Key Moment
After pouring in 20 points and 10 rebounds Thursday night against the Warriors, Al Horford said that he “really wanted to win” that game against Golden State.
He must have really wanted to win Saturday night against Toronto, too.
Horford single-handedly sealed Boston’s improbable victory over the Raptors by winning four key plays during the final 10 seconds of the contest.
First, with Boston leading 106-104 and with 14.1 seconds left in regulation, Horford defended Pascal Siakam to perfection as Siakam drove to the basket for a potential game-tying shot. Horford forced a jump ball on his shot contest, and that came after he saved Jaylen Brown by switching onto Siakam following a failed attempt at a steal by Brown.
Horford and Siakam rose up for the jump ball with 8.6 seconds left and Horford won the tip, but no player from either team was able to control the ball. Horford stuck his hands in and wound up wrapped up with Toronto’s Scottie Barnes, which led to yet another jump ball with 6.1 seconds left. Horford won that tip, too, which allowed the Celtics to call for a timeout with 3.8 seconds remaining.
The Celtics should have sealed the game at that point, but they needed one more big play from Horford after they failed to safely inbound the ball coming out of the timeout. Grant Williams was called for an offensive foul before the ball was inbounded, which gave Toronto one last shot at the tie or the win.
Toronto again called Siakam’s name, and yet again, Horford provided perfect help defense that wound up securing the victory. As Siakam crossed halfcourt, Horford joined Brown for a double-team and they wound up popping the ball loose from Siakam’s hands, and right into Horford’s.
Horford ran away with the ball while dribbling the clock out, and then he raced right off of the court and into Boston’s locker room to celebrate the incredible win.
Key Player
Payton Pritchard scored the fourth-most points on the team Saturday night in Toronto, yet he finds himself in our Key Player section. That’s because without his hot shooting during the fourth quarter, Boston’s winning streak would have been snapped.
Pritchard canned not one, not two, not three, but four 3-pointers during the fourth quarter to propel the Celtics to their second straight comeback victory.
The first 3-pointer arrived just 63 seconds into the fourth quarter and provided Boston with its first lead since the second quarter.
The second triple arrived at the 8:13 mark of the fourth to double Boston’s lead from three up to six.
The third came at the 5:53 mark to extend the Celtics’ advantage out to eight.
And after a quick Toronto comeback, the fourth and final make from long distance – which stood as the game-winner – arrived with 1:30 left on the clock to break a 103-103 tie.
Pritchard finished the contest with 12 points, two rebounds, two assists and one steal. The Celtics outscored Toronto by 19 points during his nearly 26 minutes of action, giving him the top plus/minus rating of the game by a large margin.
Box Score Nuggets
- Boston's bench outscored Toronto's 62-14.
- Grant Williams scored a career-high 25 points.
- Malcolm Brogdon scored 23 of his own.
- Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 27 points.
- Pascal Siakam narrowly missed a triple-double while logging game highs of 29 points and 10 assists to go along with nine rebounds.
- Brown led the Celtics in scoring (27 points), rebounds (eight) and assists (six).
- Blake Griffin was a plus-13 in less than eight minutes of playing time.
- Payton Pritchard scored 12 points on four 3-pointers - all of which were made during the fourth quarter.
- The C's won despite Toronto having shot 53.5 percent from the field.
- Both teams finished with 41 rebounds.
- Eight of the 10 Celtics who appeared in the game blocked one shot apiece.
Quote of the Night
"We trust ourselves, no matter what people say about us."
- Grant Williams on the Celtics