Celtics Depth Most Impressive In Disaster-Dodging Win Over Raptors

The Boston Celtics have become accustomed to not being at full strength and being forced to find creative ways to win games, but none were as impressive as Friday night’s victory over the Toronto Raptors.

Depth, once again, worked to Boston’s advantage with Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford all ruled out. Determined to remain in the win column for a fifth straight time and preserve a perfect home record through 16 games, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla needed to re-work the lineup. So, Boston ran with Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Sam Hauser, and Luke Kornet –returning fresh off a multi-week adductor strain injury.

Rolling with those five was a risky move considering they’d only played together for a total of two minutes previously this season, but then again, there weren’t many options at Mazzulla’s disposal. Instead of leaning to a handful of justifiable excuses, the Celtics reached out to their depth and it paid off massively.

“I don’t care who we’re playing against or what the starting lineup is or what the bench is, I got complete trust and confidence in the character of our locker room cause of who they are,” Mazzulla told reporters after Boston’s 120-118 win, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage.

Kornet, who hadn’t played since Dec. 12, slid right as the starting center and notched his sixth career 20-point performance with eight rebounds and three blocks. He helped make getting baskets at the rim significantly easier than one would imagine with Boston missing three of its top-six players, including two veteran centers.

“Luke is the ultimate teammate. Just a great locker room guy,” Brown said postgame, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “Gets along with everybody. He’s funny so he uplifts guys in moments when we don’t want to laugh.”

As expected, Brown was the head honcho of the charge, scoring 24 points and draining five 3-point attempts in a stellar first-half showing. As Tatum has amid Boston’s red-hot winning streak, Brown also made it his mission to find offensive contributions elsewhere, dishing out six assists to go along with a 31-point, 10-rebound double-double.

The ball movement was a contagious constant as Boston finished with 29 assists, improving the Celtics to a perfect 10-0 in games where they rack up at least 29 assists exactly. Nine came from the reserve unit which also pitched in 24 points of offense — stepping up with the Celtics in need of baskets wherever they can snag them.

After taking a lead as large as 20 over the Raptors, then coughing it up and creating a nail-biting race in the fourth quarter, White flourished in the clutch, once more fueling his ongoing All-Star campaign. He came through with a heroic, highly-contested 3-pointer with 3:09 minutes left in regulation.

White also recorded two blocks — for the sixth consecutive game — with three steals, backing his label as the most efficient two-way guard in the NBA.

Regardless of who the Celtics have thrown out on the floor, even in instances where the biggest of names aren’t given the green light to play, Boston has still managed to maintain a high level of scoring.

So far, it’s kept the Celtics atop the Eastern Conference, still with an NBA-best 25-6 record heading into 2024.