TORONTO – Payton Pritchard had a double-double with 33 points and 10 assists as the undermanned Boston Celtics topped the Toronto Raptors 112-96 on Saturday.
Pritchard added eight rebounds for Boston (17-11), while Derrick White added 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds.
The Celtics were without all-star forward Jaylen Brown, who was sick with an undisclosed illness.
Brandon Ingram scored 24 points and added seven assists as Toronto (17-12) had its modest two-game win streak snapped.
Scottie Barnes flirted with a double-double despite a slow start, finishing with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
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Sandro Mamukelashvili had a season-high 24 points, going 6-for-9 from three-point range in place of starting centre Jakob Poeltl.
Poeltl was ruled out for the Raptors hours before tipoff with a sore lower back. Swingman RJ Barrett (sprained knee) of Mississauga, Ont., remains out.
TAKEAWAYS
Celtics: Boston took full advantage of Poeltl’s absence, outrebounding the Raptors 55-37 and getting 54 points in the paint to Toronto’s 32.
Raptors: Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley both got off to slow starts, going a combined 3-for-16 on field-goal attempts in the first half. Barnes made a layup for his first points of the game with 2:21 before intermission. On the next possession he grabbed his own rebound for a dunk. Quickley drilled a three-pointer with 40.1 left in the half to give Toronto a 51-49 lead.
White drilled a 31-foot three-pointer to cap an 11-4 Celtics run to start the fourth and give Boston a 94-84 lead.
KEY STAT
Although Brown’s absence meant they didn’t put up quite as many three-point attempts as usual, the Celtics still went 12-for-39 (30.8 per cent) from beyond the arc.
UP NEXT
Boston: Hosts the Indiana Pacers on Monday.
Toronto: Visits the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 20, 2025.
]]>: Sportshttps://globalnews.ca/news/11586518/jakob-poeltl-out-for-raptors-vs-celtics/<![CDATA[Jakob Poeltl out for Raptors vs. Celtics]]>Sat, 20 Dec 2025 23:07:36 +0000
TORONTO – Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic and Toronto’s training staff are closely monitoring two injured players.
Starting centre Jakob Poeltl missed the Raptors’ game against the Boston Celtics on Saturday night while Canadian swingman RJ Barrett continued to improve. Rajakovic said that Poeltl was considered day-to-day as Toronto figured out how to manage his lower back soreness.
“He has some pain that comes and goes, and it’s pretty unpredictable,” Rajakovic said in his pre-game news conference. “He goes in the game, and he’s great in the game, and he might wake up the next morning and be feeling good or not feeling good.
“Same thing with practice. So we have a long-term plan for him, which consists of managing this injury, which consists of building his strength, which consists of him playing through certain levels of discomfort. Long term we are not concerned at all.”
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Poeltl is averaging 10.1 points, eight rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
The 30-year-old had been resting in one game of all of the Raptors’ back-to-back games so far this season. Toronto visits the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
However, Poeltl also sat out the Raptors’ 111-105 win in Milwaukee on Thursday, meaning he will have at least five days of rest.
“It’s just something that we are dealing with in the middle of the season,” said Rajakovic. “If we were in the off-season and you shut him down for two weeks, he would be completely fine, but it’s something we’re really trying to manage day to day.”
Barrett has been out with a sprained right knee since injuring himself in a game against Brooklyn on Nov. 23. He was averaging 19.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists a game before he got hurt.
Toronto announced Monday that Barrett, from Mississauga, Ont., would begin return-to-play activities this week after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection.
Rajakovic said on Saturday that Barrett is ramping up his activities.
“He’s reacting really well to the treatments and his PRP injection,” said Rajakovic “He was going full court running (yesterday) but he still did not do live contact.
“That’s coming in the next days, playing against coaches, against some contact, and playing live in practice, against teammates or our video guys. After playgroup, we’re going to clear him, and he’s going to be available.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 20, 2025.
]]>: Sportshttps://globalnews.ca/?p=11580359<![CDATA[Skate Canada to stop hosting events in Alberta due to sports gender law]]>Tue, 16 Dec 2025 19:58:54 +0000
Canada’s governing body for figure skating says Alberta is now a no-go zone for national and international events because of its law on transgender athletes participating in female-only sports.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith called the organization’s refusal to hold events in the province “disgraceful” and said her government expects an apology.
Skate Canada, in a statement Tuesday, said its new policy is due to the provincial law — the Fairness and Safety in Sport Act — that prohibits transgender athletes from participating in female-only sports.
The law, which came into effect Sept. 1, blocks transgender athletes from Alberta who are 12 and older from competing in female amateur sports.
Skate Canada said the decision comes after long consideration.
“Skate Canada considers a variety of criteria when selecting host locations for its national events,” the statement said.
“Following a careful assessment of Alberta’s Fairness and Safety in Sport Act, Skate Canada has determined that we are unable to host events in the province while maintaining our national standards for safe and inclusive sport.”
Smith, on social media, accused the organization of refusing to hold events in Alberta “because we choose to protect women and girls in sport.”
“We expect (Skate Canada) will apologize and adjust their policies once they realize they are not only compromising the fairness and safety of their athletes, but are also offside with the international community, including the International Olympic Committee, which is moving in the same direction as Alberta.”
She said her United Conservative Party government’s view reflects common sense and popular opinion.
Smith’s chief of staff doubled down on Alberta’s laws, saying on social media “I guess Skate Canada has a problem with protecting women and girls from having to compete against men in competitive sports.”
Rob Anderson said he was proud to be from a province that “protects the rights and safety of women.”
Alberta Tourism and Sport Minister Andrew Boitchenko echoed the premier’s remarks, saying he was disappointed in Skate Canada “refusing to support and protect their own female athletes,” adding Alberta’s policies aimed at ensuring female athletic competitions are fair and safe.
“No athlete should have an unfair advantage, and no athlete should have to put themselves at risk of harm to participate in the sports they love,” Boitchenko said, pointing out the International Olympic Committee plans to look into the concern next year.
Skate Canada said the decision doesn’t prevent Alberta athletes from participating in its programming or competitions.
No upcoming national or international events are scheduled to be held in Alberta. The 2025-26 Skate Canada Challenge was held in Calgary last month, and the city also hosted the 2024 national championships.
The notwithstanding clause is a provision that allows governments to override certain sections of the Charter for up to five years.
The Fairness and Safety in Sport Act is one of three Alberta laws affecting transgender people passed last year by Smith’s government. The other laws prohibit doctors from prescribing puberty blockers and hormone therapy to those under 16 and require parental permission for students under 16 to change their names or pronouns at school.
The laws polarized debate and sparked legal challenges, prompting the government earlier this month to invoke the Charter’s notwithstanding clause on all three to prevent them from being overturned in court.
Proponents, including Smith, have said the laws protect children and the sports legislation is specifically about making sure girls are not battling opponents with biological advantages. Detractors say the laws are about stigmatizing and punishing those in the transgender community to appease members of Smith’s party.
Regulations under the sports act allow transgender athletes from outside the province to compete in Alberta. Boitchenko’s ministry has said it doesn’t have the authority to regulate athletes from different jurisdictions.
Skate Canada said it will reassess its Alberta event ban if circumstances change.
The organization’s transgender inclusion policy states it’s “fully committed to providing a safe, welcoming, and respectful environment for all, regardless of any actual or perceived differences based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, language, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or disability.”
Alberta’s new rules around gender identity in effect
With files from Karen Bartko, Global News and Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
]]>: Sportshttps://globalnews.ca/news/11578221/raptors-barrett-set-for-return-to-play-activities/<![CDATA[Raptors’ Barrett set for return-to-play activities]]>Mon, 15 Dec 2025 15:38:38 +0000
]]>: Sportshttps://globalnews.ca/?p=11576315<![CDATA[Toronto records lowest hotel price increase among 2026 World Cup host cities]]>Sat, 13 Dec 2025 20:07:09 +0000
Hotel prices across North America have surged following the release of the 2026 FIFA World Cup schedule.
However, an analysis done by The Athletic shows that Toronto is seeing the smallest increase among all host cities.
The data found hotel prices around opening matches in the 16 host cities across Canada, the United States and Mexico rose by an average of 328 per cent, as demand climbs ahead of the tournament.
Across the 96 hotels examined, the average nightly rate around an opening game jumped to $1,013, compared to $293 for the same hotels just three weeks earlier.
Toronto stood out as the least affected city.
Ahead of Canada’s opening match on June 12, 2026, hotel prices in Toronto rose by an average of 78 per cent which was the lowest increase among all host cities.
The study found the average cost of a two-night stay in Toronto increased from $267 in late May to $487 during the opening match window.
Other host cities saw significantly sharper increases.
Mexico City recorded the highest average spike, with hotel prices rising by 961 per cent.
One hotel listed at $157 per night in late May was priced at $3,882 per night around the tournament’s opening match, marking an increase of more than 2,300 per cent.
Several other cities also saw steep hikes in rooms.
In the United States, Kansas City, Atlanta and San Francisco all saw increases above 340 per cent.
In Canada, Vancouver experienced far higher increases than Toronto.
Average hotel prices in Vancouver rose by 233 per cent ahead of a June 13 match, with some downtown hotels charging more than $1,700 per night for a two-night stay during the tournament window.
Marriott and Hilton did not respond to comments regarding pricing.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the largest in the tournament’s history, featuring an expanded 48-team field. A total of 104 matches will be played, with 75 per cent hosted in the United States and the remaining games split between Canada and Mexico.
FIFA did not respond to questions about accommodation and affordability ahead of the upcoming games.
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