The Toronto Raptors will aim to secure their first road victory of the season when they visit the Boston Celtics on Saturday night for the first of four meetings between the two teams.
The Raptors have struggled on the road, holding a 0-7 record. Meanwhile, the Celtics are 3-2 at home but boast an overall record of 10-3. This game marks the second in as many nights for Toronto, following a 99-95 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Friday in the second NBA Cup game for both teams. The defeat extended the Raptors’ overall losing streak to six games.
Jakob Poeltl had a standout performance for Toronto, scoring 25 points and grabbing 18 rebounds, but the Raptors fell to 0-2 in NBA Cup play. RJ Barrett added 22 points, while Gradey Dick chipped in 16 points despite going just 1-for-10 from 3-point range.
Boston, on the other hand, hasn’t played since their 139-114 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. In that game, Jayson Tatum posted 36 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds. Jaylen Brown contributed 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Payton Pritchard scored 23 points.
The 139 points were the most the Celtics have scored in a game this season, with 74 of those points coming in the second half.
That win followed a 117-116 home loss to the Atlanta Hawks, who managed to secure the victory despite missing their leading scorer, Trae Young, due to right Achilles tendinitis. The Celtics struggled with 20 turnovers and were outrebounded 19-6 on the offensive glass against the Hawks. However, they improved to just seven turnovers and had a 12-3 edge in offensive rebounds against the Nets.
Jayson Tatum is leading Boston with an average of 30.2 points per game, and he also leads the team in rebounds (7.6) and steals (1.5). Jaylen Brown follows with 25.4 points and is second in rebounds (7.2), tied with Pritchard in steals (1.2).
For the Raptors, RJ Barrett is averaging a team-high 21.4 points per game, and Jakob Poeltl leads in rebounds with 11.6 per game.
