Allen Graves Reveals What Fuels Him After Career Night vs. Celtics

Coming into Wednesday, forward Allen Graves had made just 22.2% of his 3-pointers as a rookie, but the Toronto Raptors kept putting him on the floor, and he paid them back with a career night against the Boston Celtics.

Graves scored a career-high 13 points off the bench in 18 minutes, making 5-of-8 shots, going 3-of-4 from deep and grabbing five rebounds.

It was not enough to avoid a 98-93 loss at Scotiabank Arena, but the 19th overall pick in the 2026 draft gave Toronto a real lift on a night when the team needed someone new to step up.

Graves said afterward that his confidence comes from the people around him.

"I feel like that belief is what fuels me day in and day out. Their belief in me, just knowing that I want to go out there and play as hard as I can," Graves said after the loss, crediting the whole organization for trusting him.

Toronto came out hot, making 10 threes in the first quarter to tie a franchise record and building a lead that reached 22 points.

The Raptors led 38-29 after one and 61-54 at halftime, then held an 80-75 lead after three quarters before scoring just 13 points in the fourth, which let Boston come all the way back for its fifth straight win and move to 10-2.

Shooting guard Ja'Kobe Walter led the team with 17 points and five threes, but the Raptors went just 1-of-8 from deep in the final quarter.

Toronto finished 16-of-43 from three, and head coach Darko Rajakovic said afterward that he was fine with the number of threes because the team needs to trust open shots.

The loss dropped the Raptors to 5-6, their first time under .500 this season, and gave them two straight losses after falling to Memphis on Monday.

They sit in a tie for seventh in the East, and the injuries are a big part of the story.

Forward Scottie Barnes has missed three straight games with a left groin strain, while forward Kawhi Leonard is set to miss another week on the sideline with knee swelling.

A night like this from Graves helps for that reason, because with two of the team's best players out and the team short-handed again, Toronto needs its young players to give real minutes, and Graves showed he can knock down open shots when the ball finds him.

I like what this says about how the Raptors handle young players, since they kept trusting a rookie who was not shooting well, and the team now has another option to lean on while it waits for Barnes and Leonard.

One game does not make a breakout for a young player, but Graves is now shooting 31.8% from three on the season, and that number is moving in the right direction.

It does not get any easier from here, as Toronto visits a 9-3 Philadelphia 76ers team on Thursday on the second night of a back-to-back, then hosts the New York Knicks on Sunday and Tuesday as part of a tough run of games without two of its best players.