Raptors Handle Celtics, 107-97

The Toronto Raptors defeated the Boston Celtics, 107-97, at Air Canada Centre on
Friday evening. The Raptors (34-24) found out earlier in the day that star point
guard Kyle Lowry would miss the game with a right wrist injury. That thrust Cory
Joseph into the starting five, and, as is often the case when Lowry misses,
shone a brighter spotlight on his backcourt mate DeMar DeRozan. However, his
absence was also partly made up for Friday by the debuting Serge Ibaka, who was
playing his first game in a Toronto uniform following his trade from the Orlando
Magic. The tightly-contested affair saw the Celtics (37-21) enter the fourth
period holding a slim 77-74 lead, but the home team mounted a comeback,
outscoring their visitors by a 33-20 margin over the final 12 minutes. Isaiah
Thomas once again led Boston, posting 20 points, five assists and three
rebounds. However, he struggled with his shot, going 6-of-17 overall from the
field, including 3-of-10 from behind the arc. Jae Crowder and Marcus Smart
followed with matching 19-point efforts, with the former adding four rebounds
and one assist, and the latter supplying five rebounds and four assists over 32
minutes off the bench. Jaylen Brown drew another start at shooting guard for
Avery Bradley (Achilles) and produced 13 points, two assists, one steal and one
block. Al Horford turned in a modest stat line of eight points, five rebounds,
one assist and one steal. DeRozan paced the Raptors with a spectacular
career-high 43-point tally that he supplemented with five rebounds and five
assists, With Lowry out of the lineup, DeRozan took 28 shot attempts overall,
draining 15, and also visited the charity stripe a game-high 12 times. Ibaka was
impressive in his debut, supplying 15 points, seven rebounds, one steal and one
block. Joseph did a solid job filling in at point guard, amassing 11 points, six
assists, one rebound and three steals. Patrick Patterson led the bench with 11
points, two rebounds and one assist, while P.J. Tucker, also making his Raptors
debut, generated nine points, 10 boards, one assist and a trio of steals. The
Celtics head to the Motor City for a Sunday afternoon showdown with the Detroit
Pistons, while the Raptors remain home to tangle with the Portland Trail Blazers
on Sunday as well.