Sam Hauser scored a career-high 26 points and the Boston Celtics cruised past the Toronto Raptors 121-102 on Friday night.
Jayson Tatum finished with 21 points and sat out the entire second half as the Celtics posted a 4-0 sweep in the season series. It is Boston’s first sweep over Toronto since 2009-10.
The Celtics, who secured the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs in Wednesday’s win over Toronto, played without All-Star Jaylen Brown after he accidentally cut a finger on his shooting hand on Thursday. He also will miss Sunday’s regular-season finale against Atlanta but expects to be ready to go in time for the start of the post-season.The Raptors entered Friday with a chance to improve their seeding for the play-in tournament. But the loss locks them into ninth.
The lead ballooned to as many as 36 points in the second as Boston got to the rim with ease, connecting on 60 per cent of its field-goal attempts in the half.Celtics: Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon also sat out. … Payton Pritchard returned from an 11-game absence due to a left heel issue. … Boston went 15-of-15 on two-point shots in the first half.Tatum distributed several pairs of his first Jordan Brand Tatum 1 Blueprint Zoo sneakers to members of the Celtics on Friday.
He handed out pairs to the coaching and training staff after the team’s morning shootaround. By game time, more pairs were visible on the feet of support staff at TD Garden from bench personnel to arena workers who mop the floor during timeouts.Celtics: Host Atlanta on Sunday in regular-season finale.
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