at
Toronto Raptors (3-1) at Boston Celtics (2-1)
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
7:30 PM ET
Preseason Game #4 Home Game #2
TV: NBCSB, TSN, NBA-TV
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, Sirius XM
TD Garden 
Possible Starting Matchups Point Guard 
vs
Payton Pritchard vs Immanuel Quickley
Shooting Guard 
vs
Derrick White vs RJ Barrett
Small Forward 
vs
Jaylen Brown vs Brandon Ingram
Power Forward 
vs
Sam Hauser vs RJ Barrett
Center 
vs
Chris Boucher vs Jakob Poeltl
Celtics Reserves Anfernee Simons
Josh Minott
Wendell Moore, Jr
Kendall Brown
Ron Harper, Jr
Jalen Bridges
Xavier Tillman
Jordan Walsh
Hugo Gonzalez
Luka Garza
Baylon Scheierman
2-Way PlayersRJ Luis, Jr
Max Shulga
Amari Williams
Injuries/Out Jayson Tatum (Achilles) out
Jordan Walsh (groin) questionable
Head Coach Joe Mazzulla
Raptors ReservesJamison Battle
Gradey Dick
Sandro Mamukelashvili
Jared Rhoden
David Roddy
Olivier Sarr
Jamal Shead
Garrett Temple
Ja'Kobe Walter
2-Way PlayersUlrich Chomche
Chucky Hepburn
Alijah Marlin
Injuries/OutUlrich Chomche (undisclosed) questionable
Jakob Poeltl (back) questionable
AJ Lawson (undisclosed) questionable
Collin Murray-Boyles (elbow) questionable
Head Coach Darko Rajakovic
Game Notes The Toronto Raptors are in Boston to take on the Boston Celtics at TD Garden for the Celtics last preseason game. This is the Celtics 4th preseason game and their 2nd home game. It is the Raptors 5th preseason game and they will have one more preseason game on Friday against Brooklyn. This is the second meeting between these two teams in the preseason. The Raptors
defeated the Celtics 107-105 last week in Toronto.
The Celtics are split about evenly between returning and new players. They have 9 returning players and 8 new players on the team this season. Gone are Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Jrue Holiday and Luke Kornet. New players include Anfernee Simons, Josh Minott, Chris Boucher, Hugo Gonzalez, Max Shulga, and Amari Williams. RJ Lewis, and Luka Garza.
The Raptors have not changed all that much from last season. They lost Chris Boucher to the Celtics in free agency. They added Sandro Mamukelashvili, also in free agency. They added Collin Boyles with the 9th pick in the draft and Alijah Martin with the 39th pick in the draft. Their will be looking to build on their foundation and develop young talent.
It's hard to take anything from preseason. The Celtics sat half of their starting lineup for their first 2 games and their opponents have also sat most or all of their starters against the Celtics. The Celtics led the Raptors by 26 points in their first matchup before the end of the bench guys came in and lost the lead before losing the game by 2. Neither team was at full strength so can't be used to determine how these twp teams match up.
I've included the starters from the game notes for both teams. However, this game could go in several different directions. They could go with their projected starters for the regular season and a regular rotation to get ready for the season. They could go with some starters and rest others and start some of their rotation players. Or, they could start 5 camp guys just to give them some time before they are waived before the season start and rest all the starters.
Jayson Tatum remains on the injury list as he rehabs from the Achilles injury. He is hoping to be back at some time during this season. Jordan Walsh is questionable with a groin injury that he suffered in the first preseason game. For the Raptors, Jakob Poeltl is questionable with a back injury,Collin Murray-Boyles is questionable due to an elbow injury. AJ Lawson and Ulrich Chomche are questionable for undisclosed reasons.
Key Matchups
vs
Jaylen Brown vs Brandon Ingram
Ingram joined the Raptors at the trade deadline last year but didn't play with them in the 2024-25 season because he was injured. In the first 4 games of the preseason, he averaged 20 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists while shooting 48% from the field and 60% from beyond the arc. Ingram missed the first game between these two teams. Jaylen Brown is expected to lead the Celtics with Tatum out for most of the season.
vs
Sam Hauser vs RJ Barrett
In the first 4 games for the Raptors, Barrett averaged 15.7 points, 3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 42.8% from the field and 55% from beyond the arc. Hauser started at power forward on Sunday, and it's only a guess that he will once again start here. Barrett missed the first game between these two teams.
Honorable MentionDerrick White vs Scottie Barnes
Barnes missed the Raptors' first game against the Celtics but has played in 2 preseason games for the Raptors. In those games, he averaged 5.5 points,8.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 3 steals per game while shooting 17.6% from the field with no 3 pointers. Toronto's coach has said that Barnes will be the face of the league, but so far, he hasn't lived up to those expectations.
Keys to the Game Defense - Whether it is Summer League, Preseason, Regular Season, or Playoffs, defense will always be the key to winning. In the preseason so far, the Celtics are ranked 6th with a defensive rating of 101.0 while the Raptors are ranked 14th with a defensive rating of 106.6. The Celtics have vowed to emphasize defense this season and they showed that they plan to follow through on it for the most part. They need to continue to play tough lock down defense in every game.
Rebound - As with defense, rebounding will always be a key to winning every game. The Celtics pulled down 54 rebounds in the first game against the Raptors while the Raptors grabbed 34 rebounds. The Celtics are averaging 51.5 rebounds in their first 3 games (6th). The Raptors are averaging 38 rebounds over their first 4 games (28th). The Celtics will need to rebound as a team with players crashing the boards from every position. The Celtics can't score without the ball and rebounding is a great way to get the ball and to get extra possessions.
Take Care of the Ball The Celtics are 27th in the preseason with 21 turnovers per game. The Raptors are ranked 6th with 16 turnovers averaged in their first 4 games. The Celtics had 29 turnovers in the first game against the Raptors, with most of those coming in the second half. The Celtics must make careful passes and avoid turnovers if they want to win this game.
X-FactorsChemistry- This is the Celtics final preseason game. They have had to integrate several new players in the rotation with most seemingly fitting well. The Raptors have already played 4 games already and have just a few new players to work into their system. Hopefully the Celtics will continue to build chemistry in this game to prepare for opening night.
Preseason - The preseason is a time for the coaches to get a look at players who may or may not make the team, to experiment with lineups and different plays. Wins and losses are not as important as learning things about the players and the team. I'm thinking that Joe will play a regular rotation, at least for the first half, but he may just sit all the starters and go with the end of the bench guys.
Topic: Raptors (3-1) at Celtics (2-1) Preseason Game #4 10/15/25 (Read 380 times)