Payton Pritchard scored 19 of his 33 points in the third quarter and added 10 assists and seven rebounds Saturday night as the visiting Boston Celtics defeated the Toronto Raptors 112-96.
Derrick White and Anfernee Simons each added 15 points for the Celtics, who have won two straight.
Neemias Queta scored 14 points, Luka Garza added 12 points and 10 rebounds and Hugo González contributed 10 points and nine rebounds in a balanced attack.
Boston has won seven of nine.
Brandon Ingram and Sandro Mamukelashvili each scored 24 points for the Raptors, who have lost five of seven games. Scottie Barnes added 12 points and nine rebounds.
Jaylen Brown (illness) did not play for Boston. Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl (back) was also out.
The Celtics have won both meetings between their Atlantic Division rivals. On December 7, also in Toronto, they won 121-113.
Boston took an 83-80 lead entering the fourth quarter and quickly extended it to seven. White hit back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the lead to 97-84 with 8:01 left.
Toronto pulled within 102-94 on Barnes’ hook shot with 5:25 left, but Pritchard’s 13-footer gave Boston a comfortable 14-point margin with 2:31 left.
Boston finished the first quarter on a 16-0 run to take a 32-20 lead, with 15 points from the reserves. Garza grabbed five offensive rebounds in 5:12 minutes of play.
The Celtics led 41-28 on a three-pointer by White with 7:47 left in the second quarter. The situation changed in favor of the Raptors when Immanuel Quickley scored a triple to cap a 23-8 run that closed the first half and gave the hosts a 51-49 lead.
Boston took a two-point lead on Pritchard’s reverse layup with 9:46 left in the game, but Toronto rallied to lead 67-60 on Ingram’s 19-footer with 6:15 left in the third quarter.
But Pritchard’s 3-pointer completed an 8-0 run that gave Boston a one-point lead with 3:28 left. Pritchard scored again on a jumper that gave Boston an 83-80 lead after three quarters.
Boston outrebounded Toronto, 55-37, and in points in the paint, 54-32.
–Field level media
