Celtics’ Udoka blames turnovers, offensive rebounding for loss to Raptors

The last thing a team expects is to get booed in its home opener, but a 115 – 83 loss against a team that finished 12th in the Eastern Conference will bring on that type of reaction. The Boston Celtics did just that in a loss to the Toronto Raptors Friday night. Head coach Ime Udoka told reporters after the game that he hopes to use those boos as fuel.

“You don’t want to overreact and panic and we’re gonna stay together and keep our head up,” Udoka said. “But I said to use these boos as motivation. We deserved it the way we played and us coaches didn’t prepare them as well as we should have, understanding who Toronto is.”

Udoka focused on the Celtics’ excess of turnovers (25) and Toronto’s offensive rebounding (21 to the Celtics’ 10) as the main reasons for the loss.

Turnovers

Toronto did not shoot incredibly well Friday, hitting on 42% from the floor and 28.6% from three, but they got 18 more shots than the Celtics did throughout the game. They also hit all their free throws as well.

“For a team that to shoot low 40s and 30s in the first half, to be up four it was a miracle on their part but it was due to our turnovers and offensive rebounds,” Udoka explained. “They had that many more possessions than us, so although we got back in and third quarter started to play hard to come out at halftime they ratcheted up their intensity and we didn’t match it.”

The Celtics allowed 27 points off their 25 turnovers on the night. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum each coughed up the ball five times and guard Dennis Schroder gave it away four times. In less than four minutes, Juancho Hernangomez committed three turnovers as well.

“So we played in the crowd way too much. Simple passes were there to get off the ball,” Udoka stated. “If you draw two, you’ve done your job. And so we stress that but we’ve definitely played in the crowd too much, didn’t get a few fouls, felt like we’re putting our head down trying to draw fouls instead of making the right play.”

Offensive rebounding

Toronto’s Scottie Barnes and Precious Achiuwa feasted on the glass Friday, as Barnes picked up six offensive boards to go alongside his game-leading 25 points. Achiuwa has 15 boards on the night, including three offensive.

“It is an effort thing,” Udoka said. “We stressed it they had 19 (offensive rebounds) in the first game and that’s who Toronto is. A team that plays hard and so we really stressed that if we don’t bring the intensity with these guys, it could get ugly.”

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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