Brown stars as Celtics dismantle Raptors

Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 30 points to lead the Boston Celtics to a 118-102 Christmas Day road win over the Toronto Raptors.

Kemba Walker added 22 points for the Celtics, who have won four in a row and ended Toronto’s 34-game home winning streak against Atlantic Division teams.

The Celtics have won the first two games between the teams this season. They meet again in Boston on Saturday.

The game was the first Christmas Day home game for the Raptors in their history.

Boston shot 50 per cent from the field and the Raptors shot 47.5 per cent.

Gordon Hayward added 14 points for the Celtics, Daniel Theis had 13 points, Enes Kanter had 12 points and 11 rebounds off the bench and Jayson Tatum had 11 points and nine rebounds.

Fred VanVleet had 27 points for the Raptors, who have lost two in row. Chris Boucher added a career-best 24 points and Kyle Lowry contributed 14 points and Serge Ibaka had 12 points.

Boston took a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter. The Raptors, who overcame a 30-point deficit to beat the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, but Boston responded with a 10-2 run to lead by 22.

The Raptors tried to chip away at the lead but Brown’s three-pointer with 3:11 to play restored the 22-point margin.

The Raptors scored the first 10 points of the game, but the Celtics led 28-19 after the first quarter.

Toronto cut the lead to three on a put-back dunk by Boucher with 7:27 remaining in the first half. The Celtics pulled ahead by 10 on Brown’s two free throws with 3:56 remaining. Boston led 55-47 at half time.

Boston’s lead reached 12 on Hayward’s three-pointer early in the third quarter. A Brown triple stretched the lead to 15 with 5:49 remaining in the period.

Brown made two free throws to bump the margin to 17 points. Tatum’s lay-up got the lead to 19 with 57.7 seconds left. Boston led 88-69 after three quarters.

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