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TORONTO — Sweet and important as the Toronto Raptors' victory was over the Celtics in Boston on Wednesday, there also was a sense of reality back at the Air Canada Centre yesterday about how it was achieved.
When a team goes 15-for-21 (71.4 per cent) in three-point attempts, as the Raptors did in the 114-112 victory, it can make up for many things that did not go so well.
For example, the Celtics had a 16-4 advantage in offensive rebounds, not a good thing, but something the Raptors were able to overcome because of their overall shooting (58 per cent) from the field.
The Raptors also committed 19 turnovers, leading to 29 Celtics points, another not so good thing.
But it was a win — the Raptors' first in four regular-season games against the team with the best record in the NBA. (The Celtics won the first in overtime and then handled the Raptors fairly well in the second and third games.)
The Atlantic Division rivals do not play again this season, but if they meet in the playoffs, a win like Wednesday's could help from a confidence standpoint.
"The great thing about it is that they didn't beat us four times," Toronto head coach Sam Mitchell said yesterday.
The Raptors are home tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks, and Mitchell is quite aware that there is at least one thing his team must do better because 70-per-cent shooting from three-point range isn't something that happens every game.
"We've got to rebound better, we know that," Mitchell said. "We talked about it again this morning. We showed it on tape. We've just got to talk about it, keep emphasizing it."
It helped the Raptors that centre Andrea Bargnani chipped in 20 points against the Celtics and had a strong start to the game. Bargnani is a work in progress and if he does have a good game, it is a blessing for forward Chris Bosh.
"It opens it up a lot more, people have to respect him," Bosh said. "They don't want to give him wide-open shots."
The way the Raptors were shooting on Wednesday gave Bosh a bit of a break from the pounding he often has to endure as he drives to the basket. He reached the free-throw line seven times against the Celtics, and the Raptors were 19-for-19 from the line.
"Any time you have a situation like that, I just want to take advantage," Bosh said. "Every night's not going to be like that. Some nights, I'm going to be beat up toward the end and I'm going to have to depend on my teammates a lot more."
Bosh was asked whether he could remember a game in which his team shot that well.
"A couple of games, not that many," he said. "Most games, if you shoot like that, you would win by 20 or 30 points. Last night, turnovers and [Boston's] offensive rebounds and the second-chance points kind of kept them in the game."
But Bosh liked the way the Raptors stayed in the game, too.
"Throughout the whole game, we never let it get too far away," he said. "We didn't let them build up the lead too much."
Next up are the Bucks, who beat the Raptors 112-85 in November.
"I think it is a big game for us because we can build on that win [over the Celtics]," Bosh said.
