Imagine these Boston Celtics when they’re healthy.
Down their best scorer and best defender, the C’s won their sixth straight game by beating the Eastern Conference-leading Toronto Raptors 110-99 on Saturday night at TD Garden.
Now, the C’s sit just two games behind the Raptors, with each team having six games left on their schedule including one more matchup with each other Wednesday.
Like many of their recent triumphs, the Celtics found a way to grind out the win. They moved the ball well and spread out the scoring, as Marcus Morris had 25 points, while Jayson Tatum had 24 and three other Celtics put up double figures.
Aron Baynes had a huge game, playing a few more minutes than he usually does. But in doing that, he managed to clear the lane while helping keep Toronto big men Jonas Valanciunas and Serge Ibaka from totally dominating the contest.
The C’s were physical in the paint, and even let the tempers flare a little bit, as Morris got ejected shortly after earning a technical foul near the end of the game. While getting tossed usually isn’t advantageous, it was late in the game and showed some additional fight and will to win for Boston.
The win was a big turning of the proverbial page for the Celtics as well. While they’ve had recent success overall, their last meeting with the Raptors was forgettable. Boston got its doors blown off in an ugly 111-91 loss Feb. 6, but down more men this time around, the Celtics proved that they belong in the conversation as one of the East’s best as much as the Raptors do.
Both of these teams are poised for a deep run, and there’s a real possibility they see each other down the line in the postseason. If that’s the case, Saturday’s win — and whatever happens Wednesday — will be big for Boston.
Here are some other notes from Celtics-Raptors:
— Baynes wasn’t just effective in the paint Saturday night. The big man took some rare 3-pointers and made them.
He entered the night 1-for-19 from beyond the arc in his career, but he took and knocked down a pair of treys in the first quarter.
— Morris has continued to be an integral part of the Celtics’ success by stepping up with Kyrie Irving out. During the month of March, the 28-year-old is averaging 18.9 points per game on 48.3 percent shooting in 11 games.
— Speaking of scoring, Tatum is getting buckets himself. The rookie has notched at least 20 points in four of his last seven games.
— Terry Rozier kept his run of double-digit scoring going with 21 points. That’s now 25 straight contests he has tallied double figures, making him the seventh Celtic since 2010 to have a streak reach at least 25 games.
— Boston now is 11-3 against Atlantic Division opponents this season, while matching their win total from last season with Saturday’s victory. They still have six games to play.
