Gameday: Celtics vs. Raptors, October 15th

The Raptors' gradual return to competitive basketball has come to an end.

After beginning the preseason with back-to-back games against the Washington Wizards that offered little more competition than the previous intrasquad battle, the Toronto Raptors played the first game of this home series against the defending champion Celtics on Sunday in Boston.

Coming off a 139-89 win over the Philadelphia 76ers the night before, the Celts opted to sit out seven of their top eight players, including Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White. As a result, their roster looked more like the Maine Celtics than the team that lifted the Larry O'Brien trophy four months ago.

Two different halves resulted in the Raptors losing 115-111. Now the two teams will take turns once again when the Dino returns to Scotiabank Arena, but one thing will look very different.

It's obvious that most of the Celtics' starters will be in the game on Tuesday. The Water Wings, who were the Wizards and Celtics' third-stringers, disengage and the Raptors are thrown into the deep.

This isn't exactly a team ready for a big challenge at the moment. Once again, the Raptors will be without at least one starter as RJ Barrett is out for the remainder of the preseason with a sprained right ACL.

Immanuel Quickley is currently listed as a day-to-day player, and Darko Rajakovic told the media that he expects the 6-foot-2 guard to enter the preseason. But the Raptors were without two of their four guaranteed starters in each of the first three preseason games (Barnes and Quickley in game one, Barrett and Quickley in games two and three). Add in the fact that they were also without a few additional rotation players (Bruce Brown, knee, and Kelly Olynyk, lower back), and you get a team that lacks stability and continuity as they prepare for the start of the regular season.

That's not that big of a deal for this Raptors team since Rajakovic entered the first year of the rebuild on media day, but it's still far from ideal.

In the last two games, the Raptors have been outscored by 54 points from 3-point range. Gradey Dick let it fly Sunday night — he shot 5 of 10 from distance — but overall the Raptors haven't made many 3s so far. They ranked 29th in the preseason with 31.7 attempts per game.

The Celtics rank first in 3-point attempts per game with 52.0.

For both Ochai Agbaji and Davion Mitchell, 3-point shooting is a swing skill that could help solidify their status in the league. It would be nice to see both take a few more shots than the 2.0 and 1.3 per game averages they averaged last season, respectively.

The first half of the last game and the loss against the Wizards on Friday left little to be desired. This would allow Raptors fans to focus more on Vince Carter's illustrious career, his induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Sunday and the Raptors' retirement of his jersey on Nov. 2.

But all preseason caveats apply, and we're sure to see some ugly basketball in these exhibition contests. There will still be a lot to look forward to on the course this year (if you know where to look).

Game information

Note: 7:00 p.m. ET

Television: Sportsnet One

Radio: Sportsnet 590 The Fan

Starting lineups (planned)

Boston Celtics

PG: Jrue Holiday

SG: Derrick White

SF: Jaylen Brown

PF: Jayson Tatum

C: Luke Kornet

Toronto Raptors

Main actor: Davion Mitchell

SG: Gradey Dick

SF: Ochai Agbaji

PF: Scottie Barnes

C: Jakob Pöltl

Injury report (unofficial)

Celtics

Kristaps Porzingis (foot) – Out

Raptors

Immanuel Quickley (thumb) – Out

RJ Barrett (shoulder) – Out

Ja'Kobe Walter (shoulder) – Out

Bruce Brown Jr. (knee) – Out

Kelly Olynyk (back) – Questionable

Garrett Temple (hamstring) – Questionable

Toronto's final preseason game is Friday, October 18th against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Centre. Meet at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time.