Boston Celtics: Kyrie Irving Destroys Raptors in 123-116 OT Win

Kyrie Irving put on his best performance as a Celtic, Gordon Hayward looked better than ever, and the Boston Celtics emerged victorious Friday night against the East-leading Toronto Raptors.

“I’m excited for that game,” Kyrie Irving told CLNS and media prior to the Boston Celtics tilt with the Toronto Raptors Friday night at the TD Garden. “It’s a competitor’s dream going against the best of the best.”

Irving’s  was not shy about expressing his excitement to face the team with the East’s best record, on national television, on a Friday night. And boy did he deliver!

Irving posted his best performance as a Celtic, leading Boston to a 123-116 overtime victory over Toronto with 43 points on 18-26 shooting, to go along with 11 assists. He caught fire in the 4th quarter, finishing with 23 points in the period plus overtime.

The buckets were flowing for Kyrie, but his biggest play of the night ended up being an assist. With just over a minute remaining in overtime and his Celtics hanging on to a 5-point lead, Irving made his move. He took an aggressive attack at the rim, drew a double team, and found Al Horford alone for a wide-open mid-range jumper from the corner. The ball found the bottom of the net, and the Boston Celtics were on their way to their best win of the young season.

Boston jumped out to an early lead, as Irving scored 12 first-quarter points to push the Celtics ahead. The Celtics led by as many as 13 points in the second quarter, before the Raptors responded with a run of their own to close the gap to two at the half, 54-52.

In the third quarter, the Boston offense stalled and Toronto went ahead by double figures before the Celtics closed the third quarter on a 10-4 run to cut the deficit to four, 82-78.

Kawhi Leonard had 31 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 assists, but he missed the last shot of regulation with a chance to win the game, clanging a tough fadeaway from the right win over Marcus Morris, who played strong individual defense to force overtime.

In overtime, Irving continued his dominance and Jayson Tatum chipped in a helping hand. Gordon Hayward hit a pair of big free throws and scored in the mid-post to build the Boston lead.

The Celtics improved to 9-6 with the win, 5-1 at home. Toronto dropped to 12-4 on the season, but the Raptors have now lost three in a row.

Game Notes

Gordon Hayward finished with a team-leading 39 minutes in tonight’s game, a remarkable feat considering the former All-Star has appeared in just 14 games since returning from a season-long ankle injury. He produced perhaps his own best performance of the season, finishing with 15 points and 5 assists while leading the team in plus/minus with a tasty +18.

Jayson Tatum was efficient, netting 21 points on just 13 shots, to go along with 7 rebounds.  The second-year star scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half.

He threw down a monster dunk off of an assist from Kyrie with 48 seconds to go to cut Toronto’s lead to two. Boston would force a miss from Leonard on the ensuing possession, and Hayward would knock down a pair of free throws to send the game into OT.

Marcus Morris replaced Jaylen Brown in the starting lineup to start the overtime period, which is something to note with talks of the team considering a lineup change. Brown struggled all night to find his shot, finishing with 7 points on 3-11 shooting.

Brown hasn’t gotten off to the start that he had hoped to start the season, as consistency issues continue to plague the 3rd-year veteran. If his woes continue, he could find himself coming off of the bench sooner rather than later.

The Celtics won’t have much time to savor this victory, as the team will face off against the Utah Jazz tomorrow night in a rematch of last week’s contest. The Jazz defeated the Celtics 123-115 behind a stellar performance from Joe Ingles, who dropped 5 threes and finished with a game-high 27 points.

Boston needs to ride the momentum gained from tonight’s victory and string together some quality wins after a relatively rough start to the season. A 40 spot from their veteran leader sure is a good place to start!