O, Canada! Maine Celtics blown out north of border

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario - The Celtics couldn't keep up with Raptors 905 on Saturday night as Maine fell in their first of two games on the road, 125-92.

Maine falls to 1-2 in the regular season after losing their third straight meeting with Raptors 905 this season. 905 improves to 3-0 in the Regular Season and sits atop the Eastern Conference. Raptors 905 is now 17-0 in Tip-Off Tournament and Regular Season games, with their only loss coming to the Salt Lake City Stars in the Winter Showcase Tournament Championship.

Stefan Todorovic came off the bench to lead the Celtics in scoring with 18 points on 5-7 shooting. Ron Harper Jr. scored 16 points in 23 minutes and Hayden Gray was the only other Celtic in double figures with 10 points. Maine shot just 41.5% (34-82) from the floor and 18.8% (6-32) from three.

Raptors 905 forced 22 Maine turnovers and assisted on 37 out of 47 made field goals in the victory. Olivier Sarr led 905 with 22 points and nine rebounds. Tyreke Key and Tyson Degenhart each added 19 on a night that saw seven 905 players score in double figures. Raptors 905 finished Saturday's game shooting 51.6% (47-91) from the field and 39.4% (13-33) from three.

Both teams traded baskets in the opening minutes before Raptors 905 started to play at their pace. Coming off a career-high 33-point effort in the Winter Showcase Tournament Championship game, Two-Way player Alijah Martin connected from deep to give 905 a 12-7 lead with 8:44 to go in the opening quarter. Raptors 905 is first in the G League in points off turnovers and a Tyreke Key layup in transition gave 905 a 26-15 lead over the Celtics with 2:57 remaining in the first. 905 continued to race past Maine in the open floor and a dunk by David Roddy extended the lead to 15 with 2:11 left. Ron Harper Jr. scored nine points, but Maine trailed Raptors 905 32-19 after the first quarter .

The Celtics fought to come back from a 15-point deficit in the second quarter. Amari Williams found a cutting Harper for the bucket and the foul to pull Maine within 12 with 9:47 left in the second quarter. Maine would go scoreless from the 8:23 mark of the second quarter until a Kendall Brown dunk ended the Celtics scoring drought with 1:48 remaining in the half. The Celtics trailed by as many as 25 in the first half and found themselves trailing the 905 55-34 at the break. Maine shot just 34.1% (15-44) from the floor, including 6.3% (1-16) from beyond the arc. Raptors 905 had 18 assists on 22 made fields and shot 47.8% (22-46) from the field in the first half. 905's Olivier Sarr led all scorers with 15 first half point and Harper led Maine with 14.

With 9:32 to go in the third, Martin absorbed the foul from Brown and scored. The three-point play gave 905 a 63-38 lead over the Celtics. Less than a minute later, Martin scored at the rim again to extend the lead to 27, 905's largest lead of the game to that point. After Max Shulga dialed up just the second made three of the game for Maine, Raptors 905 hit back-to-back triples to grow their lead to 30, 73-43 midway through the third quarter. Stefan Todorovic scored 11 points in the quarter for the Celtics, but Maine trailed 905, 92-63 after the third.

Maine started to find their shot early in the fourth with Rahsool Diggins and Aaron Scott each connecting on a three in the early minutes of the quarter. Diggins scored a season-high seven points, all coming in the fourth quarter. The Celtics cut the lead down to 24, but eight straight points by Tyson Degenhart extended the lead back to 30, 105-75 with 7:00 minutes remaining in the game. Jarkel Joiner knocked down a three with 2:48 remaining to give 905 their largest lead of the night, 121-86. Maine would fall to 905, 125-92 and fall to 1-2 in the regular season.

The Celtics were again without Kameron Warrens and Keon Johnson due to injury. A.J. Lawson, Jonathan Mogbo, and Quincy Guerrier were on the injury report for Raptors 905.

Maine and Raptors 905 will square off again on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. at Paramount Fine Foods Centre. The game will be available to watch on NBAGLeague.com.