A fourth quarter meltdown in Beantown

Toronto melts down as Raptor killer Payton Prichard comes alive in the fourth, and does what he’s best known for. He scored 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter. He nailed a triple, then dragged Jakob Poeltl out to the perimeter and burned past him, finishing an uncontested lay-up. 

Mamu got open after an Iverson cut, but Scottie Barnes turned the ball over, passing it out of bounds. It was an unforced turnover, but Barnes didn’t even give the Georgian a “that’s-my-bad” look of acknowledgement. He simply looked away with a WTF-stare, clearly frustrated at the direction the game was going. The Raptors were down eight with 10:30 left.

In the post-game interview, Celtics head coach Joe Mazulla said his team started to gain an edge in the second quarter. They went up eight as the Celtics made a 18-8 run, ending with Tatum hitting a 3 and Jaylen Brown making another paint two.

The Celtics lost the third quarter, 31-26, but widened the lead with Tatum stepping up again. After Barnes’ bad pass to Mamu, Tatum drew a 3-point shooting foul (and hit two of his three free throws). Poeltl turned the ball over on the other end, trying to hand the ball off to RJ. Poeltl really struggled in the fourth – he allowed a Pritchard blow-by, missed a wide-open push shot, turned the ball over, was too slow to react when Shead got caught on a screen and let the Raptor killer walk in for another easy bucket! 

In the fourth, the Celtics didn’t attempt a mid-range shot and resorted to 3s or paint twos. They shot 8-10 at the rim and 12-17 inside the paint, and hit two 3s. 

Raptors’ interior defence was stretched thin, Poeltl became useless defensively, and the lane became wide open for the Celtics.

Sam Hauser made an and-one and Pritchard hit another paint two. Walter drew a 3-point shooting foul, but missed all three free throws. Nothing was going the Raptors’ way. After Shead turned the ball over trying to pass to CMB, Derrick White hit a corner 3. 

If this was a playoff preview, the Raptors showed they are a first round exit. They aren’t good enough to compete with the league’s elite.

To their credit however, they were competitive for the first three quarters, even if Neemias Queta looked like Jalen Duren as the Celtics got off to a 10-2 start. When the Raptors couldn’t answer back with 3s, Ja’Kobe Walter stepped up big time, hitting 3-4 from downtown.  

Though Barnes got hurt early in the game, he really pushed the tempo and was aggressive offensively in the third. The Shead – Walter – BI – RJ – CMB lineup was looking promising, and the Scottie – AJ – BI – Mamu – CMB lineup tied the game up in the third. 

Perhaps, CMB needed a break at the start of the fourth, but his presence was missed at the start of the fourth. The Celtics quickly got to a double-digit lead and put a firm seal on the Raptors’ ceiling.

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