After the Raptors dropped their third game this season to the National Basketball Association champion Celtics, they were only too eager to board a plane bound for Boston.
Ray Allen poured in a season-high 36 points, including eight three-pointers as the Celtics snapped a four-game losing skid with a 94-88 win over the Raptors. Celtics 94, Raptors 88
It was a game of three horrible quarters and one late-game surge for Toronto, and now the Raptors hope their strong fourth-quarter performance carries over to today, when they face the Celtics again on the back end of a rare home-and-home series.
"We're pumped up, we're fired up, we can't wait to get there," said Raptors' forward Joey Graham after the game. "The team needs to push the time up for the plane so we can hurry up and get there, because I'm anxious and ready to go."
Andrea Bargnani had 17 points to top the Raptors (16-22), who saw their season-high three-game winning streak at the Air Canada Centre come to a screeching halt.
Chris Bosh added 15 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, while Jamario Moon had 15 points, and Jason Kapono and Graham finished with 12 apiece. Rajon Rondo added 14 points and 11 assists for Boston (30-9), while Kevin Garnett had 10 points and 11 boards.
The Raptors, who were missing starting centre Jermaine O'Neal, had won four of their previous five heading into yesterday, including a seemingly easy 103-82 victory over Memphis Friday. The Celtics, on the other hand, arrived amid their worst losing streak of the season, dropping seven of their previous nine. But except for a fourth-quarter comeback that came too late, it was Toronto that had all the trouble yesterday, trailing by double digits for most of the game and as much as 20 in the third quarter on some horrible shooting and sloppy play.
Celtics took a 75-55 lead into the final 12 minutes.
