Tatum has 31, Celtics beat Raptors 116-110
By IAN HARRISON Associated Press
TORONTO - Jayson Tatum had 31 points and 12 rebounds, Jaylen Brown scored 22 points and the Boston Celtics won for the seventh time in eight games, beating the Toronto Raptors 116-110 on Monday night.
Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart scored 18 points for Boston after sitting out Sunday's win at Brooklyn because of a bruised left hip.
Blake Griffin scored 13 points and Luke Kornet had 11 for the Celtics, who own the NBA's best record at 20-5. Boston is 16-2 since starting the season 4-3.
Pascal Siakam scored 29 points, Scottie Barnes had 21 and Gary Trent Jr. 20, but Toronto lost for the first time in four home games. The Raptors are 9-3 north of the border this season.
Raptors guard Fred VanVleet shot 3 for 14 and scored eight points. He missed a 3-pointer that would have cut the gap to three points with less than 2 minutes remaining.
Tatum had 17 points in the third as the Celtics outscored Toronto 35-18.
Before the game, Raptors coach Nick Nurse said he wanted to see how his team matched up against the league-leading Celtics, but several costly turnovers in the final period denied Toronto a chance to make it close.
Al Horford sat out the second game of Boston's back-to-back because of a sore lower back, while guard Malcolm Brogdon was unavailable because of a non-COVID illness.
Boston led 27-25 after one quarter but Siakam scored 11 points in the second and the Raptors made 13 of 16 at the free throw line to lead 62-56 at the half.
Boston reclaimed the lead at 71-69 on Tatum's 3-pointer with 7:09 left in the third. Tatum scored 17 points in the third and the Celtics were 4 of 8 from 3-point range to take a 90-81 lead to the fourth.
The Raptors missed all four of their 3-point attempts in the third.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Brown had eight rebounds and eight assists. ... Boston is 4-0 against Atlantic Division opponents and 9-3 on the road.
Raptors: O.G. Anunoby scored 13 points ... F Juancho Hernangomez (sprained right ankle) was not available. Hernangomez left injured in Saturday's win over Orlando. ... F Precious Achiuwa (right ankle) missed his 12th straight game while F Otto Porter Jr. (dislocated toe, left foot) missed his ninth straight.
IN THE CROWD
Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and former Raptors star Donyell Marshall each attended the game. Kaepernick received a loud ovation when he was introduced after the first quarter.
UP NEXT
Celtics: Visit the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.
Raptors: Host the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night.