Celtics embarrassed by Raptors in 110-97 loss as slump continues

Two short weeks after losing by 54 points in Boston, the Toronto Raptors handed the Celtics their most humbling loss of the season Wednesday.

Toronto led for nearly the entire second half and held Boston to 15 fourth-quarter points in a 110-97 victory at Scotiabank Arena.

Despite facing two of the NBA’s worst teams in consecutive games, the Celtics are a missed CJ McCollum layup away from a three-game losing streak, bookending double-digit defeats against Sacramento and Toronto around a one-point home win over New Orleans.

Kristaps Porzingis (18 points, 7-for-11 shooting, 4 for 5 from 3-point range) and Payton Pritchard (20 points, 7 for 11, 4 for 8) were bright spots for Boston on Wednesday, but the Celtics were outclassed by a 10-31 Raptors team that will be in the running for the No. 1 overall draft pick.

It was an especially rough night for Jaylen Brown, who went 3 for 15 from inside the arc and was a minus-23, and Derrick White, who played arguably his worst game of the season. White went 2 for 9 and 1 for 7 from 3, scored six points and finished with one assist and no rebounds, blocks or steals. The Celtics were outscored by 29 points with the typically reliable guard on the floor, White’s worst mark of the season.

Brown and Jayson Tatum combined for a season-low 26 points in the loss, with Tatum leading the Celtics with 10 rebounds and seven assists.

RJ Barrett, who missed Boston’s 125-71 decimation of his squad on New Year’s Eve with an injury, led a balanced Raptors effort with 22 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

Next up for the Celtics is a back-to-back at TD Garden this weekend. They’ll host the Orlando Magic on Friday and the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday — two teams that already have beaten Boston this season.

The Raptors opened up a 10-point lead less than four minutes in, starting 5 for 6 from the field against a Celtics defense that lacked the necessary juice. Boston dialed in after an early Joe Mazzulla timeout and quickly erased that deficit.

Porzingis keyed the Celtics’ rally with a steal in the lane, a block at the rim, a driving dunk off a Jaylen Brown feed and a pair of 3-pointers. Pritchard also gave Boston a needed spark off the bench. From the time the Sixth Man of the Year favorite entered at the 8:33 mark through the end of the first quarter, the Celtics outscored the Raptors by 14 points. A Pritchard 3 gave them their first lead of the night, 27-25.

Boston built a seven-point cushion early in the second quarter, then saw their poise waver again. Toronto ripped off a 17-3 run to surge ahead, during which the Celtics had more offensive turnovers (two) than defensive stops (zero).

The Celtics rallied again late in the first half — Tatum and Al Horford each hit a 3; Pritchard hit two, including one from the corner with one second remaining — but still trailed 55-53 at halftime. It was Boston’s first halftime deficit since Dec. 27.

Pritchard and Porzingis — whose outside shooting has greatly improved since he returned from the ankle injury he suffered on Christmas — each scored 13 first-half points. Tatum and Brown totaled just 11 on 4-for-17 shooting.

The Raptors then proceeded to hit 10 of their first 11 shots in the third quarter, with all five of their starters reaching double figures by the end of the frame. Jakob Poeltl, who torched the Celtics when these teams met at TD Garden back in November, made all five of his third-quarter field goals as part of an 8 for 8 night.

Late in the third, with Boston down seven, Raptors wing Scottie Barnes stepped toward Tatum while guarding him near halfcourt and clapped in the Celtics star’s face. Tatum responded by blowing past Barnes as he rocketed toward the basket — but rang front iron on what would have been an arena-shaking dunk.

That missed slam exemplified an ugly third quarter for the Celtics, who consistently were a step behind the hot-shooting Raptors. And things got even worse for Boston in the fourth.

Toronto took an 88-82 lead into the final quarter. Less than two minutes later, it was 94-84. The Celtics never got back to within single digits, and Mazzulla waved the white flag late, emptying his bench with 1:22 remaining.

In the fourth quarter, the Celtics shot 6 for 21, allowed seven offensive rebounds and made just one of their six free throws (they were just 9 for 18 from the line in the game). White sat out most of the fourth in favor of Pritchard as he navigates a brutal shooting slump. The veteran guard is 4 for 23 from the floor over his last three games (17.4%) and 3 for 29 from 3 over his last four (10.3%).

And it’s not just White who’s scuffling. The Celtics’ entire starting lineup hasn’t produced the desired results in its limited minutes together this season.

The unit of White, Tatum, Brown, Porzingis and Jrue Holiday had been outscored by 8.9 points over 100 possessions entering Wednesday — one of the worst net ratings in the NBA — and those five players have not recorded plus/minuses above zero in any of Boston’s last three games. Tatum’s minus-1 was the best of the bunch against Toronto.

Wednesday’s loss dropped Boston to 28-11 on the season, 7-7 in its last 14 games and 5-5 when its preferred starting five is available.

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