As the clock ran out, Jayson Tatum dribbled the ball across midcourt with a look of relief on his face.

This was a game the Celtics easily could have lost, and probably would have last season. After taking a commanding lead, they let it go. Their offense suddenly went missing. They played ugly basketball. They suddenly found themselves in a dog fight with the Raptors, and trailed with less than two minutes to go.

But in what’s becoming an early-season theme, the Celtics figured out a way. With the game tied in the final minute, Jrue Holiday found Derrick White in the corner, and like he has time and again in crunch time, he delivered. White’s 3-pointer with 28 seconds to go was the difference as the Celtics escaped with a 108-105 victory over the Raptors.

It certainly wasn’t pretty. The Celtics had a 16-point lead after a dominant second quarter and blew it. Jayson Tatum had his worst night of the season, scoring just 17 points on 8-for-22 shooting, and the C’s lost their offensive rhythm in the second half as Pascal Siakam and the Raptors responded. But the Celtics made big plays when it mattered to win their fifth consecutive game. It also pushed them to 2-0 in the In-Season Tournament.