Ten takeaways from the Celtics loss to the Raptors

1. Huge Jordan Walsh Minutes

Going into the final preseason game, one of the final questions for the Celtics was who was going to fill the Oshae Brissett role for the Celtics this season and last night, Jordan Walsh might have won the job.

Walsh was a part of the first round of substitutions for the Celtics coming off of the bench early in this game, seemingly gaining the trust of Joe Muzzulla. Walsh was playing heavy minutes with the starters early on in the 1st quarter and was looking to find his role but struggled a little bit. Then in the 2nd quarter, Walsh was a part of a huge 25-2 Celtics run and became a contributor. He got a steal on Scottie Barnes that led to a layup by Luke Kornet and hit a three on the wing on an assist from Payton Pritchard.

Walsh didn’t do anything in the 3rd quarter, but in the 4th quarter he was a part of a comeback attempt by the Celtics and hit a huge layup to tie the game with 48.8 seconds in the quarter.

With the game on the line and the Celtics down 1 with 11.7 seconds to go, Jordan Walsh had a chance to win the game with the final shot but got denied (and arguably fouled) at the rim.

It wasn’t a perfect night by any means for Walsh as he finished with 7 points on 2-6 shooting from the field and 1-3 from three, but he did play some solid minutes with the starters and might have played his way into the regular season rotation.

2. Jayson Tatum played a good game despite the shooting numbers.

If you looked at Jayson Tatum’s final numbers, the title for this takeaway could be misleading. Tatum finished with 24 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists on 9-22 shooting from the field and 5-13 shooting from three. Not the best shooting numbers but if you watched the game throughout the first half, Tatum was rolling.

Tatum started hot, splashing a smooth step back three in Jakob Poeltl’s face and delivering a nasty poster dunk on former teammate Bruno Fernando.

He finished the first quarter with a dunk off a steal by Jordan Walsh and had 7 points overall. Tatum continued his hot shooting into the second quarter where he hit two threes and a buzzer beating mid range shot over Jonathan Mogbo.

At the half Jayson Tatum had 15 points on 6-12 shooting and 3-6 from three, but in the second half he struggled to find his shot as it looked like he was forcing up a lot of contested threes and it killed his efficiency completely. It did look like Tatum was just trying to take as many shots as he could before Joe Mazzulla subbed him out for the game, so I’m willing to over look it.

The main thing to take away from this game was the fact that Jayson Tatum’s jump shot continued to look good and he was not afraid to look for his shot at any time of the game. If his shot can continue to hit throughout the season with consistency, while continuing to get his teammates involved, we could be seeing the best version of Jayson Tatum this season.

3. Double Big Lineups could be making a comeback

With Kristaps Porzingis being out to start the season, the depth at the big man position for the Celtics is going to be more important than ever. We have seen a lot of minutes from Luke Kornet, Xavier Tillman, and Neemis Queta throughout the preseason, and with Al Horford playing just his first preseason game tonight, the Celtics went with some double big lineup looks. The results: pretty solid.

One of the best looks from the double big lineup came with the lineup of Pritchard-Walsh-Tatum-Tillman-Kornet to begin the second quarter where the Celtics proceeded to go on a 19-0 run. Tillman and Kornet were locking up the Raptors on defense which led to fast break transition threes by Pritchard and Tatum.

The Celtics played around with a bunch of double big combinations with Tillman/Kornet, Horford/Kornet, and Horford/Queta. I’m very interested to see if Joe Mazzulla throws out more double big lineups with Tatum at the small forward this season.

4. Luke Kornet for most improved player of the preseason

Going into the beginning of last preseason, there wasn’t a lot of people very high on Luke Kornet. Kornet was known for his funny postgame interviews and signature celebrations on the court after a making a basket and being an okay third string center. But over the course of the offseason, Kornet has put a lot of work in on his game and turned himself into a player the Celtics might not be able to live without.

In the four preseason games he’s played this year, Luke Kornet is shooting 17-23 from the field and going 5-5 tonight. It felt like he was always in the right place at the right time for the Celtics and looked incredibly comfortable with the starting lineup. Kornet improved his rebounding and defense as well, becoming a pretty serviceable anchor for the Celtics defense.

I am very excited to see what Luke Kornet brings this season for the Celtics and he might become their most important player coming off of the bench.

Photo by Vaughn Ridley/NBAE via Getty Images

5. Payton Pritchard continues to amaze

Payton Pritchard has had an incredible preseason so far and was in the starting lineup today along side White, Brown, Tatum, and Horford with Jrue Holiday out for rest and he continued to put on a show.

During the 19-0 run to begin the second quarter, Pritchard was the main catalyst of the scoring, hitting back to back threes and attacking the offensive glass which set up second chance opportunities.

Pritchard finished his night with 15 points on 5-11 shooting from three, continuing his string of excellent three point shooting throughout the preseason as through 5 games, he shot a total of 21-44 (47.7%) from beyond the arc.

Payton Pritchard will play a huge role for this team and will be ready for any situation he is thrown in to. He said it himself after Sunday’s win, he’s a winner and he’s going to play his role to help the Celtics win games.

6. Toronto dominated the glass

These takeaways aren’t all positive, as we have reached the biggest weakness of the Celtics game which was getting out rebounded 57-36 by Toronto. This led to the Raptors destroying the Celtics in second chance points 24-5. Boston was getting easily out muscled by Jakob Poeltl who grabbed 16 rebounds and it was an overall sloppy effort on that front.

This might be a very slight cause for concern moving forward as we have seen in the past with a player like Myles Turner in the Eastern Conference Finals for example, doing pretty much whatever he wanted down low on the Celtics without Porzingis on the floor. If this Celtics team had an Achilles' heel, getting out rebounded by a more physical center could be it.

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7. No minutes for Jaden Springer or Lonnie Walker

Jaden Springer and Lonnie Walker were not a part of the Celtics rotation today as for the first three and a half quarters of the game Joe Mazzulla ran a 9-man rotation consisting of Pritchard, White, Brown, Tatum, Horford, Kornet, Walsh, Tillman, and Queta. Then for the last 6 minutes of the 4th quarter, Ron Harper Jr, Baylor Scheierman, and JD Davison got in alongside Walsh and Queta.

This comes off of the heels of a small debate amongst Celtics fans over the potential of maybe trading Springer to put Walker on the roster. Springer has been a little underwhelming this preseason as he hasn’t gotten a lot of minutes and when he has they haven’t been very impressive along with Jordan Walsh seemingly taking a leap. Walker however is coming off of a 20-point game vs. Raptors on Sunday so him not playing could mean the potential of him not making the team. It will be interesting to see what happens with Springer and Walker heading into the season.

8. JD Davison’s insane 4th quarter

When JD Davision checked into the game with 5:11 left in the 4th quarter, the Celtics were down 108-100. Davison would proceed to score 8 straight points for the Celtics highlighted by a layup off of a steal and crazy and-1 three to put Boston within striking distance.

Down 2 with 26.4 seconds left, JD Davison hit a crazy step back three to give the Celtics the lead.

Sadly it wasn’t the decided shot as he would be called for a foul with 11.7 seconds left, sending D.J. Carton to the line who hit both free throws to win the game for Toronto. Even with the mistake at the end, Davison has shown real improvement in the limited time he’s had in the preseason. If he has another good season in Maine, he could find himself on the roster in the future.

9. Al Horford shaking off the rust

This was the first preseason game Al Horford played this season and you could tell he was shaking off the rust a little bit. Horford finished with only 2 points on 1-6 shooting from the field and 0-4 from three. The looks were there for Horford, but the shots just weren’t falling.

I don’t think this is cause for concern at all as I think Horford will be fine once the season starts but it’s something to mention none the less.

Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images

10. The Celtics will never be out of a game

This game was a perfect display on how no matter how much they are down, the Celtics always have a chance to win a game. The Celtics started out slow, allowing the Raptors to score 46 points in the first quarter. To counter this explosion by Toronto, the Celtics opened the 2nd quarter on a 19-0 run and tied the game, erasing a 24 point deficit, and leading at the half. In the 3rd quarter the Celtics couldn’t hit a shot, only scoring 19 points but bounced back again in the 4th quarter as they almost made a comeback in the end.

This showed me that no matter who is out there weather it be the starters or the reserves, this team will not quit, even in the preseason. That is the Joe Mazzulla mindset at work and it makes me happy to see everyone has bought in.