TORONTO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Toronto Raptors are showing the effects of a grueling stretch in the schedule and there is no letup this afternoon when they host the Boston Celtics. The Raptors have dropped four of five after losing 111-86 to the Charlotte Hornets on Friday.
The five games have come in a seven-day stretch starting Nov. 29 when they lost 118-111 in overtime at Charlotte to end their nine-game winning streak.
The Raptors are 1-2 to start a five-game homestand with the loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday snapping an eight-game home winning streak.
“Mentally, physically, we’ve got to get away, we’ve got to recharge very quickly for Sunday and a 3:30 p.m. game,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. “A quick turnaround over here, the schedule is what it is. We’re going to bounce back and find our energy levels and compete.”
The Celtics, meanwhile, romped to a 126-105 victory over the undermanned Lakers on Friday and have won four straight and nine of 11.
They also were playing their fifth game in seven days on Friday.
“I thought we did a good job — tremendous job — of figuring out how to pull out wins,” said Payton Pritchard, who scored 15 points on Friday. “And then in these past two games, we kind of just put our foot on the gas and took care of business. I feel like our team is growing, and we’ve just got to keep growing and keep getting better.”
The Celtics defeated the host Washington Wizards 146-101 on Thursday without Jaylen Brown, who scored 30 against the Lakers.
This will be the first meeting between Boston and Toronto this season. The Celtics won three of four from the Raptors last season with the teams splitting two in Toronto.
The Celtics have made an impressive adjustment to the prolonged absence of Jayson Tatum.
Jordan Walsh is one reason for the Celtics’ surge. He shot 6-for-7 from the field on Friday and is shooting 18-for-19 over the past three games.
He had four 3-pointers and scored 17 points against the Lakers, adding two blocked shots and one steal in 26:17. He posted a team-high box plus/minus of +28.
“He’s been great,” Brown said. “I don’t want to boost his head up too much. I don’t want him to start getting cute. He’s got to still take care of the details. But he’s been doing a good job.”
The Raptors did not get much help from their supporting cast on Friday. Immanuel Quickley scored a season-best 31 points, and Scottie Barnes had 13. No one else had more than Jamal Shead’s nine points. Brandon Ingram, who has been among Toronto’s most consistent scorers, was held to seven points on 3-for-13 shooting. He grabbed nine rebounds.
“Physically, we were worn down,” Rajakovic said. “I’m really proud of our guys tonight. I really thought that we tried. We tried. But when you’re trying and you’re missing layups, and you’re missing wide open shots, it’s hard to keep it up. What I think that we did an outstanding job at was we did not quit. We continued fighting and fighting and fighting.”
Jakob Poeltl, who rested his back injury on Thursday, returned on Friday and had five points and seven rebounds.
RJ Barrett (sprained knee) remained out against Charlotte. Jamison Battle suffered a sprained left ankle early in the fourth quarter on Friday. X-rays were negative.
–Field Level Media
