Boston Celtics: Recognizing 3 Stars in win over Toronto

Boston Celtics’ Star #1: Semi Ojeleye

Semi Ojeleye has played far above expectations so far in this 2020-21 NBA season, and this win against the Raptors was a culmination of that. Finishing with a career-high of 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting, Semi led the Celtics in scoring.

Both he and Pritchard finished 6-of-8 from beyond the arc, the first pair of Celtics teammates in history to make at least six threes in the same game. Ojeleye got the start with Tristan Thompson coming off the bench and he made the most of it, scoring eight of Boston’s first 15 points. This led to a 15-4 run to start the game, and the Cs never looked back.

Once he got out to a quick start, he only became more confident, with coach Brad Stevens running many plays for him to get open looks in the corner. That shot is extremely important for the type of offense that Boston wants to run, and it was falling at an impressive rate this game.

Ojeleye was also able to put the ball on the floor and drive to the hoop for a finish, something he would have never been able to do effectively even last year. From a player who was close to getting cut from the roster this offseason to having an immense impact as a wing defender and shooter, Ojeleye’s quick rise has been a treat to watch.

After logging 30 minutes in this contest, coach Stevens has plenty of trust in him as he makes minimal mistakes on the defensive end. “The Ox” can switch from 1-5 efficiently. It makes sense to have started him against the Raptors given how great of a matchup against Siakam he is.

Siakam likes to get into the post and back players down and Ojeleye is one of the best post defenders on Boston. He doesn’t budge and forced the All-Star into some tough fadeaways.

All in all, between Pritchard and Ojeleye, this win was extremely encouraging. The Boston Celtics proved they could win against a quality opponent when both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum had off shooting nights.