Three Studs, Three Duds As Celtics Suffer Putrid Loss To Raptors

The Boston Celtics failed to take advantage of the tank-worthy Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena.

Boston handed Toronto its worst loss (125-71) in franchise history on New Year’s Eve, which also extended the Raptors’ losing streak to 11 straight. This time, it wasn’t a battle between draft board stalkers and title contenders as Toronto performed like a team with pride and made Boston extend its ongoing slide — the Celtics have been the seventh-worst 3-point shooting team (32.8%) since the start of 2025.

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Joe Mazzulla’s starting five fell short of matching the vengeful intensity displayed by the Raptors, and as a result, the Celtics dropped to 28-12 on the campaign.

Here are three studs and three duds from Boston’s 110-97 loss against Toronto:

STUDS
RJ Barrett
Toronto wasn’t flashy, but very efficient, which perfectly describes its leading scorer.

Barrett finished with 22 points on a solid 10-of-18 shooting from the field. The 24-year-old nearly secured a triple-double, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out eight assists while also recording a steal and a block. Barrett’s night was enough to lead the Raptors to force Mazzulla to surrender and unload the bench in the final 1:22 minutes of the contest.

Jayson Tatum
Where Tatum fell short — shooting 5-of-15 from the floor — the five-time All-Star made up for in other areas.

Tatum notched double-double No. 20 this season, scoring 16 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists. Boston couldn’t support Tatum’s ball movement initiative, and the 26-year-old couldn’t carry the load of making up for the remaining starting lineup members — Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday — combining to score just 46 points with eight turnovers.

Payton Pritchard
Boston didn’t get a whole lot of assistance off the bench, however, Pritchard did bounce back to provide a sixth-man-like performance.

Pritchard delivered a reserve unit-leading 20 points, going 7-of-11 from the field, including four 3-pointers with two rebounds, four assists and a steal. The undersized guard turned his motor up a notch to uplift the Celtics throughout their (many) mundane stretches to keep the scoreboard deficit feasible.

DUDS
Derrick White
If anyone’s felt the brunt of a cold streak it’s White.

The 30-year-old, again, didn’t do just by his All-Star campaign as White struggled to find any offensive rhythm.

Boston’s third-quarter defense
Another night, another instance in which the Celtics were plagued by their inability to take advantage of a lowly opponent to the highest degree.

Toronto took advantage of Boston’s urge to avoid interior scoring, shooting 13-of-18 from inside the perimeter and a tamed 2-of-5 from three to score 33 points in the frame. It was a rather dreadful showing from the Celtics’ defense, especially coming out of halftime trailing a team that’s closer to landing Cooper Flagg than a playoff spot.

The Raptors entered the fourth quarter shooting an astounding 77% from the field and holding a 10-point lead.

Sam Hauser
The Celtics received a throw-away showing from Hauser.

Hauser’s 16 minutes on the court were 16 too many as Mazzulla had no reason to play him from start to finish. The sharpshooter provided a measly 3-point night, shooting 1-of-5 from beyond the arc with six rebounds. Hauser was no threat from his usual domain — the corner — and it added to the dumpster pile performance the Celtics tried to get away with logging against one of the NBA’s weakest opponents.