The Boston Celtics played their first game this season without Kyrie Irving. The results however were the same Sunday evening. Al Horford had 21 points, and strong defense in the final moments led Boston to their 12th straight win, 95-94 over the Toronto Raptors at TD Garden.
Jaylen Brown added 18 points, Terry Rozier 16, Marcus Smart 14, and Jayson Tatum 13 to help the Celtics (12-2) keep their win streak alive.
Toronto (7-5), had a final chance in the last 13 seconds to steal the win, but Demar Derozans turn around jumper from just outside the foul line fell short. Serge Ibaka had the rebound, but was tied up by Marcus Smart and couldn’t get a shot off as time expired. Derozan led the Raptors with 24 points, while Kyle Lowery added 19.
Boston goes for 13 straight Tuesday night when they travel to New York to battle the Brooklyn Nets at 7:30 p.m.
