The Celtics dropped the preseason finale to the Raptors in Toronto after nearly overcoming a 24-point deficit in the first half to beat the Raptors at the buzzer on a Jordan Walsh layup that he missed. JD Davison had given Boston a late lead moments prior before fouling DJ Carton in the bonus, who won the game at the free throw line, 119-118. Jrue Holiday and Sam Hauser sat out the game while Al Horford played 23 minutes in his preseason debut.
Here are some takeaways from the night and the entire preseason…
- Horford returned to a starting role amidst some intrigue that he could come off the bench in favor of Luke Kornet when the regular season begins. Joe Mazzulla said his absence from the first four preseason games was not due to any ailment, but rather a slow ramp-up. Either way, he didn’t look like himself as Toronto thrashed the offensive glass and won his minutes by 29 points. Horford shot 1-for-6 and 0-for-4 from three, only a small concern as he likely focused more on just getting his legs under him. It’s worth watching how his ramp-up progresses ahead of opening night in one week. Especially as we project the starting lineup against New York. It’s still hard to imagine Horford not starting opposite of Karl-Anthony Towns after the banner he heavily influenced raises. Beyond that, we’ll see.
- Jayson Tatum absolved nearly all concerns from the summer with a stellar shooting stretch to open the preseason. He shot 38.9% after floating above 40% before a 2-for-7 finish to Tuesday’s game. It’s a smaller sample than even the playoff or the collective national team slate, but alongside a 21:6 assist-to-turnover ratio, a vicious slam over former teammate Bruno Fernando and strong activity in the margins of the game, he looks poised to start the season fast.
- Derrick White shot 32.1% 3PT on 7.0 attempts per game, Jaylen Brown went 19% from deep and 70% at the free throw line, while Jrue Holiday finished 25% from three in three appearances. Their sample was even smaller than Tatum’s. It’s all just worth keeping an eye on.
- Speaking of threes — the Celtics attempted 52.6 three-pointers per game, up from 42.5 last regular season. Their 13.2 offensive rebounds per game ranked sixth through Tuesday night, way up from 10.7 last year. They also created 2.0 more steals per game compared to 2024 and created 95 shots per night (90.2, 2024). All that creates hope that they can court an even more efficient offense in 2025. It also reflects positively on the group’s attention to detail and focus on all the things that aided winning last year alongside added layers.
- Kornet capped a stellar preseason with 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting, five rebounds and an assist that raised his preseason averages to 9.0 PPG, 6.5 RPG and 1.8 APG on 73.9% shooting. He played in sync with the starters and the Celtics’ bench won their minutes by 24 points when Kornet played on Tuesday. A focus on defensive versatility, strength and finishing on offense showed in his play that looked capable of helping win at least the spot starts he receives early in the schedule. Will Boston ask for even more from him?
- An 0-for-3 conclusion didn’t derail a step forward for Xavier Tillman Sr., who again looked solid at the four and shot 54.5% overall from three in the preseason. Beyond that, he set more effective off-ball screens, kept the ball moving and moved well following offseason surgery that hopefully quelled his knee swelling. They need him for second unit double-big minutes while Kristaps Porziņģis is out, and if he flashes increased offensive versatility, the Celtics could continue to play big lineups throughout all their rotations.
- Walsh’s preseason played created hope for utilizing him in smaller looks. Boston again funneled him 20+ minutes, which they did in 3-of-5 preseason games, this time putting him in a two-man game late in crunch time. He delivered on his first major opportunity to tie the game at 115 with 49 seconds remaining through a dive to the basket. A similar attempt for the win got blocked with two seconds left, but he blew up a play on the following defensive possession, shot 36.8% from three in five games and clearly earned more trust from Mazzulla and the staff compared to one year ago at this point. He’ll stay with the NBA team until the G-League schedule begins on Nov. 8, can he inspire enough confidence to step into an Oshae Brissett-like role by then?
- The Celtics now have until Saturday at 5 p.m. to sort out the end of their roster. Davison is likely Maine bound despite showing more strides on top of his strong Summer League. The same goes for Drew Peterson, a pleasant surprise, who shot 60% from the field and 54.5% from three in three preseason appearances. Jaden Springer didn’t play on Tuesday, drawing some ire from Mazzulla for his transition defense in Sunday’s game. Neither did Lonnie Walker IV, who posted 20 points on Sunday, seven assists on Saturday and finished 42.9% from the field and 31.3% from three in his four games. The team can either sign him into its 15th roster spot, which would carry an $11 million commitment combining salary and tax, or waive him, which would free Walker IV to sign anywhere, but award him a bonus for spending some amount of time in Maine. Walker IV told CLNS Media he’d accept a stint in the G-League to begin the year.
- Jay Scrubb, Dmytro Skapintsev and Ron Harper Jr. are inevitably Maine bound through their Exhibit 10 contracts. Rookies Baylor Scheierman and Anton Watson will likely join them there often after a 16.7% shooting start for Scheierman and Watson only playing 7.7 minutes per game in preseason.
- Mazzulla almost went all-in for the comeback attempt by reinserting Tatum into the game at the start of the fourth quarter on Tuesday. He played five more minutes and helped the Celtics reach within five before taking a seat with 33. He and White were the lone positive starters in the loss and both averaged 24 MPG.
- How’d it take me this long to mention Payton Pritchard? The fifth-year guard capped off a nearly flawless preseason campaign with a spot start on Tuesday. He averaged 16.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 6.0 APG and 1.0 SPG with a 6.0:0.8 assist-to-turnover ratio. His dominance off the bench might catch the league by surprise after an already strong 2024. I guess we’re just used to the preseason, fill-in and summer exploits.
