The Boston Celtics have again failed to get their first signature win of the season falling the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.
Again without Isaiah Thomas, the Celtics blew an early 14 point lead to fall to the East’s second best team.
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Player Grades
19 PTS 5 REBS 2 ASTS
Again Bradley stepped up in the absence of Thomas with19 points on an efficient 5/7 from deep. Four turnovers was a lowlight but did well to hold DeMar DeRozan to just 9/25 from the field in a great defensive display.
12 PTS 4 REBS 3 ASTS
A poor shooting night from Smart, going just 3/11 and struggling from deep, where they needed him to step up. Kyle Lowry got away from him a little bit as well when he took over in the last quarter. Solid but ineffienct night for Marcus.
Jae Crowder C-
7 PTS 6 REBS 3 ASTS
Another Celtic who had a really poor shooting night. 2/11 overall and 1/6 from three is not what we want to see from the starting forward. Also let Norman Powell score 20 points and wasn’t at his best defensively.
Al Horford B-
19 PTS 7 REBS 6 ASTS
Horford had another game where he did a bit of everything and the Celtics benefitted from it. He didn’t have his best shooting night going just 5/13 and probably could have taken more shots in Thomas’ absence, but another good overall performance from Horford.
5 PTS 3 REBS 1 ASTS
Johnson had a solid defensive night with himself and Horford holding big man Jonas Valanciunas to just the 6 points. On a disappointing note for the not the first time this season, Johnson had just three rebounds even in a lowly 12 minutes of action.
Kelly Olynyk C-
5 PTS 9 REBS 3 ASTS
Olynyk had another poor shooting night going just 2/7 from the field as he continues to struggle to find his rhythm. Nine rebounds is a positive improvement since he had not had over 5 rebounds in any of his last six games.
12 PTS 3 REBS 3 ASTS
Rozier, who the Celtics needed to step up his scoring with Thomas out, got 12 points but didn’t shoot the ball well. Only 4/12 and 1/5 from deep, making it clear that he needs to shot the ball better when the Celtics need him with injuries.
Tyler Zeller, Jonas Jerebko and Jaylen Brown all played but had no real impact on the game. While not terribly bad the bench need to step up and help against the best teams in the league.
Next: Boston Celtics Continue to be Patient
The Celtics now head back on the road to face Russell Westbrook and the Thunder.