Celtics spoil Raptors’ Christmas party

LOS ANGELES, USA – The NBA holiday extravaganza moved north of the border for the first time but the Boston Celtics spoiled the reigning champion Toronto Raptors’ party with a 118-102 victory on Wednesday, December 25 (Thursday, December 26, Philippine time).

“To get a win here on Christmas is like the perfect present,” said Jaylen Brown, who scored 30 points for the Celtics.

Brown connected on 10-of-13 shots from the field including 5-of-7 three-pointers as the Celtics snapped an eight-game losing streak in Toronto.

The Raptors had blasted out of the gate, racing to a 10-0 lead before the Celtics closed out the 1st quarter on a 28-9 scoring run for a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Jaylen Brown breaks out the crossover in his big-time #NBAXmas performance! #PhantomCam #Celtics pic.twitter.com/fM5zmhtqOy

— LIVE on ESPN/ABC: LAC@LAL (@NBA) December 25, 2019

Boston improved to 21-7, second in the Eastern Conference, while the Raptors fell to 21-10.

The Celtics’ celebrations included the return of Gordon Hayward, who scored 14 points after missing 3 games with a sore left foot.

Fred VanVleet led the Raptors with 27 points and Chris Boucher added a career-high 24 off the bench.

Kyle Lowry scored 14 points and Serge Ibaka had 12 for the Raptors, who made just 8-of-23 attempts from three-point range.

Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker are the first teammates to each hit 5+ threes in a game on Christmas Day. #NBAXmas pic.twitter.com/eB9JpT35Wt

— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) December 25, 2019

– Rappler.com