BOSTON — During his pregame news conference Sunday at TD Garden, Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic was asked about the recent return of Jayson Tatum.

Was Rajakovic, whose team had faced the Celtics three times during Tatum’s Achilles rehab and lost all three games, curious to see how Boston looked with its central superstar now healthy and available?

“Not really,” Toronto’s bench boss deadpanned.

The game that followed was far from the cleanest the Celtics have played this season, but the combined efforts of Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Neemias Queta propelled them to a 115-101 victory over the Raptors in a potential first-round playoff preview.

Tatum posted his ninth double-double in 14 games, finishing with 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting, 13 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Brown shot 11 for 20 to finish with a game-high 26-6-5 and two steals. Queta, Boston’s breakout starting center, made nine of his 10 field-goal attempts in an 18-point, seven-board, four-assist, three-block gem, finishing as a plus-30 over his 34 minutes.

Their production, plus 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting from sixth man Payton Pritchard, offset the Celtics’ 18 turnovers — including five each by Tatum and Brown — and an underwhelming return to action for backup big man Nikola Vucevic, who was a minus-14 in 13 minutes after missing the previous month with a fractured ring finger.

The Celtics took a slim three-point lead into the fourth quarter but dominated the final period, outscoring the Raptors 35-24 to close out a season sweep of their northern neighbors. Boston’s magic number to clinch the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference sits at two with four games remaining.

The loss dropped Toronto to seventh in the East standings. If the Celtics claim the second seed, they would face the winner of the 7 vs. 8 play-in game in the opening round of the NBA playoffs.

The Celtics will host another possible first-round foe, the Charlotte Hornets, on Tuesday.

After putting up 50-plus points in the paint in each of their previous two games, the Celtics again found success attacking the rim against Toronto. Their first six made baskets (and seven of their first nine) came on layups or dunks. Queta, fresh off a 13-point first quarter in Friday’s win over Milwaukee, accounted for more than half of those makes amid a 5-for-5 start.

Up 22-15 midway through the first quarter, the Celtics subbed out Queta for Vucevic. It was a rough reentry for the veteran big man. Vucevic was a minus-15 during his first eight-minute shift, tallying no points, two fouls and two turnovers while Boston’s offense ground to a halt.

The Celtics leaned more on jump-shooting during that stretch and struggled to convert, going 2 for 11 from 3-point range and 4 for 16 outside the restricted area in the first quarter. Vucevic missed his first two 3-point attempts, including one at the first-quarter buzzer, and contributed to Boston’s rash of turnovers. The Celtics turned it over nine times in the first 16 minutes, leading to 12 Toronto points.

Tatum committed four of his team’s early giveaways, including a pair of offensive fouls. He was whistled for a third offensive foul just before halftime.

Queta checked back in with 8:43 remaining in the first half and the Celtics down six. Seconds later, he pulled down two offensive rebounds during a frantic possession that culminated in a Queta putback. The fourth-chance bucket sparked a 24-8 run that sent Boston into the locker room with a 54-46 lead.

The Celtics scored on eight of their final nine first-half possessions, including a nifty Queta hook shot, 3-pointers by Tatum and Derrick White, and three strong drives by Brown.

At the half, Queta had a game-high 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting and was a plus-23. Defensively, Boston held Toronto to 39.1% shooting over the first two quarters.

The third quarter followed a similar script to the first. It took the Celtics a full 10 minutes to score their first points outside of the paint — strong drives by Tatum, Brown and Payton Pritchard were their top offensive weapon — and they again struggled with Vucevic on the floor. Vucevic’s second shift lasted just four minutes, during which he committed his third and fourth foul and contributed to yet another Celtics turnover on a botched pick-and-roll with Brown.

Vucevic finished with four points on 2-of-5 shooting, four rebounds, one assist and two turnovers. His return resulted in the first DNP since March 1 for fellow backup big Luka Garza, whose 125.0 offensive rating in Vucevic’s absence led all Celtics players.

After the Raptors pulled even at 75-75 late in the third, Brown hit a shot-clock-beating corner three to retake momentum. That ignited a 16-4 that stretched into the fourth and gave Boston its first double-digit lead of the game.

Boston’s headliners delivered the dagger. With 3:41 remaining, Brown converted an and-one layup, then put back his own missed free throw. Tatum stole a Brandon Ingram pass on the ensuing possession and raced for a fast-break layup. After RJ Barrett and White traded makes, Brown picked off a Barnes pass and threw down a transition dunk, stretching Boston’s lead to 113-95 and snuffing out any hope of a Toronto rally.

____

©2026 The Boston Herald. Visit at bostonherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.