Celtics 117, Raptors 94: Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum combine for 56 points in blowout win over Toronto

The Celtics took care of the Toronto Raptors in a 117-94 blowout Saturday night at TD Garden to remain undefeated at home.

Jaylen Brown picked up from where he left off against the Brooklyn Nets, scoring a game-high 29 points on 12-of-20 from the field, while Jayson Tatum netted 27 points (10-of-18) to lead the C's in back-to-back wins in as many days.

Kristaps Porzingis added 21 points, seven rebounds and Sam Hauser chipped in 12 points off the bench on 4-of-6 from long distance to help Boston improve to 7-2 on the season.

"I feel like we're really far from being a finished product, a team that this is it," Porzingis said in his postgame comments. "We're far from that still. There's going to be ups and downs. There's going to be like three games where it's going to look insane and three games where it's going to fall apart and the fans are going to overreact."

Pascal Siakam finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and former Celtic Dennis Schröder scored 14 points for the Raptors, who dropped to 4-5. Jakob Poeltl and Malachi Flynn each contributed 12 points respectively.

Boston was ahead 55-46 at the break, before using a 26-11 run to start the third quarter -- capped off with a Brown 3-pointer. The Raptors trailed by as many as 30 in the final frame with 6:46 left following a Brown baseline dunk as part of a 15-2 spurt.

The Celtics had a 27-point advantage when coach Joe Mazzulla used a challenge and won with 3:27 remaining, to which Schröder and the Toronto bench felt was "disrespectful."

"At the end of the day, my responsibility is to my players first," Mazzulla said when informed the Raptors were not happy about the use of the challenge at that point in the game. "It was a clear opportunity for me to try to empower the players, let them know I'm coaching you."

The Raptors were held to 38.5% shooting from the field and 10-of-37 from 3-point territory.

 

Mazzulla and the Celtics will wrap up their three-game mini homestand when they host the New York Knicks (4-4) Monday night. NBA TV has the tip-off at 7:30 pm ET.

 

Game Notes:

Boston hit 54.7% of their attempts, including 15-of-44 (34.1%) from 3, while out-rebounding the Raptors 46-37 and outscoring them in the paint 60-42. The Celtics also dished out 30 assists (12 turnovers) on 47 baskets to Toronto's 25 dimes (nine turnovers) on 35 made shots.

Joel Pavón

Follow @Joe1_CSP



Photo used courtesy of Getty Images