Kristaps Porzingis on Celtics Besting Raptors in Slugfest: ‘I Loved Our Character’
Kristaps Porzingis stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, three blocks, and a steal in Friday’s Celtics’ win vs. the Raptors.
Friday night in Toronto, the Boston Celtics improved to 10-2 to start the 2023-24 season, earning a 108-105 win in a slugfest with the Raptors.
After outscoring the hosts 39-17 in a dominant second quarter, the visitors let their guard down when they came out after halftime.
A 16-6 run quickly got Toronto back in the game and brought the crowd at Scotiabank Arena to life. The Raptors made 65 percent of their shots in the third frame, entering the final 12 minutes only down by three.
The fourth quarter was a low-scoring slugfest, with both teams only putting 24 points on the board. But Boston controlled the contest in the final two minutes.
Kristaps Porzingis punished switches for consecutive buckets at the basket. With 27.1 seconds left and the score tied at 103, Jrue Holiday opted against using a screen from the seven-foot-three center, instead spinning toward the baseline before taking Dennis Schroder into the low post.
That drew Gary Trent Jr. toward him. The next closest defender, Pascal Siakam, zoning two, went with Jaylen Brown as the two-time All-Star cut into the paint, leaving Derrick White open for a corner three that proved the game-winning basket.
The victory improves the Celtics to 2-0 in the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament, meaning they control their destiny in group play, as they’re the only team in Group C without a loss.
After the win, Porzingis told Abby Chin of NBC Sports Boston, “I think the first quarter and the beginning of (the) second half, we didn’t start off the way we would like to.
“And what I liked about today’s game is we fought back, like, we fought, those moments, especially when the crowd got into it in the second half. And we stayed with it, we made some big shots also, and at the end, we won the game, and I loved our character in today’s game.”
The former All-Star later stated, “When we matched the energy, the game started going in our favor.”
He also conveyed, “It wasn’t our best game. Nobody was hot and going. But I saw some big plays, energy plays from JB, D. White, Jrue was excellent energy-wise, and that’s it, and they picked us up, and we made it happen.
