Raptors newcomers Mogbo, Shead bright spots in an ugly exhibition

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A strong argument was made Sunday night in Boston that back-to-back exhibition games have no reason to exist.

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No sane organization would dress a starter for back-to-back nights when preseason games mean nothing, especially not the defending NBA champions who have 82 games left to play and perhaps another 15-25 to play after that.

And so on the evening after humiliating a Philadelphia team that held all the standouts by 50 points, the Celtics didn't bother playing superstars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday or Derrick White. Heck, even the player replacing injured center Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kornet, was retained.

It didn't matter much because Boston's hold on Toronto continued. The Raptors missed starters Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett and backup Kelly Olynyk much more than Boston missed most of its rotation.

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The final score, 115-111, told the Celtics no story. The Celtics led by as many as 34 points and never looked threatened.

Since the 2019-20 season, Toronto was just 3-19 in regular season games against the Celtics (with turnovers in 11 of 12) and even with that lineup, they were unable to compete with the champions. After the quarter it was 41-20, and Boston led by 32 to 24 minutes.

Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic must have been concerned about how terrible his team looked against a lineup it should have been feasting on (even without Quickley, Barrett and Olynyk). Scottie Barnes, undoubtedly the most talented player on both teams that night, made just one basket in the first half, missed 3 of 4 shots, had no free throw attempts, had just one assist, along with two fouls and four turnovers. . Jakob Poeltl was strong, but Gradey Dick struggled, and two players fighting for high spots in the rotation, Ochai Agbaji and Davion Mitchell, didn't stand out in the first half.

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At least Barnes and Dick played well in the second half, while newcomers Jonathan Mogbo and Jamal Shead impressed. Mogbo easily played his best of three exhibition games and grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with eight points and four assists. Shead had 14 points and five assists.

Drew Peterson, who is on a two-way contract, led Boston with 23 points off the bench. Dick led Toronto with 18.

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NOT WHAT YOU WANT

Dick came alive defensively in the first quarter. Sure, so did most of his teammates, but the way Boston got what it wanted against the sophomore was especially egregious. Last year, Dick at least looked like he was giving it his all and was usually in the right positions to at least get in the way of his opponents. It wasn't like that at first.

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To make matters worse, Dick, arguably the best shooter on the team, missed seven of his first eight shots before hitting the second one.

Dick is considered a prime candidate for the team's fifth starting spot once everyone is healthy, but he will need to play much better to keep the job. At least he needs to improve his defensive game.

To his credit, he picked up the pace offensively, hitting five of his next ten shots, including four three-pointers in the third quarter on seven attempts.

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FIT

How fitting was it that Toronto played Boston on the day Vince Carter entered the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame?

Carter's NBA career began in the same building in Beantown on February 5, 1999. Carter scored 16 points in the Raptors' victory, a rarity (they won only 16 games last season) as the first competitive Raptors era was underway.

The second Class of 2024 Hall of Fame connection between the two clubs was Toronto acquiring fellow inductee Chauncey Billups from the Celtics about a year before Carter's debut. The two never played together, however, and Billups was dealt again the day after the NBA lockout ended in 1999. Toronto could have had three future Hall of Famers on its roster that year (Tracy McGrady was previously inducted) if Billups had not been drafted transferred so early. At least the team ended up with Antonio Davis and Morris Peterson among the draft picks acquired for Billups. They got nothing when McGrady or Carter finally left.

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AROUND THE RIM

Toronto showed some life, outscoring Boston 32-22 in the third quarter. Dick's shooting and much better work by Barnes caused the turnaround. Agbaji surprisingly had four assists in the third quarter. The former Kansas star has had more than three assists in a game only three times in his career… Shead missed his first nine 3-pointers in the preseason before making a fourth-quarter layup to cap the Raptors' 9-0 run. In three games, Shead has shown everything except outside touch… Chris Boucher is the only Raptor left in the 2020 playoff series between the Celtics and Toronto. Half of the 12 Raptors who took part in that seven-set battle were out of the NBA. Boston's lineup is completely different outside of top players Tatum and Brown.

X: @WolstatSun

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