TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors are hoping their first half of the season is a sign that better times are ahead for this struggling NBA franchise.
Led by RJ Barrett’s 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, the Raptors (10-31) defeated the defending league champion Boston Celtics 110-97 on Wednesday.
Scottie Barnes also had a strong performance at Scotiabank Arena, finishing with 18 points and nine assists for a total of 18,566 points.
The victory came two days after the Raptors defeated the 2021-22 champion Golden State Warriors. The two wins marked Toronto’s first consecutive wins since Dec. 1 and 3.
“We’re not where we want to be yet,” said Raptors point guard Davion Mitchell, who replaced the injured Immanuel Quickley (left hip strain) on Wednesday. “I feel there is always room for improvement. Of course, we don’t want a record like this.
“We’ve lost a lot of close games and had a few shutouts. But I feel like we’re learning.”
The Raptors are six games behind last year’s 16-25 mark in the first half.
Barrett believes Toronto has become a more difficult team to play against since their embarrassing 124-104 home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 6.
“We’ve been playing hard since then and getting better and better,” he said.
Barrett and the Raptors exacted revenge on the Boston Celtics after losing 125-75 on New Year’s Eve.
“Games like this always stick with you,” Barrett said.
“We owe it to them,” Mitchell added. “We’re not going to get knocked down and lay down just because they’re a really good team, just because they won the championship.
“No, we’re going to push harder. We’re going to push harder.”
Mitchell, who scored 10 points, showed his physicality with two early fouls.
“It’s a tough loss for Boston,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. “Guys are coming back and we’re getting healthy.
“This group is tight-knit and a very proud group. So we really want to go out there and compete at the highest level that we can right now.”
Toronto showed a strong level of competition on defense, limiting the Celtics to 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Raptors center Jakob Poeltl scored 16 points and Grady Dick scored 12 points.
Celtics reserve guard Payton Pritchard scored 20 points, Kristaps Porzingis scored 18 points and Jayson Tatum scored 16 points.
After three quarters, Toronto led 88-82. The home team went on a 9-2 spurt in the last 12 minutes, extending the lead to 13 points.
At the end of the first quarter, the Raptors trailed 29-25, but led 55-53 at halftime.
