Kemba Walter gets hot in fourth quarter to help lead Celtics past Raptors

Kemba Walker said he wants to earn the role of being a leader with the Celtics this season.

He didn’t mind following his teammates in host Boston’s win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.

Walker recovered from a second straight poor shooting start to score 11 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and help the Celtics rally to beat the defending NBA champions 112-106.

Jaylen Brown had 25 points, three on a big shot in the closing minutes. Jayson Tatum finished with 25 points and nine rebounds.

Walker said support from his teammates helped him shake off a 0-for-5 start from the field just two days removed from his 4-for-18 performance in Boston’s season-opening loss to Philadelphia.

“That’s what I needed,” Walker said. “The things that they said to me are the things that I needed to hear. They seen my face, kind of down at times. They just kept encouraging me.”

The Celtics shot only 38%, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. They had 109 attempts in the game.

Pascal Siakam scored 33 points and had eight rebounds to lead the Raptors, who went 18-for-36 from beond the 3-point line. Kyle Lowry hit six 3-pointers and scored 29 points. But the pair also had nine turnovers between them.

Siakam said teams are playing him differently through two games.

“There’s more help, obviously,” he said. “Last year, I felt like I was always out there on the side just working. Now there’s a little more intention.”

There were 12 ties and 19 lead changes, with neither team holding more than a seven-point lead.

Boston found its shot in the fourth quarter, outscoring Toronto 36-24.

One of the plays that got the Celtics going came with 5:43 to play. Brown corralled a Marc Gasol miss, took two dribbles and threaded a half-court bounce pass between three Raptors...