Celtics clean things up in the second half in impressive road win in Toronto

BOSTON -- The Celtics had every excuse to pack it in Monday night in Toronto. But this Celtics team doesn't fall back on excuses.

Monday night was the second leg of a back-to-back, the second game of a six-game road trip. A trip to Phoenix awaited after the game. The Celtics were without both Al Horford (rest) and Malcolm Brogdon (illness), while the well-rested Raptors had most of their roster raring to go against the best team in the NBA. 

After a sloppy and sleepy first half, which included nine mostly self-inflicted turnovers in the first 24 minutes of the game, Boston was in a six-point hole at halftime. Toronto is not the easiest place to play, with the Raptors touting a 9-2 home record entering the contest. The Celtics could have easily packed it in throughout the second half and accepted a road loss before heading out West.

But that mentality is not acceptable in the Boston locker room. Joe Mazzulla stressed that it was only a two-possession game, despite the team playing nowhere near their standards. Clean it up, and the C's could easily come back and win this one.

Boston got its act together and only turned the ball over twice the rest of the way. The Celtics dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Raptors 35-18 in the frame. The quarter included a 19-5 run, which ballooned into a 29-10 run. By the quarter's end, the Celtics owned an 11-point lead.

Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart led the charge in the third, with Tatum scoring 17 of his 31 points on the night. Smart dished out four of his seven assists in the frame and added eight points.

Boston's lead was up to 13 points in the fourth quarter before the Raptors went on a mini-run to make it a five-point game with just over a minute left. It could have gotten a little hairier for the Celtics after Tatum missed a layup with 26 seconds left, but veteran Blake Griffin was there to tip it in and secure the victory for Boston. Griffin, starting in place of Horford, did yeoman's work for the Celtics, contributing 13 points and eight rebounds. 

Boston is now 4-0 in games that Griffin makes a spot start. That's just one of the many benefits of the Celtics' incredible depth at work.

Of all the impressive performances for Boston on Monday night, Jaylen Brown had the best. He flirted with a triple-double with 22 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. His most impressive stat though was a zero, which he put up in the turnover column despite having the ball in his hands for a large chunk of the game. 

Brown's handle, or lack thereof, was what had fans ripping their hair out during last year's NBA Finals. That is no longer the case with Brown, with Monday night his second straight turnover-free contest. 

The first-half Celtics did not deserve a road W on Monday night. But that just made the performance of the second-half Celtics all the more impressive. They cleaned things up and played like the best team in the NBA in the second half. Now they head to Phoenix on a high note, ready to take on the best that the Western Conference has to offer.