The Boston Celtics did not win this one in the fourth quarter. Head coach Joe Mazzulla said the game turned in the middle of the second, and he pointed to Jayson Tatum. “I thought his energy just lifted everybody,” Mazzulla said after Boston erased a 22-point deficit to beat the Toronto Raptors 98-93.
Mazzulla on Tatum’s Energy
Mazzulla credited Tatum’s spark for changing the mood. He said the comeback was about what happened when the Celtics were still far behind.
“We didn’t win the game in the fourth quarter. We won the game in the middle of the second quarter when we cut it to seven,” Mazzulla said. “It’s a 22-point game. It could go either way. You can kind of mail it in and just say, ‘Second night of a back-to-back, blah, blah, blah.’”
“I thought his energy, just lifted everybody and you know, it’s the same thing when you lose games, when you lose close games, we didn’t win the game in the 4th quarter. We won the game in the middle of the 2nd
How the Boston Celtics Got Back in It
Toronto came out hot. The Raptors made 10 of 18 threes in the first quarter and led by as many as 22. Derrick White said it looked like a long night. “We were just kind of a step behind,” he said.
Boston cut the deficit to seven by halftime. Then the defense took over. The Celtics held the Raptors to 19 points in the third quarter and 13 in the fourth.
“I thought all five guys were connected defensively,” Mazzulla said. He also praised Neemias Queta, who led the game with 13 rebounds and hit two big free throws late.
Tatum and White Explain Why It Mattered
The Celtics played the night before in a playoff-like atmosphere against the Philadelphia 76ers. Tatum said the team had a plan for Wednesday.
“Last night was a good win against a really good team, and last night wouldn’t mean anything,” Tatum said. “Can we muster up some energy to will ourselves to a victory today?”
He added that the team reached its Toronto hotel at 3 a.m. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tired today,” Tatum said.
White said the win came down to identity. “We had every excuse in the world,” he said. “But it’s just the DNA. We put that Celtics uniform on and go out there and win.”
A Perfect Road Trip for the Boston Celtics
The win finished a 4-0 trip. Boston beat the Charlotte Hornets, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia and Toronto. The Celtics have won five straight and nine of their last 10 after losing their opener to the Detroit Pistons. They also did it without Paul George, who missed the game with an illness. Toronto was without Scottie Barnes and Kawhi Leonard.
The mood stayed loud after the game, per Noa Dalzell of CelticsBlog. A flight delay kept nearly everyone in the locker room. Mitchell Robinson chirped Derrick White and Neemias Queta in their postgame interviews. Ron Harper Jr. took over the music. Payton Pritchard threw out song requests.
Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla Drops Strong Jayson Tatum Statement After Beating Raptors