Raptors: How does Toronto match up against the Celtics?

The Toronto Raptors have rebounded from their 2-8 start early in the 2020-21 season, but their poor performances show that this roster is far from perfect. The Boston Celtics, one of their biggest competitors in a very crowded Atlantic Division, showed that when the Raptors aren’t clicking on defense, they can get demolished.

Jayson Tatum put up 40 points, which was enough to overcome 35 from Fred VanVleet and lead Boston to a 126-114 victory. The two rivals will lock horns once again, albeit on totally different paths. While Boston is struggling to pull away from the rest of their division, Toronto has won 10 of their last 15 games, including a dominant win against the Washington Wizards

Now that the Raptors will take them on with a more consistent rotation, more defined offensive identity, and some set rotations, will Toronto be able to stare down Boston and come out on top with a win, or will a Celtics team that beat Toronto handily without Kemba Walker end up coming out on top again?

The Raptors were torched by Jayson Tatum earlier in the season

The easiest solution to stopping the Celtics is putting Anunoby, Toronto’s best perimeter, on Tatum. However, while that philosophy would’ve worked well in past seasons, Jaylen Brown emerging as an elite scorer has made Boston one of the most difficult teams to guard. Throw in Walker at point guard, and the Celtics are quite the lethal offensive team.

The Raptors will need to slow down their three-headed monster on offense, but Boston is going to put points on the board on talent alone. The Raptors need to try to attack a very staunch perimeter defense, as the Celtics have allowed the seventh-fewest 3-pointers in the NBA. Luckily, Toronto has been white-hot from deep.

Since January 22, when the Raptors beat the Miami Heat by 20 points, no team has shot better from 3-point range than Toronto. While they have padded their stats a bit against some bad defenses, there is optimism that they could replicate their strong performances against Boston.

On defense, look for Siakam to take Tatum, Lowry to match up with Walker, and Anunoby to lock down Brown. As nasty as that trio is on offense for Boston, only Brown is a truly exceptional defender, and that could lead to some wide-open looks for Toronto.

Boston might find themselves on the wrong end of a 3-point barrage if they aren’t careful. A win in this game could cement the Raptors as a team that can legitimately contend for a championship.