A Tough Blow: Despite strong start, Raptors Uprising GC suffers defeat against Celtics Crossover Gaming

It was a night to forget for Raptors Uprising GC as they suffered their second straight defeat in SWITCH OPEN group play, losing 3-1 to Celtics Crossover Gaming (22-11, 18-22, 14-22, 17-21).

The loss marks the halfway point of the group stage, with Toronto currently 1-2 heading into their final three series.

A place in Indy is still very much in Raptors Uprising’s sights, but the wins will need to come sooner rather than later in order to avoid some unneeded pressure come Thursday.

Toronto started the series with a lineup we had yet to see start a matchup in the SWITCH OPEN, as FantaSZN, Kenny Got Work and Big Saint were Raptors Uprising’s trio for the night.

Game 1 saw Toronto put on a ruthless performance, as Fanta and co. dominated to take it 22-11 and establish a one-game lead. Both Fanta and Saint were in double digits in points, recording 10 and 12 respectively.

In spite of that strong start, the Celtics would claw back from Game 2 onwards.

Boston went on an 8-0 run to start the second game, and while Toronto was able to narrow their lead to one at 16-17, the Celtics would fend off late pressure from Raptors Uprising and win 22-18.

Momentum had swung the Celtics’ way, and they carried it into Game 3, where they pulled away and sealed a comfortable 22-14 win to leave them one away from taking the series.

And that was ultimately the case, as a 21-17 victory in Game 4 saw Boston seal a 3-1 series win. A tough break for Toronto in the end.

In scoring, Kenny led the team over the course of the four games with 25 points, with Fanta just one behind him on 24.

Toronto’s rookie guard tallied a team-high five assists, while Saint notched nine rebounds to lead that category.

After the series, Kenny spoke on how the team was feeling following a second consecutive loss:

“These last two losses hurt. I know we’re the best team in this group when we’re playing together. We have to find a way to close games and we’ve got to be better.

“It’s kind of emotional right now, but we’ve got three more games coming up against these same teams, so we know what we must do, we just have to execute.”

Kenny also described what caused Toronto to lose control of the series in Games 2, 3 and 4:

“I feel like a couple of 50/50 balls didn’t go our way, and we let it get to us. We didn’t keep our mentality and when those kinds of plays happen, it affects our play going forward. We just have to be better.”

With a big week ahead, Kenny reflected on the biggest takeaway from his team’s first three matchups:

“We have to be better at scoring. We need to get up threes, that’s the only way we’re going to get to Indy, by shooting threes efficiently.”

To start the second week of group play, Raptors Uprising is back in action against the Celtics on Tuesday, June 21st, with Game 1 scheduled for 9:00 pm EST.

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