BOSTON – After a first year where there were plenty of these Kyrie Irving nights in Boston there were perhaps none better than what he did Friday night at TD Garden.
After a first year when a devastating injury took away any of those nights from Gordon Hayward, he gave a glimpse of what could be the rest of this season in a 123-116 victory against the Toronto Raptors. [...]
BOSTON – After a first year where there were plenty of these Kyrie Irving nights in Boston there were perhaps none better than what he did Friday night at TD Garden.
After a first year when a devastating injury took away any of those nights from Gordon Hayward, he gave a glimpse of what could be the rest of this season in a 123-116 victory against the Toronto Raptors.
Irving scored 43 points with 11 assists, and Hayward was a critical part of the offense late in the fourth quarter and overtime on his way to 15 points, five rebounds and five assists in a thrilling Boston victory.
Irving’s jumper with 1:36 left in overtime gave him 23 in the fourth quarter and OT and put the Celtics up 119-112. Jonas Valanicunas got the Raptors within five when Irving found Al Horford for his 10th assist of the night and a 121-114 lead with 1:09 to play.
The Celtics managed a five-point lead into the final seconds when Horford closed out the triumph with the slam.
Down four with a minute to go in regulation, with Irving sitting on 19 points for the quarter, a Jayson Tatum slam and pair of Hayward free throws had the game tied at 107-107 into a Raptors timeout with 24.5 seconds on the clock.
Kawhi Leonard had a chance to win it at the buzzer in regulation, but his long jumper with Marcus Morris defending missed, and there were five more minutes left in one of early season’s games of the year in the NBA.
A pair of Hayward free throws and Serge Ibaka jumper started the overtime before Hayward’s turnaround in the post put Boston up 111-109 with 4:07 on the clock. Irving then scooped a loose ball off the parquet and put it home for a four-point game with 3:42 on the clock.
Leonard went to the line for a 113-110 game with 3:25 to play, but Tatum answered with two from the line for a five-point game with 3:09 to play.
Kyle Lowry cut the gap to three with a tough shot with 2:45 on the clock when Tatum struck again for a 117-112 game and the lead remained at least five the rest of the way.
Tatum scored 21 points, Horford had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Morris 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Celtics.
Leonard scored 31 points with 15 rebounds for the Raptors.
Down eight with 10:24 left in the fourth quarter, after leading by as many as 13 in the first half, Irving returned to the floor and made an immediate impact. His jumper in the lane brought the Celtics within 86-80 with 9:31 to go before Tatum’s steal and drive had Boston down four.
A Tatum 3-pointer from Irving made it 88-85 with 8:54 to play before Irving tied Leonard up for a jump ball, won the jump, then hit two free throws for a one-point game with 8:04 on the clock. Irving’s 3-pointer and back-to-back makes put Boston up 94-92 with 6:24 when the Raptors retook the lead with four in a row.
Irving got to the line for a tie game with 5:22 to play, Leonard scored inside to put Toronto back up two, then Leonard got the line for a 100-96 lead with 4:26 on the clock.
Tatum got the line on Danny Green’s sixth foul of the night and hit one throws for a three-point game with 3:43 to play before Ibaka’s drive put the Raptors up 102-97 into a timeout with 3:17 to go. Irving rattled home a shot in the lane out of the pause, then kissed one off the glass for 17 in the fourth quarter after a Raptor turnover.
Leonard answered with a jumper and 104-101 lead with 2:24 left before Irving responded with a drive at the two-minute mark. Irving’s chance to give the Celtics the lead rimmed out and Leonard found Delon Wright for a 107-103 gap.
But Hayward’s steal found Tatum for a 107-105 game with 48 seconds remaining and Hayward was fouled on a rebound with the chance to tie the game.