Toronto Raptors: 7 worst things from the season so far
By Nate Friesen
3. They lost the first-ever Christmas day game in Toronto
The Raptors have been waiting for years to have a Christmas day game, and especially a home game on Christmas. Raptors fans and players have begged for this moment for the past five years. Then the Raptors won the championship and the NBA had no choice but to give them a Christmas Day game… and they lost. That’s a good way to not get a Christmas game for another 20 years.
As usual, the Raptors were short-handed in this game with no Pascal Siakam, Marc Gasol or Norman Powell. Even considering these injuries, the Raptors could have put up a better fight. They got good performances from Fred VanVleet (27 points, six assists and four rebounds) and Chris Boucher (24 points and six rebounds), however, Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka and the rest of the team needed to be better.
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That being said, the Boston Celtics played hard on both sides of the ball. The Raptors played solid defense on Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward, however, Jaylen Brown went for 30 points and Enes Kanter came off the bench and destroyed Toronto on the glass. Even if the Raptors were short-handed, one thing that has been consistent this season is effort, however, in this game, it just wasn’t there.