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Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics goes to the net against Scottie Barnes #4 of the Toronto Raptors during the first half of an NBA game at Scotiabank Arena on January 21, 2023 in Toronto, Canada. Cole Burston/Getty Images/AFP
The Boston Celtics overcame the absence of injured Jayson Tatum and early departures from Marcus Smart and Robert Williams to beat the Toronto Raptors 106-104 on Saturday and push their NBA winning streak to nine games.
Jaylen Brown scored 27 points and Grant Williams added 25 points for the Celtics, who improved their league-best record to 35-12.
In an overtime win over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday, the Celtics trailed 85-81 in the fourth quarter.
But they opened the final frame with a 9-0 run on three-pointers from Brown, Payton Pritchard and Grant Williams and stayed in front until Toronto tied it 103-103 on a Gary Trent Jr. three-pointer. :23 to play.
Pritchard, who scored all 12 of his points in the fourth quarter, hit another three-pointer that was enough.
Malcolm Brogdon added 23 points off the bench for Boston, whose leading scorer Tatum was sidelined with a sore left wrist.
3 Celtics scored 20+ points tonight as Boston won their 9th game in a row 🍀
Jaylen Brown: 27 PTS, 8 WED, 6 AST
Malcolm Brogdon: 23 PTS, 7 WEB
Grant Williams: 25 PTS, 5 WEB pic.twitter.com/QEUSoPFjWq— NBA (@NBA) January 22, 2023
Tatum, who is averaging 31.2 points per game, third most in the league, scored 51 points in Monday’s win over Charlotte and had 34 with 19 rebounds against Golden State, playing 48 minutes in the overtime victory.
Grant Williams said Tatum’s absence is no reason for the Celtics to give up their elite team mindset of returning to the NBA Finals for the second straight year after falling to Golden State in the title series.
“Every night we compete to the highest level,” he said. “We can’t settle for less or just a night off because that’s not who we are.
“You can’t back down from any challenge, it doesn’t matter if you’re down 12 men, it doesn’t matter if you’re down four, it doesn’t matter if you’re down two, it doesn’t matter if you’re a full team.
“You have to do your job.”
Smart rolled his right ankle in the second quarter and left the game while Robert Williams hurt his left knee, stayed in the game briefly but sat out the second half.
Celtics coach Joe Mazulla said Williams’ injury was “nothing serious” and that Smart had a sprained ankle.
“The X-rays were negative,” he said of Smart, who had to be helped off the court. “So it’s just a matter of how they deal with it every day.”
Pascal Siakam had 29 points and 10 assists to lead the Raptors, who are missing Fred Van Vleet with rib pain. OG Anunoby left in the third quarter with a right ankle problem.
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