Boston Celtics fall 107-105 to Toronto Raptors despite Chris Boucher’s great night

The Boston Celtics fell to the Toronto Raptors 107-105 in the preseason game on Friday (October 10) night, Boston collapsing late in the fourth quarter of the game when the Celtics’ third and fourth players were unable to close out the exhibition contest on their own. Despite leading for most of the game and by as many as 27 points, the Celtics did not match the pace or defensive intensity of their first preseason game (a 121-103 win against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, October 8), and the youth movement that dominated the minutes of this game will have work to do to avoid such results during the regular season.

That said, there were plenty of bright spots in the loss, from Anfernee Simons’ (18 points) passable defense for much of the game to Chris Boucher’s (19 points, 9 rebounds) revenge play against Toronto. Payton Pritchard (19 points) and Josh Minott (13 points, 6 rebounds) also played well among the starters.

Luka Garza (12 points, 6 rebounds) had a good game off the bench, while Neemias Queta (4 points, 5 rebounds) and Baylor Scheierman (4 points, 6 rebounds, same number of assists) had a difficult night against the Raptors.

The Celtics will face the Cleveland Cavaliers on their home court at TD Garden on Sunday, October 12 at 7 pm ET.

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