The Celtics come to town 1 game behind the Raptors for the Atlantic Division lead and 2nd place in the Eastern Conference. They’ve won 4 in a row. The Raptors have lost their last 2 despite leading for the majority of both games.

We’re almost halfway through this season, and there’s a long way to go, but the psychological stakes of tonight’s game outweigh its significance in the standings. Isaiah Thomas didn’t play in the lone Raps/Celtics matchup so far this season. The Raps took that one in Boston. Thomas has been incredible, averaging 28 points and 6 assists.

End of Q1: Raps 23, Celts 18

Patterson gets the start at the 4. Lowry, DeRozan and JV come out strong. JV has 6 points and 9 boards already. The 2 Indian guys sitting next to me are referring to Kyle and DeMar as “Lowry bhai” and “DeRozan saab”. Jokes.

Halftime:

Giving up 37-point quarters ain’t whoa. The Celtics appear to want this game more. Marcus Smart is filling in for Avery Bradley and leads all scorers with 14. He has scored mainly off of hustle and bad and-1 fouls by the Raps. JV got a suspect 3rd foul and sat most of the 2nd quarter. The Raps will need a big second half from him. Someone from the role players has got to step up too.

End of Q3: Celtics 84, Raps 80

A piss-poor start to the half sees the Raps go down 16. After a timeout, Lowry hits a 3, Carroll steals the ball from Crowder and DeRozan makes a tough layup to get it down to 11 and keep a spark of hope alive. He put the team on his back for the rest of the quarter. He’s got 29 points, 11 rebounds, threw Jonas Jerebko to the ground and got a technical foul.

Final:

DeRozan continued to lead the comeback. Lowry hit the go-ahead 3. JV blocked Isaiah Thomas twice to everyone’s surprise. DeRozan finished with 41 points and a career-high 13 boards. JV with 18 points and a career-high 23 boards, though a lot were off his own misses. They didn’t get a ton of help. Carroll and Joseph closed the game out with them, contributing mostly on the defensive end. At one point Carroll tried to take Horford to the rim in transition. It did not end well for him and the crowd was irate at the decision. DeRozan was incredible. He imposed his will on this game and was the major factor in the comeback.

The Raptors are still in 2nd place.