Kyrie Irving wins Boston Celtics with 43 wins over Toronto Raptors

BOSTON – Before the start of this season, the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors were considered the most likely teams to face in the Eastern Conference finals to claim the throne left vacant by LeBron James to the west.

Then the season started. And while the Raptors all looked like the team they were supposed to be, the Celtics struggled to extricate themselves from the door, attacked by a wheezing attack. That seemed to be the case on Friday night, as the Raptors took control of the first three quarters at TD Garden.

Kyrie Irving, however, had other ideas.

Irving finished with 43 points – including 23 in the fourth quarter and overtime – to follow with 11 assists to lead the Celtics to a thrilling 123-116 victory in overtime.

For Boston, it was a much needed victory in a match that could easily have been mistaken for another at the end of May and not in mid-November.

"It's not very often during the regular season that games like this happen," said Irving. "So you want to get the most out of it, they are a good test for your team at both ends of the basketball court, so a great player in the other locker room so you just have to be on your P's and Q for the unknown, and that is the competition.

"The level of play is increasing, and you just have to enjoy it."

Irving certainly increased his level of play and, in doing so, that of the Celtics as a whole.

Despite slight improvements lately, Boston has always been on the offensive offensive rankings (23rd in the league), largely because of its difficulties in reaching the basket.

This was again the case during Friday's match. The Celtics opted for one rider after the other, without reaching either the brink or fault line. After Raptors striker Pascal Siakam hit two of them to open the fourth quarter, Toronto made 25 free throws. Boston had taken only 12.

But then it appeared that the light finally went out for the Celtics, especially for Irving. And once he and his teammates started attacking the rim, things finally started to open for Boston offensively.

"We have to do a better job to attack the paint, point," said Celtics head coach Brad Stevens. "Kyrie's ability to get in is so unique, we just need to be better at it."

The Celtics looked like a completely different team in the fourth quarter and overtime, finally playing aggressively in attack.

Asked about the offensive after the game, Irving repeatedly used the word "aggressive" to describe not only the way Boston had played Friday night, but also the need to play to go from there. before.

He scored 19 points in the fourth quarter, including 11 in a row for Boston and made a series of increasingly difficult passes in and around the rim to keep the Celtics in the game.

"It's only a state of mind," said Irving. "It's a state of mind in which we simply have to take root.

"Just find that happy balance between the 3-point line and get to the rim, then do not take a difficult 2s, but take 2s that are not part of the second team's action or just lead to the rim and are aggressive. "

Irving's aggression was contagious Friday night, especially for Jayson Tatum, whose late-game performances were much more in line with the way he had played in his epic rookie season last season.

Limited to two points on a 1-of-5 shot in the first half, Tatum scored 21 of 7 points out of 8 in the second half and overtime.

More importantly, Tatum stopped being content with riders and attacked the edge. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, he found himself at the edge for a lay-up; he had a huge dunk to attract Boston to less than two with 48.7 seconds to go in regulation; then he hit a player floating in the midway through overtime, allowing Boston to take advantage several times for the rest of the game.

"I did not play well in the first half and I knew I needed to be better," Tatum said. "I had to do my part."

Friday's victory also marked a major milestone for Gordon Hayward, who continues to recover from the terrible injuries to his left leg and ankle that he suffered during the opening game of last season. Hayward broke the season's record of 39:03, including most of the fourth quarter and all overtime. He also had a significant impact on the match.

A successful boxing Siakam allowed him to be called and make two free throws to equalize at the end of the regulation period. He then hit two free throws and a returner on the baseline to open the scoring. overtime.

For someone who was still clearly working to get back into shape, all of that was important. After finishing with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists, Hayward then smiled in the Boston locker room.

Hayward admitted that he was surprised that Stevens kept him on the ground as long as he did.

"I'm glad he left me," said Hayward. "It feels good to play as many minutes as it has been so long since I did not do it, so it's a good reminder of confidence."

In order to beat the Raptors in the playoffs – let alone face the Golden State Warriors at the NBA finals – the Celtics will need the Hayward version that they signed in July 2017 to arrive. This performance was, in many ways, another step towards the return of this player.

All that being said, Toronto still had chances. Kyle Lowry was awful, scoring 3 goals for 12 and making four turnovers while finishing with 14 points and seven assists. OG Anunoby, meanwhile, left in the second quarter with a wrist sprain, although the Raptors did not seem too worried about the injury afterwards. Danny Green was hit by a pair of questionable calls over a 35-second period to score with a regulation time of 3:43, and his absence was a clear problem for the Raptors late in regulation and overtime.

The same thing happened when a back problem forced Green to escape Wednesday's loss to the Detroit Pistons, another painful defeat. And Kawhi Leonard, who finished with 31 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three interceptions in 42 minutes, took a decent look at a winning rider at the end of regulation, inches from the result.