5-0 without Rondo.
That is all.
The Celtics improved to 25-23 after defeating the Toronto Raptors, 99-95.
The win was the 400th for Doc Rivers as Celtics' coach. He is third in that category, trailing only Tommy Heinsohn (427) and Red Auerbach (795).
Led by double-doubles from Kevin Garnett (27 points, 10 rebounds) and Paul Pierce (12 points, 11 rebounds), the Celtics withstood a 17-4 run by the Raptors to end the fourth quarter and eventually followed the Big Two's footsteps en route to victory.
Here's a recap:
The good:
* I already mentioned the performance of the veterans, but it's hard to ignore the rest of the starting lineup. Brandon Bass chipped in 10 points and 3 rebounds, Courtney Lee had 15 points along with good defense, and Avery Bradley had 11 points while teaming up with Lee to hold Toronto guards to 13-of-35 from the field. The starters carried the Celtics in this one.
* Like most veteran teams do, the Celtics know when to turn it up a notch. They did so in the fourth quarter. They nearly doubled up the Raptors in points (30-16), outrebounded Toronto (14-12), and scored 9 points off 6 Toronto turnovers compared to Toronto's 4 points off Celtics' turnovers. They did what they had to to ensure themselves a fifth-straight win.
The bad:
* Boston's third quarter performance was dreadful. They came out of the locker room appearing disinterested and lackadaisical. They were sloppy with the ball -- Boston committed 5 turnovers -- and it cost them, as Toronto scored 13 points off those turnovers. That's nearly 40%. On the road, without Rondo, and against a new-look, energized team, that can't happen.
* The Celtics allowed 44 points in the paint. The likes of Amir Johnson, DeMar DeRozan and Andrea Bargnani killed Boston in the paint. Gotta clean that up.
Boston gets back to work later on tonight as they take on the Los Angeles Lakers. Tipoff is at 8 p.m.
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