At 8:30 a.m. Beijing time on December 30, the NBA regular season matchup is in full swing, with the Boston Celtics sitting at home to face the Toronto Raptors. Prior to this game, the Celtics were in first place in the East with a 24-6 record, and they are also the only team in the league that has not lost at home, with a home record of 15-0. The Green Army is extremely dominant, and the starting five are full of combat power, not to mention the double tanhua, even White, new signings Porzingis and Holiday also have their own highlights. In the last three games, Holiday has averaged 19.7 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 1.3 steals per game, shooting 62.9% from the field, 64.7% from three-point range, and 100% from the free throw line.
Among the league's players who average more than 20 points per game, Porzingis is the only player to average fewer than 13 shots per game, averaging just 12.8 shots per game. White averaged at least 15 points, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1 block per game this season, and shot more than 50% from the field. It can be seen that the players of the Green Army all have unique skills, and it is strange if they are not strong together. On the other side, the Raptors, before this game, ranked 11th in the East with 12 wins and 18 losses, although the record is quite average, but the Raptors are also a team that should not be underestimated, they have always had the strength of the playoff edge level in recent years, the team has a majority of forward players, and the defense is quite strong.
In this game, the two sides are in the starting lineup, the Raptors are sent, Siakam, Barnes, Anunoby, Trent and Poeltl, the Celtics are sent, Brown, White, Holiday , Hauser and Cornet, Tatum is resting for a minor injury, and Porzingis is also resting. At the beginning of the first quarter of the game, Poeltl jumped to win, the Raptors took the lead in getting the ball, Anunoby basketed the empty dunk and scored the first goal of the game, Hauser 45-degree angle three-shot shot into the center of the net, but also opened for the Celtics, Siakam turned and made a layup to continue to score, Trent chased a three-point shot and hit it, Brown used the help of cover, three shots to shoot back, White also had a three-point shot in the bottom corner, and Holiday broke through the layup to score two points.
The Celtics instantly took the initiative with a wave of super offensives, Cornet stepped on the snow without a trace to pick up the rebound in the frontcourt, and scored a strong rebound, Schroder made a stop-and-go jump shot with the help of covering the paint area, and it was into the center of the net, Brown's three-point shot in the bottom corner was stable, and Anunoby's gliding dunk skills were shocking. At the beginning of the first quarter, the Celtics led the Raptors by 15 points at 35-20, and the game took a pace. At the beginning of the second quarter of the game, Cornet scored a strong dunk under the basket to help the Green Army take the lead, Hauser arc top three shots hollowed into the net, Barnes large three-shot also had a three-shot shot, Kornet was unstoppable, and the empty cut basket was another unstoppable dunk. In Porzingis' absence, the Green Army's bench inside Cornet stepped up again and scored repeatedly under the basket. The difference between the two sides also reached more than 20 points at one point.
Similarly, in Tatum's absence, Brown was able to step up and take on the role of the team's boss, scoring like crazy in the first half and staying productive. In the second half of the second quarter, the Raptors picked up on the offensive end, bringing the margin back to about 15 points, and at halftime, the Green Army led the Raptors by 15 points 68-53. In the first half, Siakam scored 20 points and Brown had 24 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. At the beginning of the second half of the game, Yibian fought again, Poeltl hit the board high under the basket, opening the third quarter of the game, Siakam made a mid-range jumper steadily, Holiday ran to the basket and dropped two points, Anunoby's big three-shot shot at the top of the arc, Trent hit 4 points in a row, and while the Celtics were not paying attention, the Raptors narrowed the difference to single digits.
Brown's form slipped in the third quarter, Pritchard's wing three-pointer soared to help the Green Army stop the bleeding in time, White scored a steady three-step layup, and the difference between the two teams has been hovering around 10 points since then, and the Celtics led the Raptors by 13 points 99-86 after the third quarter. In the final quarter, the situation on the court changed abruptly, the Raptors relied on Schroder, Barnes's inside and outside blossomed to play a wave of offense, instantly overtook the score, the two sides returned to the same running line, Brown made a quick jump shot for the Celtics to stop the scoring drought, and Barnes scored three points from the outside. At the critical moment, White's big heart layup scored steadily, Cornet received Brown's wonderful pass and scored a violent dunk, or the Celtics had the last laugh, and in the end, the Green Army refused to make a big comeback, 120-118, and won 16 consecutive home games.
In terms of statistics, on the Raptors' side, Pascal Siakam had 27 points and 5 assists, Scottie Barnes had 30 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, Jacob Poeltl had 12 points and 10 rebounds, OG Anunoby had 12 points, and Dennis Schroder had 15 points and 9 assists. On the Celtics' side, Jaylen Brown had 31 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists, Luke Cornet had 20 points and 8 rebounds, Derrick White had 21 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists, Jrue Holiday had 16 points, and Payton Pritchard had 9 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists.