The Celtics took sole possession of third place in the Eastern Conference after beating the Raptors 112-96 on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena. Boston won the second half of the back-to-back set despite playing without All-Star Jaylen Brown due to illness.
Payton Pritchard (31 points) led the way for the visitors, who pulled away in the fourth quarter by outscoring the hosts 29-16 in the final frame for their second straight win over Toronto.
Six different players scored in double figures for Boston in the victory including some huge performances off the bench. Luka Garza (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Hugo Gonzalez (10 points, career-high 10 rebounds) were both difference makers in the victory, while Pritchard jumpstarted Boston’s second half rally with 19 points in the third quarter.
Brandon Ingram had a team-high 24 points for the Raptors who dropped to 17-12 on the season.
Boston has now won two straight games and improved to 17-11 on the year.
Boston gets a day off now before returning to action on Monday night against the Pacers at TD Garden.
Here are four takeaways from Saturday’s win for the Celtics:
**Payton Pritchard erupts in third quarter:** The point guard rose to the occasion the first time Jaylen Brown missed a game this season and was up to the task again on Saturday night. Pritchard caught fire in the third quarter, scoring 19 of Boston’s 34 points in the frame on 8-of-10 shooting from the field. He mixed in a host of drives, midrange jumpers and stepbacks in the sensational frame while also adding four assists to help lead a Boston offense that shot 65 percent in the frame. With Derrick White struggling with his shot, it was essential that Pritchard turn into a No. 1 option against a tough Raptors defense and Pritchard was up to the task.
**Luka Garza reemerges in rotation:** The backup center got his first meaningful rotation minutes since November 29 in a loss against the Wolves. With Brown sidelined, additional minutes opened up in the frontcourt and Garza took advantage with an inspired performance on the glass. He piled up nine offensive rebounds in his 25 minutes and was one of the many bright spots on Boston’s bench all night. The outing certainly will be worthy of giving Garza another look even with a healthy lineup since his offensive rebounding was that much of a game changer. He finished with a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) in his 25 minutes.
**Jordan Walsh benched in second half:** It was a sluggish first half for Boston’s starting five and Walsh found himself as the odd man out as Joe Mazzulla tried to shake things up at halftime. Josh Minott got the start over Walsh, who did not see the floor for the final 24 minutes as Garza, Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez all saw time over him. Walsh finished with zero points and three rebounds in 13 minutes and had a plus/minus of -13.
**Celtics are back in third place in the East and could be there to stay:** The Celtics hit their first bump in a road for awhile this past week with a two-game losing streak. However, two quality wins over East playoff teams (Heat and Raptors) have put Boston back in sole possession of third place in the East. With seven straight sub-.500 opponents looming, the Celtics are well positioned now to hold onto that spot and potentially move up a wide-open Eastern Conference.