BOSTON — Even though the Boston Celtics were shorthanded Wednesday night, they didn’t stumble and earned a 97-93 win over the Toronto Raptors at TD Garden.
The Celtics improved their record to 55-25 while the Raptors now stand at 40-40 on their season.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse was impressed with the depth of the Celtics prior to the game, and he got to witness it up close Wednesday.
The Celtics were down three starters — Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart and Al Horford — on the second night of a back-to-back, which usually is a recipe for a scheduled loss but the Celtics managed to get enough contributions to pull off the win.
While the supporting cast chipped in, it was the slightly different main cast of Jaylen Brown, Malcolm Brogdon, Derrick White and a sprinkling of Robert Williams, who played his most minutes in more than a month, that spearheaded the Celtics.
With the amount of talent the Celtics can put out on the floor even when they are missing key pieces, it has to make a coach like Nurse envious.
STARS OF THE GAME
— Brogdon was magnificent off the bench yet again. He netted 29 points, including scoring the last seven Boston points to end the third quarter as part of a key sequence to keep Toronto at bay. Brogdon also recorded five rebounds and three assists.
— Brown had to play a leading role with Tatum out and notched 25 points to go along with 11 rebounds and five assists.
— Pascal Siakam tried to will the Raptors back after trailing by 13 points in the third quarter. He poured in 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds.
WAGER WATCH
FanDuel Sportsbook set White’s over/under for points at 14.5 with -104 odds on the Over. White hit the Over by tallying 17 points, as a $100 wager on the prop bet would have netted a total of $196.15.
UP NEXT
The Celtics will see the Raptors again Friday to close out their regular season series with Toronto. Tipoff from TD Garden is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
