10 takeaways from a Celtics preseason collapse in Toronto

Well, at least it is just the preseason.

The Celtics held a 27-point lead in their 105-103 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Friday night. They led by 14 with 3:10 left in the game as well. Yet, they let is slip away.

Here are ten takeaways:

1. Baylor Scheierman’s rough night

Let’s start off with a positive: Scheierman’s passing was great. He finished the evening with 6 assists.

Throughout the night, Baylor was making great passes that made you not want to quit on the player and keep you from throwing in the towel on the 30th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

He also had 6 rebounds, which is good because the Celtics need to rebound, more on that later.

The rest of Scheierman’s night was rough. 4 points on 2/9 shooting, 0/3 from three and 5 turnovers, not to mention he fouled out of the game.

What was his goal here? He drives right into Chucky Hepburn who had been creating havoc all night. Then to top it all off, Scheierman commits a frustration foul, sending Toronto to the line and fouled him out of the game.

After a rough summer, Baylor Scheierman is off to a rough start in the preseason.

2. Toronto’s ball pressure bothered all of the Celtics guards

Boston turned the ball over 28 times and a lot of that had to do with the pressure the Raptors were putting on the Celtics.

Whether they were bringing the ball up the court or trying to get everything set in the half court, the Raptors did not let the Celtics ball handlers feel comfortable at all for much of the game.

Most of the Celtics turnovers came when they put their reserves in the game -- those don’t concern me. The players who committed those turnovers won’t be playing minutes for this team. However, this is still something to keep an eye on as we enter the regular season.

3. Anfernee Simons is cool with coming off of the bench

It has long been anticipated that Simons would be coming off of the bench and he all but confirmed just that. During the first quarter, NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin reported on a conversation she had with Simons about coming off of the bench.

Simons told Chin, “while I know I was a starter, all I care about — my only goal — is to win and that is the goal of the team as well. I want to contribute at the highest level, whatever that looks like.” Chin also added, “there will be no starting controversy at the point guard position.”

I think it is important that Simons buys into his role while he is here. He is trying to get a new contract and easily could have pouted about the situation. If this attitude continues, that will be a big added bonus for the Celtics.

4. The Chris Boucher revenge game was beautiful

In his return to Toronto, Chris Boucher played an exceptional game, with 19 points and 9 rebounds; he was a +22 in the game.

On another note, this has to be the earliest return game for a player in NBA history, right? It’s the second game of the preseason, he hasn’t even made his TD Garden debut yet!

Anyways, Boucher was making plays throughout his entire 23 minutes.

He plays really hard and is a smart player. He cuts at the right time, crashes the offensive glass well, and is rarely out of position on the defensive end. He had a nice season shooting threes last year and made a few last night. If that can continue, Boucher could turn into a real contributor for this team and for the next few years as well.

5. Could Ron Harper Jr. steal a two-way spot?

I have found it very interesting that Ron Harper Jr. has been getting minutes with the regular players during the first two preseason games for the Celtics.

Harper Jr. still has two-way eligibility left as he enters his fourth NBA season.

In Wednesday’s win against the Grizzlies, he played 15 minutes and on Friday, he only played 9 minuets but was pulled with 6 and a half minutes to go, something that happens to regular players in the preseason, not G Leaguers. Compare that to the combined 10 minutes two-way players Max Shulga and RJ Luis have played over the first two games, Joe Mazzulla clearly has more trust in Harper.

Would Boston ever waive one of these rookies for the 25-year-old Harper? That I am not sure of. However, what I am sure of is that Harper is more likely to play a regular season role than either Luis or Shulga are. Neither of those guys looked NBA ready on Friday.

6. Another really solid Josh Minott outing

After a solid Celtics debut on Wednesday night, Josh Minott followed it up with another very solid game in his second preseason game with the C’s.

In 26 minutes, Minott had 13 points and 6 rebounds, he shot 6/10 from the field and 1/3 from three. He made plays all night that helped Boston ballon their lead to as many as 27.

This is is a really nice drive and finish through traffic. If this can be a constant part of Minott’s game, the Celtics have found them selves a good player.

He also made two nice defensive plays.

The block is what stood out to me. He gets beat on a back door cut, not ideal, but to have the atheism to recover and make a great block is really good stuff and exciting to see. Hopefully we get to see more of this during the regular season.

7. Mazzulla had a quick hook for poor defensive rebounding

This was primarily a first quarter issue for the Celtics. When Toronto had 7 offensive rebounds in the period, Joe Mazzulla was quick to pull players out of the game.

Gradey Dick had 4 first quarter offensive rebounds himself.

Dick gets the inside position on Hugo Gonzalez here, leading to an easy rebound and a 2nd chance opportunity for Toronto.

Mazzulla wasn’t having any of this making 15 first quarter substitutions, in a preseason game! He wants to set the standard that poor defensive rebounding will not be tolerated this season.

8. Closed the 3rd quarter poorly

Obviously, the way Boston closed the 4th quarter was worse than the way they closed the 3rd quarter. However, that doesn’t change the fact that Boston closed the 3rd quarter poorly.

Mazzulla talks often about how important it is start and end quarters well and Boston did a poor job of that in the 3rd. Toronto closed the period on a 13-2 run.

These are the little details that lose you games. If Boston closes the quarter better, they win the game. Instead, they walked out of the Scotiabank Arena with a loss.

9. Xavier Tillman’s strong preseason continued

The counting stats will not show it. In fact, the advanced numbers will not show it either, but I thought Xavier Tillman looked good last night.

He didn’t score in the game, going 0/2 from the field, both being open three point looks that he should have made. However, I thought he looked good physically.

Last season was a bad one for Tillman. Knee issues and being out of shape were the two main factors for that. This season, he said his knee feels better and he dropped 12 pounds in the offseason. Early, in the preseason, the results have been good.

He is moving much better than he did a season ago.

It is exciting to see Tillman looking better than he did last year because Boston’s center room badly needs him to have a bounce back season.

Neemias Queta had a rough night with three illegal screens that were Celtics turnovers. If he continues to do that, Tillman will need to play a big role this season.

10. An ending that goes down as the worst I have seen

That loss probably doesn’t happen in the regular season because Boston wouldn’t have had a bunch of late round rookies and non-rostered players (along with Baylor Scheierman until he fouled out) on the court to close the game.

In the final 3 minutes of the game on Friday night, Boston had 9 turnovers. They had just 3 field goal attempts and one of them was a Shulga heave at the end of the game.

Why did RJ Luis decide it was RJ Luis time in that moment? Why did Shulga pick up his dribble at half court? Amari Williams had 2 turnovers in the final minutes.

These young guys the Celtics had on the floor at the end of the game looked super unconformable and overwhelmed by the moment. They were the 46th pick, 57th pick and undrafted so it is to be expected that they were overwhelmed by the moment.

However, this ties back into to takeaway number 5. Williams is safe but neither Shulga or Luis are ready to play NBA minutes. If the Celtics decide the want someone who is more prepared to play NBA minutes, could they waive one of those guys and turn to Ron Harper Jr., who has looked very comfortable this preseason. It is something to keep an eye on as we head into the start of the regular season.