Title: Crunch-time minutes again a concern for Raptors in matchup with Celtics
Date: January 16, 2019
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic Toronto, I wrote about the Raptors letting another close one slip away in Boston.
BOSTON — The Toronto Raptors had hoped the inconsistencies that plagued their December and bled into January were left behind in San Antonio. They’d won five in a row including a handful of tough games, building cautious optimism that momentum was swelling for a strong run heading into next month’s All-Star break.
But growth is not linear. Instead of continuing in that direction, they instead helped the Boston Celtics steer off their own opposite route with one of their most inconsistent performances of the season to date. It’s rare to see a team’s ups and downs from several weeks crystalized into one 48-minute stretch, and yet the Raptors managed Wednesday at TD Garden.
It made for a fun affair, to be sure. It just also saw the Raptors end up on the wrong side of a 117-108 decision, bringing back several points of concern from their recently exorcised lull in the process.
