The defending champs faced their first real bout of adversity in Game 1 and didn’t look great.

While Boston Celtics are still undefeated against the Toronto Raptors in the bubble, how long can they keep that win streak alive?

The Celtics have their eyes locked in on a 2-0 series lead, while the Raptors are expected to fight harder to tie it all up in Game 2. Catch this game live on Wednesday at 6:30 AM, Manila time.

HOME TEAM: #2 Toronto Raptors (0-1)

For some reason, the defending champions played flat in Game 1 of this series.

If there’s one player that has personified that anemic play in the series opener, it’s Fred VanVleet, who only had 11 points on 3-of-16 shooting from the field. VanVleet still contributed eight assists and six steals but ended up with a team-worst minus-28.

Another player the Raptors need to get out of a funk is Pascal Siakam. The do-it-all forward finished with 13 points in Game 1 but shot just 5 of 16 from the floor. Since the start of the playoffs, Siakam is making just 39.8% of his shots, a significant drop from his regular season clip of 45.3%.

Perhaps, the Raptors have to make Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka be involved more on offense to further highlight their advantage down low. Gasol only had seven shots in Game 1 and finished with seven points. Ibaka, on the other hand, scored 15 points off the bench.

ROAD TEAM: #3 Boston Celtics (1-0)

The Celtics were firing on all cylinders from start to finish in Game 1, showing everyone why exactly they are a huge thorn in the side of Toronto this season.

Boston leaned on the leadership of Jayson Tatum in the series opener, and the former Duke Blue Devils star pumped out 21 points to go with nine rebounds. Marcus Smart’s offense was a pleasant surprise, too. Valued more for his defense, Smart nonetheless scored 21 points with five 3-pointers in Game 1.

Even more surprising was how Daniel Theiss was able to hold his own. Theiss finished the contest with 13 points, 15 rebounds, and two blocks.  If the Celtics are to take away the advantage of Toronto’s frontcourt in this series, Theiss will have to sustain that impressive showing.

Boston’s defense also shackled Toronto’s scorers. After holding down the Raptors to below 40 FG% in Game 1, the Celtics have improved their number to 99.2 points allowed per game in the playoffs — the best among all 16 teams that made the postseason.

PREDICTIONS:

The Raptors feature more of Ibaka and Gasol and offense while VanVleet and company shoot better to help Toronto score a 112-108 win in Game 2.