Celtics Praise Raptors Center After Dominant Performance: 'He's a Bear Down There'

The Boston Celtics praised Jakob Poeltl who almost led the Toronto Raptors to an upset victory over the weekend

Nov 10, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Toronto Raptors center Jakob Poeltl (19) points against the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images / Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

The Boston Celtics were willing to let Jakob Poeltl beat them.

Bold strategy, right?

Considering how depleted the Toronto Raptors are these days, it would stand to reason teams would want to load up on Poeltl, RJ Barrett, and Gradey Dick and force everyone else to outscore the Celtics. But that’s not quite how Boston operates.

For the Celtics, Poeltl creates a simple math problem.

The 29-year-old center is one of the most efficient scorers in NBA history but rarely steps outside the paint for anything longer than a deep floater. He’ll twist and turn inside, navigate the receiving end of the pick-and-roll, and more often than not take one of his patented floating push shots from just outside the restricted area. It’s a shot Boston was prepared to live with on Saturday, opting to defend Poeltl in one-on-one coverage for most of the night while trying to ensure Toronto didn’t get hot from three-point range.

The reasoning is rather simple: Boston takes more three-pointers than anyone else in the league and has figured out that it’s willing to give up tough two-point shots just outside the restricted if it can prevent other teams from getting all the way to the hoop or letting it rain from behind the arc.

“Just give him a lot of credit. Hit a lot of tough shots,” Al Horford said following Poeltl’s career-high 35-point performance against the Celtics. “Those were the shots that we’re willing to live with, and he really hurt us with them.”

Poeltl repeatedly beat Horford with his floater and turned six offensive rebounds against the Celtics into eight second-chance points for Toronto.

“He’s a bear down there,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said of Poeltl. “It’s one of those situations if you play one coverage, he’s going to shoot that, if you play a different one, he’s going to burry you on the glass. He puts teams in a bind. He’s a good player.”

The hope for Toronto is this Raptors offense will get more effective once Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley are back, and the Raptors can start making teams pay from three-point range too. If Poeltl continues to dominate in the paint and Toronto can keep up with opposing teams from behind the arc, the Raptors should look more offensively competent in the not-too-distant future.