounds that they got, especially late, really hurt us.

Toronto outrebounded Boston 19-12 in the fourth quarter.

“They’re really good,” Stevens added. “Hats off to them.”

Irving is already looking forward to a rematch.

“Obviously playing them again, we’ll be a lot more prepared,” he said. “But to be the second game of the season for both teams, obviously a lot of attention on both of us, so we’ll see how we both end up.

“I don’t know the next time we play them. But honestly it’s going to be a dogfight. so I’m looking forward to it.”

The two teams meet next Nov. 16 in Boston.

Stevens clearly saw the defeat as another step on the season-long journey.

“If you’re a really good team in this league you’re going to lose 30 games. If you’re a great team, you’re going to lose 22. You’re going to lose some. So ultimately it’s about how you played. We showed a lot more signs of good than bad and we’ll build off that.”

The Celtics opened their season Tuesday by beating the 76ers 105-87 while the Raptors downed the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 116-104 Wednesday.

Irving scored seven points on 2-of-14 shooting against Philadelphia in his first game back from a knee injury. He had 21 points Friday, hitting 10 of 20 shots.

Hayward had 10 points, five rebounds and four steals in 25 minutes in his comeback game Tuesday from a gruesome leg injury on opening night a year ago. Hayward finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and one steal in a little more than 24 minutes.

Stevens said prior to the game that defence was his major priority. It’s clearly still a work in progress.

“We were getting good (offensive) looks. The other end was what killed us — we gave up 60-some-odd points (64) in the second half,” he said after the game.

Despite two very early fouls, Al Horford finished one assist short of a triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

The Celtics had 29 assists on their 40 field goals, with their five starters accounting for 78 points.

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

After loss, Boston Celtics look forward to another crack at the Toronto Raptors

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