Raptors live and die by the three-pointer

Résumé détaillé

It was all going so well for the Toronto Raptors in the first quarter of their key divisional matchup against the Boston Celtics.

TORONTO – It was all going so well for the Toronto Raptors in the first quarter of their key divisional matchup against the Boston Celtics.

Ja’Kobe Walter hit four three-pointers in the opening frame as the Raptors totalled 10 three-pointers, tying a franchise record, to jump out to an early and unexpected lead against the Celtics. But the offence sputtered on Wednesday as Toronto eventually fell to Boston 98-93 on Wednesday.

“I thought that first quarter was better than the rest of the three quarters,” said head coach Darko Rajakovic. “We made 10 threes in the first quarter. We were getting great looks, open looks, and I think the film is going to really show us that that’s the standard of play that we’re going to play too, right?

“That it doesn’t matter, make or miss, we’ve got to trust the pass. We’ve got to trust the teammate.”

It was apparent that Toronto’s plan was to come out gunning, at least to start the game.

The Raptors were 10 for 18 from three-point range in the first, 2 for 8 in the second, 3 for 9 in the third and just 1 for 8 in the final quarter. That’s a total of 16 for 43 (37 per cent) from beyond the arc.

“We’ve got to trust open shots,” said Rajakovic. “We took 43 threes. That’s a good number there. I still think there were a couple more situations that we could make better decisions to kick out in five open shots.”

The Celtics entered Wednesday taking 42.2 three-pointers per game, fifth most in the NBA, and making 38.4 per cent of those. Toronto’s 35.2 three-point attempts per game was 24th most in the league with its 31.8 per cent three-point shooting percentage was fourth worst in the league.

“I think first quarter we were definitely getting the ball moving more,” said Walter, who finished with a team-best 17 points, including going 5 for 10 on threes. “On transition we were getting stops and getting out, and I think we came out second half we just didn’t start at that same note.

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