Boston able to hold off Toronto in a low-scoring battle
The Boston Celtics defeated the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night 97-93 at TD Garden. In what turned out to be a very low scoring game, the Celtics made just enough plays in the 4th quarter to get the job done. The Celtics were without JT, Marcus, and Al in this one, forcing some other guys into minutes they aren't used to playing. Malcom Brogdon came up huge for the C's tonight, recording his 2nd highest scoring game in a Celtics uniform with 29 points on 10/19 shooting. Jaylen Brown (25 pts, 11 reb) and Derrick White (17 pts, 4 reb) also put in strong efforts to help secure the W.
This game was Boston's first of the season in which they have won while scoring under 100 points, going 0-8 until tonight. Despite the lackluster shooting effort from the field and 10/18 from the free throw line, Boston was able to lean on their defense to get over the line. As a result of tonight's win, Boston has locked themselves into the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference for the playoffs. With 2 games to play and a 2.5 game lead on Philadelphia plus the head-to-head tiebreaker, the 76ers cannot catch the Celtics.
On the other hand, Milwaukee also clinched the #1 seed tonight with a win against Chicago, giving themselves homecourt for the entirety of the playoffs. Good for Milwaukee, but we've proven we can beat them in their building so if it comes down to it, I still ride with our guys to get it done. The Celtics next game will be Friday night against Toronto before concluding their regular season on Sunday against Atlanta.