Unlike the last time the Toronto Raptors played the Boston Celtics — when the Celtics ran away with it early on the back of a 40-ball from Jayson Tatum — the Raptors’ 106-120 loss to the Celtics on Thursday night was there for the taking.
With 5:12 remaining in the game — after brilliant performances from Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam had willed the Raptors to within 7 points after being down by more than ten for most of the night — Aron Baynes and Norman Powell saw each of their layups get blocked on back-to-back possessions. Instead of going up strong and being aware of their surroundings, both Baynes and Powell acted nonchalantly as they took the ball to the hoop, letting 4 potential points slip off the board. After Jaylen Brown blocked Powell’s bunny, Kemba Walker hit a 3-point shot to put the Celtics up ten. The Celtics would go on to score 11 straight points before Nick Nurse pulled his starters and conceded the game.
If the last game between these two teams was an example of one team being in a tier above the other, this one was won, and lost, around the margins.
At no point did the Raptors look overmatched. Lowry was in peak form, scoring 24 points on just 15 field goal attempts, and his counterpart Pascal Siakam bounced back from his previous poor showings against the Celtics to score 23 points on just 14 field goal attempts. Meanwhile, Tatum, Brown, and Kemba Walker were held to 17, 12, and 21 points, respectively.
Instead of the Celtics’ stars having their way against the Raptors, who were missing their best one-on-one defender in OG Anunoby, the Raptors forced the ball out of the stars’ hands and made the Celtics’ role players make shots. Unfortunately for the Raptors, that is exactly what they did, with Semi Ojeleye and Payton Pritchard combining for 44 points, mostly from beyond the arc. But while the Celtics outscored the Raptors 60-27 from the three-point line, that was not the only reason for the loss.
In fact, the loss was an indictment on the Raptors’ fundamentally flawed roster — one that employs only one traditional center in Baynes, who has been overmatched as of late and played 21 minutes only because Chris Boucher was in foul trouble. All season, teams have been targeting Baynes in the pick-and-roll when he is in the game, and he isn’t smart enough positionally to stay in front of ball-handlers nor does he have the speed or size to contest shots:
Because Baynes has been so poor, the Raptors are asking Boucher, a 6-foot-9, 200 pound big man in his third year in the NBA, to play starter minutes, trying to survive playing small regardless of the matchup.
Boucher was good, doing everything he could to battle with Celtics’ big men Daniel Theis and Tristan Thompson in the post and doing a great job defending the pick-and-roll. But he isn’t a traditional center and would be much better matching up against backup centers and playing some minutes at the four. The problem with playing Boucher at center so much, especially without Anunoby in the lineup, is that the Raptors are susceptible to getting out-rebounded and out-muscled when playing that way. In this one, the Celtics’ outrebounded the Raptors 49-32, including 14-3 on the offensive boards. That was a big difference-maker.
To make up for their lack of size on the boards, the Raptors forced the Celtics into turning the ball over 19 times, which their small-ball lineups have done all season, often leading to fast break points. Only most of them were not live-ball turnovers and the Raptors scored only scored 5 points on the fast break all night, completely erasing one of the key tenets of their offence.
Defensively, the Raptors continue to foul in unnecessary moments and to commit too many guys to the ball because they do not trust their backline help, leading to open shots. The Celtics shot 28 free-throws compared to just 19 for the Raptors.
When looking at the game as a whole, it was clear that the Raptors lost around the margins. A couple less blown layups here, a few more defensive rebounds there, and some fast-break points could have seen the Raptors turn this one around. But win or lose tight games like this one around the margins, the roster problems remain. The Raptors either need a serviceable starting center or they need to figure out how to play small without giving up a boatload of offensive rebounds. Until then, their margin for error will remain too small to be a real contender.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
BRUSSELS – Canadian shot putter Sarah Mitton rebounded from a disappointing performance at the Paris Olympics by capturing Diamond League gold on Friday.
Mitton, of Brooklyn, N.S., won the competition, the final Diamond League event of the season, with a heave of 20.25 metres on her third throw.
Chase Jackson of the U.S. placed second with a throw of 19.90, while German’s Yemisi Ogunleye, the Olympic gold medallist, claimed bronze with a toss of 19.72.
Mitton, the runner-up of last year’s world championship, failed to qualify for the top eight in Paris.
Edmonton runner Marco Arop, who won silver for Canada in the men’s 800 metres at the Paris Games, was scheduled to race in the 800 on Saturday.
Olympic bronze-medallist Alysha Newman, of London, Ont., also competes Saturday in the women’s pole vault.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
