The Toronto Raptors have a rare chance to win two games in a row when they host the NBA champion Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.
The Raptors ended a five-game losing streak with a 104-101 victory over the visiting Golden State Warriors on Monday night.
Reserve Chris Boucher scored 17 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter for the Raptors, who were returning from a three-game road trip.
“We needed that,” said Scottie Barnes, who led Toronto with 23 points. “He won us the game.”
Jakob Poeltl had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
It was the Raptors’ second win in the past 18 games. They have won two games in a row twice this season — Nov. 18 and 21 and Dec. 1 and 3.
The Celtics are enduring a 7-6 spell after squeezing out a 120-119 home victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.
“We’re just not playing our best basketball,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “When you’re 7-6 over 13, it’s not just one thing. And when the reference points are different — you know, there’s two great teams in the league that are having historic seasons — they become the reference point of, ‘Oh, you’re not as good because you’re not them.’ They’re great, great teams having historical years, and we’re on our own path that we have to be able to work through. …
“So this is the space that we’re in. I love the fact that we’re not happy. It’s the best place to be in, and we’ll figure it the hell out.”
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 38 points and grabbed 11 rebounds on Sunday. New Orleans had a chance to win but missed the final shot of the game.
“Maybe you don’t want to play your best basketball at the beginning of January,” Tatum said. “We’ve been through this before. We’ve still got a lot of time left to get back to our identity. It’s not supposed to be easy and we’re getting everybody’s best shot. New Orleans played really well. I don’t think they played like that all the time. But it was a good test for us. That’s just how it’s going to be.”
The Celtics have defeated the Raptors twice this season, both times in Boston. They won 126-123 in overtime on Nov. 16 and 125-71 on Dec. 31.
The Raptors came close in two recent games before breaking through against Golden State. They lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers 132-126 on Jan. 9, and they faded late in the game after leading by one point early in the fourth quarter in a 123-114 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Saturday.
Against the Warriors, the Raptors came back from nine points down in the fourth quarter and put the game away in the final minute.
“It helps for the spirit,” said Boucher, who is averaging 10.7 points per game. “I think we’ve been working extremely hard to get (a win) and find ways to get better. We got a couple good games where we played three (good) quarters and did not get the win. So to get the win feels really good.”
The Raptors played without Immanuel Quickley (left hip/groin strain) on Monday and will do so again Wednesday after the guard was deemed day-to-day moving forward. In just nine appearances this season, Quickley has averaged 16.2 points and 6.1 assists.
“He’s been dealing with his left hip soreness a little bit,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said earlier this week.
