Green Machine: Celtics stay cohesive in Game 1 romp of Raptors

It truly was an all-around team effort by the Boston Celtics in their 112-94 victory over the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Sunday. 

Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart each scored 21 points. Tatum also had nine assists. Kemba Walker scored 18 and Jaylen Brown had 17. Daniel Theis dominated the glass with 15 rebounds, and also managed to put up 13 points. Robert Williams was solid all game defensively and shot 5 for 5.

Boston rode a lead it sprinted to in the first quarter the whole game. The Celtics outscored the Raptors by 16 in the first, and that lead stayed about the same for the next three. The Celtics didn’t allow the margin to below 10 after early in the second quarter.

They especially excelled on defense. Boston contained Toronto’s key players with no issue. The Raptors' top scorers were Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Ibaka also grabbed nine boards. 

Most telling, the Raptors shot only 36.9% from the field, to the Celtics' 47. And Toronto finished the first half shooting 28.9%. 

You could call it an off day, but the Celtics defense' is the real reason for things going the way they did. Raptors standouts Pascal Siakam, Fred Vanvleet and Lowry bricked their way to a combined 13-of-44 from the field. 

The Celtics' transition defense was particularly good. While they committed 22 total turnovers, they did a good job getting back and getting their feet set before the Raptors could capitalize.

Overall, for a team missing one of its top players in the injured Gordon Hayward, the Celtics have been playing an exciting and effective brand of basketball in moving to 5-0 in the postseason.

Both of the Raptors' two losses on the Disney campus have come at the hands of the Celtics.