Absolutely nothing went right for Dennis Schroder and the Toronto Raptors during a 117-94 loss at the hands of Jayson Tatum and the rival Boston Celtics. Darko Rajakovic and his team were thoroughly outclassed on both sides of the ball despite Boston playing the night before.
Even Schroder, who has been one of the best players for the Raptors early in the 2023-24 season, had to take it on the chin. Schroder mustered 14 points and four assists on just 3-7 shooting in 25 minutes, all of which are numbers far below his season averages.
The Celtics challenged a call when they were up by 27 points with under four minutes to go. With the game already in hand and a 0% chance that the outcome of this call would impact the result of the contest, Schroder thought that decision was unprofessional.
Schroder claims the Celtics disrespected the Raptors late in the blowout by challenging an inconsequential call when the outcome of the game had already been decided. At the risk of relitigating the endless “unwritten rules” debate, the Raptors opened themselves up for such humiliation after being down by as much as they were.
Dennis Schroder had an issue with the #Celtics challenge up 27 with 3:39 left. "Up 30 you're not supposed to challenge nothing," he told the Globe. "You won, it's three minutes left. You shouldn't disrespect us like that." #Raptors
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) November 12, 2023
Dennis Schroder says Celtics disrespected the Toronto Raptors
Perhaps if the Raptors put up more of a fight, Boston would have had more respect for their divisional rival. Toronto was down just nine points at halftime, but the roof caved in after an absolutely dismal defensive start. It’s hard to say any one player on this team had a good game.
While not having Gary Trent Jr. was undoubtedly a big blow for this team, Toronto would get run out of the gym with him in the lineup, thanks to their poor collective effort. With Scottie Barnes playing his worst game of his strong year and the offense sputtering, this was a nightmare showing.
The Celtics have beaten Toronto all but once since their series in the Disney bubble, showing how one-sided the rivalry has become in recent years. Boston is clearly a few tiers above Toronto, but the gap has widened so far that it’s hard for fans not to get discouraged.
This game showed just how far away the Raptors are from being taken seriously as a contender. Schroder may be in the right about Boston violating an unwritten rule, but when a team falls in such a giant hole in just the ninth game of the season, they open themselves up for such mockery.