TORONTO – It was all going so well for the Toronto Raptors in the first quarter of their key divisional matchup against the Boston Celtics.

Ja’Kobe Walter hit four three-pointers in the opening frame as the Raptors totalled 10 three-pointers, tying a franchise record, to jump out to an early and unexpected lead against the Celtics. But the offence sputtered on Wednesday as Toronto eventually fell to Boston 98-93 on Wednesday.

“I thought that first quarter was better than the rest of the three quarters,” said head coach Darko Rajakovic. “We made 10 threes in the first quarter. We were getting great looks, open looks, and I think the film is going to really show us that that’s the standard of play that we’re going to play too, right?

“That it doesn’t matter, make or miss, we’ve got to trust the pass. We’ve got to trust the teammate.”

It was apparent that Toronto’s plan was to come out gunning, at least to start the game.

The Raptors were 10 for 18 from three-point range in the first, 2 for 8 in the second, 3 for 9 in the third and just 1 for 8 in the final quarter.  That’s a total of 16 for 43 (37 per cent) from beyond the arc.

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“We’ve got to trust open shots,” said Rajakovic. “We took 43 threes. That’s a good number there. I still think there were a couple more situations that we could make better decisions to kick out in five open shots.”

It was a case of turning Boston’s only playstyle against it.

The Celtics entered Wednesday taking 42.2 three-pointers per game, fifth most in the NBA, and making 38.4 per cent of those. Toronto’s 35.2 three-point attempts per game was 24th most in the league with its 31.8 per cent three-point shooting percentage was fourth worst in the league.

Boston went 14 for 40 (35 per cent) on Wednesday.

“I think first quarter we were definitely getting the ball moving more,” said Walter, who finished with a team-best 17 points, including going 5 for 10 on threes. “On transition we were getting stops and getting out, and I think we came out second half we just didn’t start at that same note.

“I think we definitely just did a better job of getting the ball around, continuing to play hard, started on defence for us too.”

Rookie Allen Graves came off the bench for 13 points, second most on the Raptors (5-6), including 3 for 4 shooting on threes.

“Coming into this game, I wasn’t shooting the best percentage as far as on the three-point line, and that’s what I credit the Raptors too,” said Graves, who had a 22.2 per cent three-point percentage before Wednesday. “I mean, this whole organization, my confidence game by game, and just continuing to trust in me.

“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.”

Toronto visits the Philadelphia 76ers (9-3) on Thursday. Walter said he appreciated the short turn around because it helped him flush the disappointing loss to Boston.

“The blessing about the NBA is you’ve always got another game because like today, the next day or the day after that,” said Walter. “You can’t really dwell on in the game.

“You just watch the film quickly, but do that and move on. We know we’ve got a tough task ahead of us. We’re just trying to focus on (the Sixers), lock in on the scout, lock in on the film.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2026.

The 66-year-old building will host the Canadian Football League’s championship game Sunday between the Edmonton Elks and Montreal Alouettes.

The home of the CFL’s Stampeders since 1960, and the site of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympics, is the second-oldest pro football stadium in Canada and one of the most venerable in North America.

Montreal’s Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, built in 1915, has been the home of the Alouettes since 1998.

With the NHL’s Flames moving to Scotia Place next year after 44 years in the Saddledome, attention has turned to an even older pro sports venue in Calgary and what to do about it.

When Calgary hosted the 2019 Grey Cup, the CFL’s commissioner at that time, Randy Ambrosie, predicted it would be the last at McMahon.

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But the CFL’s showcase game has returned for a sixth time with a little more tread worn off McMahon’s tires.

“McMahon Stadium is pretty tired, I’m afraid,” said McMahon Stadium Society chair Steve Allan.

Replacement parts for McMahon’s seats are no longer available, so salvaging Saddledome seats before the wrecking ball swings there could be a stop-gap option until a new stadium materializes, Allan said.

“We’re just trying to patch up an old dog, and we’ve been doing that for years, and it’s not working,” Allan said. “The guts of the building are just too old.”

The Calgary Stampede has hired a firm to study the idea of adding field sports to GMC Stadium, which currently seats 17,000 in its grandstand just south of Scotia Place.

“We recognize that CFL football can’t stay at McMahon Stadium indefinitely,” said Jim Laurendeau, the Stampede’s executive vice-president of park development and operations. “It’s been well articulated that McMahon Stadium is certainly past its prime as far as stadiums in Canada go.

“We decided to take a real look at whether our current facility, being the GMC Stadium, currently home to chuckwagon races, Indigenous relay, the grandstand show and rodeo every day during Stampede, could that be adapted to accommodate field sports? We would look at professional football, but we could also look at other field sports like soccer as well over time.”

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The City of Calgary is doing its own feasibility study on “major sports and event infrastructure in Calgary.

“This work is early-stage due diligence and does not represent a decision or commitment to build a new facility,” the city said in a statement. “The study will help the city assess potential needs, opportunities, risks and next steps in a co-ordinated way, including how future facilities could support sport, events, tourism, economic development and community use.

“The city is working with the University of Calgary and the McMahon Stadium Society to support the continued safe operation of McMahon Stadium.”

McMahon is on University of Calgary land and home to the university’s football team.

But the university wants to move on from McMahon. About $23 million has been raised to build a 5,000-seat multi-purpose university and community sport stadium on campus.

“McMahon Stadium has played a significant role in Calgary’s sports landscape for decades and remains a safe and operational facility today,” Faculty of Kinesiology dean Nick Holt said in a statement.

“The University of Calgary, the City of Calgary, and McMahon Stadium Society continue to work collaboratively to manage and maintain the stadium for the foreseeable future.

“At the same time, McMahon is an aging asset approaching the end of its life. All partners recognize the need to move beyond incremental investments in an aging asset and consider sustainable long-term solutions.”

1:58 Talks to replace McMahon Stadium underway with potential for new location

New turf installed last year at McMahon, where the Calgary Wild women’s pro soccer team also plays, has an eight-year lifespan.

“We don’t want to put turf down in this building again, so we need a building for the start of the 2033 season,” Allan said.

While McMahon will continue to house the Stampeders for a few years yet, team president Jay McNeil says there’s urgency to get shovels in the ground.

“Our life here at McMahon has to change and it has to change quickly,” McNeil said.

“Fans’ expectations for what an experience is on game day, whether it’s football, hockey, or baseball, it is significantly higher than what it used to be. They want premium standing room only where they can be a community with others. They want different types of seating, and McMahon offers none of that.

“It makes it a challenge for us as we try to sell tickets, try to grow our business. With fans’ expectations growing higher, it becomes more of a challenge every day.

Who pays for what in a new stadium is a question for further down the road, said Allan, who pointed out McMahon sits on valuable land, and the city also owns a valuable parcel beside the stadium.

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CSEC’s investment in the $1.22-billion Scotia Place is currently valued at $356 million via up-front investment and increasing lease payments over a 35-year span.

CSEC president Robert Hayes welcomes feasibility studies underway by the Stampede and the city.

“The short answer would be we need a new facility for the Calgary Stampeders Football Club. There’s no question about that,” Hayes said.

“The longer answer would be there are other people who are looking at this. I’ve always been, again, a sideline cheerleader when I’ve been asked that if people are looking at a new facility, we are a tenant there for nine games a year (in the) regular season and, knock on wood, playoffs hopefully as well, and we use it for plus or minus a hundred days a year for practice facilities.”

The Stampede’s GMC Stadium is a pro football stadium option because of its proximity to Scotia Place and the money the city spent on public transportation and street infrastructure to turn the entire area into a culture and entertainment district.

What kind of engineering feat is needed to convert a rodeo infield and a chuckwagon track into a football field and back again? Laurendeau hopes to have an answer by the summer of 2027.

“There’s half of a stadium right now that looks down facing east onto the rodeo field of play. Why wouldn’t we just add another building on the other side of that, put a football field in there and go for it?” Laurendeau asked.