TORONTO, Sporting Alert – Jaylen Brown scored 30 points and Kemba Walker added 22 and the Boston Celtics beat the Toronto Raptors 118-102 in the first game on the Christmas Day schedule on Wednesday.
Boston was picking up its first win in Toronto since 2015, while the Raptors fell to their first home defeat to an Atlantic Division opponent in over four years.
http://gty.im/911958106“They hit us early but I thought we recovered well,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said after the win.
Brown went 10-for-13 from the field and made five of his seven 3-pointers to go along with six rebounds for the Celtics (21-7), who played again without guard Marcus Smart (eye infection) who traveled to Toronto with the team but sat out his seventh game.
“It was good to get a win here on Christmas,” said Brown. “I’ve never won here period, so it was great to just get one.”
Walker also made five 3-pointers and went 8-for-16 from the floor, while Gordon Hayward added 14 points with six assists and five rebounds and Enes Kanter ended with 12 points and 11 rebounds for Boston, while blew the game open in the third quarter to lead 88-69 heading into the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Fred VanVleet paced the Raptors with 27 points, six assists and four steals.
Chris Boucher added a career-high 24 points and six rebounds, while Kyle Lowry ended with 14 points and eight assists in the defeat, as Toronto (21-10) fell to 2-2 since losing Marc Gasol (left hamstring), Norman Powell (left shoulder) and Pascal Siakam (groin) due to injuries.
Forward Jayson Tatum shot just 1 for 10 in the first half, but finished the game with 11 points.
The former Duke Blue Devils who is averaging 21.6 points per game, finished 5 for 18 from the field overall to go with nine rebounds and six assists.
UP NEXT
Boston Celtics: Play host to Cleveland on Friday.
Toronto Raptors: Travel to Boston for a rematch on Saturday.
