Kawhi Leonard's 33 points aren't enough as Kyrie Irving's clutch play leads Celtics to win

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The Raptors (33-13) five-game win streak comes to an end after a 117-108 loss to the Celtics (26-18), who entered the night on three-game losing streak.

It's the third meeting this season between the Atlantic Division foes and each team has protected its home court. Toronto has not won at TD Garden since Dec. 9, 2016.

If you missed any of the action, check below for highlights and stats from throughout the night…

Toronto Raptors vs. Boston Celtics

Preview | Box score | Play-by-play

Final: Celtics 117, Raptors 108

10:30 p.m. – Kyrie Irving's late-game takeover proved to the be the difference as he scored or assisted on all Celtics' last 11 points. Boston closed the game on an 11-2 run.

Irving finished the night with 27 points (on 11-for-19 shooting) and a career-high 18 assists. Al Horford finished the night with 24 points, Gordon Hayward scored 18 and Jayson Tatum added a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double on a rough shooting night.

Kawhi Leonard took over in the second half and finished the night with a game-high 33 points on 10-for-19 shooting from the field and 11-for-11 shooting from the charity stripe. Serge Ibaka finished 22 points on the night while Danny Green added 15 points and Kyle Lowry scored 11.

10:24 p.m. – Kyrie Irving drops two dimes to Al Horford to bring his assist total to 17 and it's a 9-0 run for the Celtics.

It's 115-106 Celtics late.

10:22 p.m. – Kyrie Irving scores five-straight points including a deep 3-pointer over Kawhi Leonard to put the Celtics up 111-106 with 100 seconds to play.


Timeout Raptors

Irving is up to 27 points and 15 assists on the night.

10:16 p.m. – Timeout on the floor with under four minutes remaining and the Raptors hold on to a one-point lead.

Toronto leads 104-103 with 3:54 remaining in regulation.

Things are heating up and this one has the makings of an instant classic.

10:13 p.m. – Kawhi Leonard is absolutely taking over in the fourth.

He's up to 33 points on the night after his and-one gives the Raptors a four-point lead.


10:06 p.m. – After a Greg Monroe putback gives the Raptors a three-point lead, Aron Baynes knocks down a 3-pointer to tie things up.

Timeout Raptors and the score is 92-92 with 6:33 remaining in regulation.

This one might come down to the wire.

10:05 p.m. – Kawhi Leonard sinks a jumper to give Toronto its first lead since 40-39 late in the second quarter.

The Raptors use a 7-0 run to take a 90-89 lead five minutes into the fourth.

End of Third Quarter: Celtics 87, Raptors 83

9:56 p.m. – The Raptors outscore the Celtics 30-23 and trail by four points going into the final frame.

Serge Ibaka has a game-high 22 points to lead the way for the Raptors while Kawhi Leonard has 21 points on 6-for-12 shooting.

Kyrie Irving leads the way for Boston with 17 points and 12 assists while Al Horford also has 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting.

Gordon Hayward has 16 of the Celtics' 34 bench points; their reserves are outscoring the Raptors unit 34-13.

9:47 p.m. – Out of the timeout, Kawhi Leonard converts an and-one to cut the deficit to four points.

The Raptors get a stop and cut the deficit to two points thanks to a hook shot from Serge Ibaka. 

It's 80-78 Celtics with four minutes remaining in the third.

9:43 p.m. – Toronto is trying to get back into it as it has cut the deficit to seven points.

4:45 remains in the third quarter and there's a timeout on the floor – Boston leads 80-73.

Kawhi Leonard and Serge Ibaka have each put up a game-high 18 points for the Raptors while Kyle Lowry has 10 points and five assists.


 

The Celtics are led by 17 points and 11 assists from Kyrie Irving. Marcus Morris has just six points on the night but has been a big energy boost for the C's this half.

9:30 p.m. – Kyle Lowry takes a spill and the Raptors call for a timeout as the All-Star appears to be shaken up.

Two and a half minutes have passed in the third frame and the Celtics lead 71-58.

Halftime: Celtics 64, Raptors 53

9:25 p.m. –  The halftime stats do a good job of telling the story:

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9:12 p.m. –  The second quarter couldn't have gone much worse for the Raptors, who were outscored 34-17 in the frame.

Gordon Hayward leads the Celtics with 16 points (on 7-for-8 shooting) – nine of which came in the second quarter. Kyrie Irving has dictated the game and has 14 points and eight assists in under 19 minutes of action.

Kawhi Leonard also has 16 points on the night and is shooting 5-for-10 from the field but a cold-shooting second quarter seed the Raptors shooting percentage plummet to 42.6 after shooting 53.8 percent in the first quarter.


 

9:04 p.m. –  Boston's big second quarter as it has outscored Toronto 23-8 through the first nine minutes to get out to a 53-44 lead.

Timeout Raptors with 2:54 remaining in the half.

Kyrie Irving is leading the way with 12 points and six assists and the Celtics are shooting 21-for-37 (56.8 percent) from the field.

The Raptors offence has been pretty stagnant in the second quarter and they are now shooting 17-for-42 from the field.

8:50 p.m. –  The Celtics come out firing in the second quarter, and use a 9-2 run to get out to a 44-42 lead. The Raptors have not hit a field goal in nearly four minutes of action.

Timeout Toronto.

Kyrie Irving is up to 10 points and five assists for the night while Jaylen Brown (seven points), Aron Baynes (six points) and Terry Rozier (five points) have provided a spark off the bench.

For Toronto's bench, Greg Monroe has come in and scored six points in under seven minutes while Norman Powell has added four points.

End of First Quarter: Raptors 36, Celtics 30

8:40 p.m. –  One quarter is in the books and the Raptors take a six-point lead into the second.

Kawhi Leonard (nine), Serge Ibaka (seven), Danny Green (seven) and Kyle Lowry (seven) combined to score 30 of the team's 36 points. Toronto shot 53.8 percent from the field and scored 10 points off of the five Boston turnovers it forced.

Kyrie Irving led the way for Boston with eight points and five assists while Gordon Hayward scored seven points in under seven minutes off the bench. The Celtics shot an impressive 13-for-23 from the field and 4-for-7 from deep in the first 12 minutes.

8:32 p.m. –  The Raptors call for time as they lead 27-19 with 3:30 remaining in the first.

Kawhi Leonard leads all scorers with nine points while the Celtics are led by Kyrie Irving, who has six points and three assists so far.

8:29 p.m. –  Kyle Lowry is strong, like really strong.


 

8:26 p.m. –  Good ball movement often leads to a great shot, as shown by the Raptors here:


8:22 p.m. –  Toronto has made six straight shots to get out to an 18-7 lead early on.

Timeout Celtics with 7:18 remaining in the first.

Kawhi Leonard is off to a hot start as his game-high seven points have come on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting. The Raptors are 8-for-11 from the field (72.7 percent) through the first five minutes.

8:20 p.m. –  Kyrie Irving does Kyrie Irving things to set up Al Horford for the flush.


8:16 p.m. –  Kawhi Leonard turns defence into offence to get Toronto on the board first with a breakaway dunk and things are underway at TD Garden.

Pregame

7:25 p.m. –  Toronto goes with the starting lineup of Kyle Lowry, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam and Serge Ibaka.


 

6:20 p.m. –  The Celtics will be at full strength tonight as Aron Baynes, Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart will all be active


6:00 p.m. – Fred VanVleet, who sat out Sunday with a left thigh contusion, has been upgraded from questionable to probable for tonight.

Author(s)
Gilbert McGregor Photo

Gilbert McGregor is an NBA content producer for The Sporting News.