Celtics rally from 22 down to beat Raptors 98-93

Jayson Tatum made two free throws with 25.2 seconds left to put Boston ahead to stay, and the Celtics rallied from 22 points down to beat the Toronto Raptors 98-93 on Wednesday, November 11.

Tatum finished with 24 points and eight assists despite shooting 6 of 21 from the field. He made 10 of 12 free throws, and his last pair turned a 93-93 tie into a one-point lead. Neemias Queta and Sam Hauser each added two more in the final 15 seconds.

Boston trailed 89-81 with five minutes to play and outscored Toronto 15-4 the rest of the way. The Celtics played without Paul George, who was out with an illness.

Toronto scored 38 points in the first quarter. A 10-0 run early in the second put the Raptors up 48-32, and they reached their biggest lead, 59-37, midway through the period.

Boston answered with a 10-0 run of its own to cut the gap to 59-47 before halftime. The game had 10 lead changes and five ties, and a 10-0 Toronto run across the third and fourth quarters made it 82-75 for the Raptors.

Ja'Kobe Walter led Toronto (5-6) with 17 points and made 5 of 10 3-pointers. RJ Barrett had 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists but shot 5 of 16. The Raptors scored 13 points in the fourth quarter.

Derrick White added 19 points and four blocks for Boston (10-2). Queta had 11 points and 13 rebounds, and the Celtics blocked 10 shots.

The free throw line separated the teams. Boston made 24 of 28 attempts, while Toronto went 13 of 18.

Up next

Celtics: home against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, November 15.

Raptors: at the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, November 12.