Robb: Celtics Fall Short Against Raptors In First True Test Of Season
By Brian Robb, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) – The Celtics season opener may have been on Wednesday, but the first true test of the year came on Friday night at the TD Garden. The Toronto Raptors, the reigning Atlantic Division champions, came to town looking to assert their will against the Celtics and they did just that, thanks to the stellar play of their wings.
Terrence Ross, DeMar DeRozan and Terrence Ross all scored 21 points or more, as the visitors handily defeated Boston by a 113-103 margin.
Offensively, the Raptors did most of their damage from the free throw line and beyond the arc. Toronto made 30 free throws and were a scorching 11-of-26 from three-point range, as Boston failed to get the stops they needed on the defensive end for most of the evening, a problem that was magnified by the team's constant fouling in the penalty.
"I think fouling was what got us in trouble," Amir Johnson said after the game. "We put them on the line. And once they shot a couple free throws, they got going and they kinda broke us down a little bit."
On the flip side, Boston struggled to keep pace on the offensive end. Outside of another standout effort from Isaiah Thomas (25 points off the bench), Boston's offense failed to find any consistent rhythm. The team shot 37 percent from the field and a meager 26 percent from downtown.
After the game, Stevens reflected on another off-night shooting from long-range.
"You feel better when you make shots; everything seems a little rosier, right? We had a lot of misses. Some of them were good looks, some of them weren't. Again, I think that we have to move the ball better and continue to probe for better shots. It's Game 2. We're not as good as these guys right now. I think that was pretty evident and clear for everyone to see, and so we'll see if we can improve."
The heart of the issue Friday appeared to be with the team's lack of ball movement on the offensive end. Boston lacks shot creators outside of Thomas and the team was inefficient with the ball failing to fly around the perimeter, according to Avery Bradley.
"The ball stopped moving and that's hard on our team," Bradley explained. "The ball has to move. Gives everyone confidence and makes everyone feel more involved. I feel like that is the best basketball for the Celtics when the ball is moving and everyone is touching it."
Stevens has limited time to correct those issues this weekend, as Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs are next up on the schedule on Sunday. The Western Conference juggernaut beat Boston handily in both meetings last year, and Bradley knows the Celtics must turn the page quickly after Friday night in order to have a chance.
"That's the first thing Brad said after the game 'Let's focus on San Antonio,'" Stevens said, "Because they are a very good team and we know they're gonna come in here and try to jump on us early so we have to make sure we're prepared and we don't make the same mistakes turning the ball over. We can't turn the ball over against San Antonio. They're gonna score every single time. So, we have to be strong with the ball and play defense."
With expectations on the rise for the 2015-16 season, the Celtics fell short on Friday. On Sunday, they will have a chance to make amends and begin to prove last year's fast finish was not a fluke.
Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter @CelticsHub.