Malcolm Brogdon Stars in Boston’s Win Over Toronto Raptors As Celtics Clinch Second Seed in East

• The Boston Celtics defeated the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday
• The Celtics clinched the second seed in the East with the victory
• Malcolm Brogdon stepped up in the absence of Boston's starters

The Boston Celtics secured the second seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 97-93 win over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.

Malcolm Brogdon starred for the Celtics, who improved their record to 55-25 this season.

They hold a 2.5-game lead over the Philadelphia 76ers with two games remaining on their schedule.

The Celtics’ hopes of landing the top seed in the East evaporated the same night with the Bucks winning over the Bulls.

Bagging second place in the Eastern Conference is still a good accomplishment for Boston, who will have homecourt advantage until the second round of the NBA playoffs.

Joel Embiid bolsters MVP case, scores 52 in Sixers’ win against Celtics

NBA

Brogdon steps up for Boston

Brogdon scored 29 points off the bench in the win against Toronto. He made a pair of free throws late in the game to help the Celtics hold off the Raptors, per ESPN.

The 30-year-old has embraced his role as Boston's leading bench player, emerging as an NBA Sixth Man of the Year candidate.

The Celtics needed Brogdon’s offense on Wednesday as three of their regular starters were sidelined. Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, and Al Horford all got the night off, as this was the second game of a back-to-back set.

Jaylen Brown and Derrick White picked up the slack in their absence, scoring 25 and 17 points, respectively.

Raptors struggle with outside shot

It was a disappointing loss for the Raptors, who fell one game behind eighth-place Atlanta in the team standings.

Toronto struggled beyond the arc, shooting just 6 of 33 from the 3-point area. They missed 16 of their 18 3-point attempts in the opening half.

Milwaukee Bucks clinch top seed in East with win over Chicago Bulls

NBA

Embiid leads Sixers past Celtics

Sports Brief recently reported on the Celtics’ loss to the Sixers, thanks to Joel Embiid's great night.

He torched the Boston defense, scoring 52 points, shooting 20 of 25 from the field and 12 of 13 free throws.

It was the ninth time this season Embiid has scored at least 40 points and grabbed at least 10 rebounds.