The Celtics have their first win of the season.
After dropping the first game of the 2019-20 season to the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston returned home for its first game at TD Garden against the reigning NBA champion Toronto Raptors.
A pre-game speech from Kemba Walker, 25 points from Jaylen Brown and as many from Tatum helped pave the way for the Celtics to take a 112-106 win Friday night at TD Garden.
Walker (22), Gordon Hayward (15) and Marcus Smart (10) had double-digit points for Boston, with Walker really turning it on in the fourth quarter, scoring 11 of his 22 points.
With the win, the Celtics moved to 1-1, while the Raptors slipped to 1-1.
Here’s how it all went down:
STARTING FIVE
PG: Kemba Walker
SG: Jaylen Brown
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Gordon Hayward
C: Daniel Theis
STRONG START FOR BROWN
Brown started off hot in the first, making two strong layups before completing a perfect pass to Hayward for a 3-pointer.
The two teams traded buckets for much of the opening 12 minutes, and Toronto looked poised to take its lead back, but Walker swatted the ball away to keep the slim 13-12 Celtics advantage intact in the final five minutes of the quarter.
Boston was able to take a 22-21 lead into the second, with Brown leading all scorers with six points. Kyle Lowry netted five for Toronto. Grant Williams accounted for three assists, while the team as a whole was strong on the offensive front, picking up seven offensive rebounds on 15 misses.
C’S HANG ON FOR SLIM HALFTIME LEAD
Like the first, the second quarter remained close, with the teams trading leads throughout.
Boston was faced with an injury in the first four minutes when Daniel Theis hit the floor after backpedaling on defense and was in visible pain. He hobbled off the court and back to the locker room immediately. He was ruled questionable to return with an ankle sprain.
The Celtics continued to battle, and upped their lead to four when Tatum’s original shot missed and rebounded by the Raptors. But a heads-up defensive play by Robert Williams followed by a pass to Tatum gave him a second chance to make the bucket.
Robert Williams had four points, five rebounds and two steals in seven minutes.
Toronto caught fire, going on an 11-0 run to take a 44-38 lead coming out of a timeout midway through the quarter. But Boston tied it at 46-46 before taking a slim 50-49 lead into halftime.
Brown remained hot, closing out the first half with a game-high 13 points, including this gem.
Tatum was just behind Brown with 11. Lowry led the Raptors with 11 points.
CELTICS DOWN BY SIX
Theis returned to the bench after being diagnosed with an ankle sprain, and he immediately made an impact with two blocked shots.
Brown continued to be a force and helped up Boston’s lead to four.
The Raptors took a five-point lead with 5:42 left in the third, but Brown notched his 20th point of the game with a triple to make it 66-64 Toronto.
But Boston wouldn’t go away quietly, re-taking the lead with just over a minute to go with a shot from beyond the arc by Tatum.
Toronto took back the lead and went into the fourth with a six-point edge.
Brown and Tatum led the way for the C’s with 20 points apiece. Lowry (22) and Pascal Siakam (25) were the leaders for the Raptors.
STRONG FOURTH SEALS IT FOR C’S
Smart accounted for the Celtics’ first six points of the fourth with back-to-back trey’s, keeping Boston in it, 84-82. Toronto responded with a three of its own to go up by seven, forcing Brad Stevens to call a timeout with 9:49 left in the game.
Walker began to heat up after a tough first half, nailing a 3-pointer to bring the C’s within two.
But each time they’d come close to tying or taking the lead, the Raptors seemed to respond right back with buckets of their own.
The teams traded leads with five minutes to go, with Boston taking a four-point lead after a block led to another Tatum trey.
The Celtics held on to a four-point lead for the final minutes before upping it to six on two free throws to help seal the 112-106 win.
PLAY OF THE GAME
It was so good, we had to show you again.
UP NEXT
The C’s waste no time getting back to the court, traveling to New York to take on the Knicks on Saturday night. Tip from Madison Square Garden is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
