Celtics forward Chris Boucher had 19 points in his return to Toronto, where he spent seven seasons with the Raptors.
Celtics forward Chris Boucher had 19 points in his return to Toronto, where he spent seven seasons with the Raptors.Brandon Dill/Associated Press
TORONTO — Friday was the first time for Anfernee Simons to display his skills to a new Celtics audience, which included his coach, Joe Mazzulla.
The key acquisition in the Jrue Holiday deal is entering the final year of his contract and his Celtics tenure may be short, but he’s been spending the past few weeks cramming on the Mazzulla style, especially on defense.
The results in the second preseason game were mixed, as Simons started slow, picked up three fouls in the first five minutes but warmed up and eventually dropped 18 points to go with three assists in the Celtics’ 107-105 loss to the Raptors at Scotiabank Center.
Simons made 6 of 13 shots and lived up to his reputation as an offensive force. Defensively, he showed effort but struggled with his on-ball defense, especially against Raptors rotation player Gradey Dick.
Simons rested in the preseason opener as Mazzulla went with four projected starters in the win over the Grizzlies. This time he opted for Simons and Payton Pritchard, who scored 19 points. Chris Boucher, in his return to Toronto after seven seasons with the Raptors, scored 19 on 7-for-10 shooting.
Looking for more consistency, especially with rebounding, Mazzulla played Friday in hockey-type shifts, pulling all five players from the floor when they couldn’t collect a defensive rebound. In one sequence, he pulled rookie Hugo Gonzalez after less than a minute and then threw him back into action with the next shift.
Boston ended the half on a 20-3 run sparked by a Payton Pritchard heater for a 63-42 lead.
The Celtics led 103-89 with 3:45 left before a disastrous final stretch where they committed eight turnovers and were outscored, 18-2. Mazzulla used Baylor Scheierman and the two-way contract players and they struggled to even get the ball up the floor.
Boston finished with 28 turnovers.
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Mazzulla was not pleased with Scheierman early in the fourth quarter Wednesday against Memphis. In the first two minutes of the period, Scheierman committed two live-ball turnovers (Mazzulla’s absolute most-despised error) and then missed three contested 3-pointers.
After the third miss, Mazzulla looked back at his bench and told his assistants he couldn’t watch anymore, replacing Scheierman with training camp invite Jalen Bridges. Ninety-eight seconds later, he reinserted Scheierman, who then responded with a rebound and stepback 3-pointer and Mazzulla screamed at his second-year player, “Welcome to the game!”
More is expected from Scheierman in his second season as he vying to fill an energy and defensive role with the second unit. Mazzulla said that growth will be a process.
“He’s a smart guy and he plays really hard,” Mazzulla said of Scheierman. “But that segment was an important segment for a young player to understand, especially at the start of the fourth quarter. Those momentum swings regardless of the game, you have to play really hard but you also have to have situational awareness. Those are the things you really have to grow at as a player and as a team because a 20-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter as we know means absolutely nothing.
“But he’s great, wants to be coached, plays really hard. Last year he did a great job of delivering in that Brooklyn game at home. That was the breakout and now the expectation is to do it every night and do it physically and also mentally.”
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Mazzulla was annoyed by a report that indicated Gonzalez, who is multilingual but speaks Spanish as his primary language, was having trouble comprehending English during training camp. Gonzalez told reporters last week after practice he was learning the language of the offense, which was misinterpreted as English.
“Who reported that he was having language barriers?” Mazzulla asked. “Someone put that out there. He’s not. He speaks multiple languages and I think people should speak to him in his native language. For anybody in the media that can speak Spanish, you should talk to him in Spanish. I didn’t like that headline because he doesn’t have an issue understanding that. I was pretty [upset] about that.”
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For the second consecutive game, the Celtics didn’t face a frontline opposing lineup. The Raptors rested all five starters — Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl, RJ Barrett, Brandon Ingram and Immanuel Quickley were all out. Meanwhile, the Celtics rested Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Sam Hauser.
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.