Two November games gave the Eastern Conference a useful early measuring stick. Boston beat Philadelphia 123-101 on Tuesday, then erased a 22-point deficit to win 98-93 in Toronto on Wednesday. The first result came against a fellow top-two East team; the second completed a four-game road sweep. Neither settles the conference race, but together they show how Boston is winning in very different circumstances.[6][7]
Boston wins the top-two matchup
Boston and Philadelphia entered Tuesday’s meeting as the East’s top two teams. The Celtics turned that early standings showdown into a 22-point win, with Paul George scoring 36 against his former club. He shot 14-of-22 from the field and made six 3-pointers; Jayson Tatum added 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks.[6][10]
The shot-making gap was sharper than the final score alone suggests. Boston made 48 field goals to Philadelphia’s 33 and won the paint 46-32. The 76ers attempted 28 free throws to the Celtics’ five, yet Boston outscored them 118-77 on points that did not come at the line. Tyrese Maxey led Philadelphia with 24 points; Jaylen Brown scored 13 in his first game against Boston after the offseason trade.[10]
A different kind of win in Toronto
The next night demanded a comeback rather than another offensive display. Boston trailed Toronto 59-37 midway through the second quarter before a 16-0 run in two minutes, 30 seconds brought it back. Tatum scored the first 11 points of that surge, and the Celtics eventually won by five.[7]
Boston scored 25 fewer points than it had in Philadelphia, but its defense and late execution held up. Derrick White blocked four shots—matching the Raptors’ team total—and Boston’s starting five combined for 10 blocks. The Celtics also made 24 of 28 free throws. The victory finished a four-game road trip with a plus-86 scoring differential, the best for a four-game trip in franchise history.[7]
Toronto’s record tells a less comfortable story
Toronto opened 2-0 but went 3-5 over its next eight games, putting it at 5-5 before Boston arrived. Wednesday’s loss dropped the Raptors to 5-6. That is a modest gap in November, not a verdict on their season, but it makes the contrast with Boston’s road-trip momentum plain.[9][7]
There is a constructive sign for Toronto: Jamal Shead had 20 points and 11 assists against Memphis on Monday, after recording 16 assists in a win over Milwaukee three nights earlier. He entered Wednesday averaging 7.4 points and 7.0 assists. Those contributions matter, but the Raptors still need them to translate into more wins.[9]
What the early East picture shows
Boston has now supplied two distinct answers in consecutive games: it could outshoot a top-two conference opponent, then recover from a 22-point hole on the second night of a back-to-back. Philadelphia remains part of that early top-tier conversation, but Tuesday exposed a substantial field-goal deficit. Toronto, meanwhile, has slipped below .500 after its unbeaten start. The East’s standings will change; these are the numbers worth carrying into the next round of games.[6][10][7][9]
References
- Tatum, George Put on Show in Statement Win Over Sixers | Boston Celtics — https://celtics.com/news/sidebar-post-20261110-celtics-silence-the-noise-in-statement-win-over-sixers
- Keys to the Game: Celtics 98, Raptors 93 | Boston Celtics — https://celtics.com/news/game-recap-keys-20261111-bostor
- 11/11 Game Preview: Celtics at Raptors | Boston Celtics — https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/gamepreview-20261111-bostor
- Keys to the Game: Celtics 123, 76ers 101 | Boston Celtics — https://celtics.com/news/game-recap-keys-20261110-bosphi
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