Arwind Santos can't wait to celebrate Raptors beat Celtics

Arwind Santos couldn't help but get excited over the prospect of finishing off the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok in the fifth game of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals set Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena and give the San Miguel Beermen their fourth straight crown in the season's first conference.

The Beermen moved on the verge of extending their Philippine Cup reign when Santos made up for missing an open jumper with a key defensive play on Aldrech Ramos that led to a turnover before knocking down two free throws to secure an 84-80 win and a 31 lead in the best-ofseven series.

"Gusto na namin mag-celebrate ng Friday," Santos declared after Wednesday's match at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. "Gusto na naming magpuyat. Ang tagal na naming di nakakatikim ng alcohol."

Santos' comments could either work in San Miguel's favor or make Magnolia even more determined to keep its fading title hopes alive.

But San Miguel has been a confident bunch ever since it recovered from a stunning 105103 loss in Game 1, winning the next two games by an average margin of 19.5 points (92-77 in Game 2 and 111-87 in Game 3).

San Miguel showed championship poise in Game 4 when Magnolia made it close all throughout before weathering a late meltdown in the final two minutes.

Though Santos seems to be in the celebratory mood already, he remains wary of seeing the Hotshots become the second team to rally from 3-1 down in the finals - a feat only accomplished by Ginebra San Miguel in the 1991 First Conference against Shell.

And San Miguel also knows a thing or two about erasing a huge deficit in a title series, namely the famous 0-3 comeback against Alaska in the 2016 Philippine Cup Finals.

"Sabi nga nila, yung pinakamahirap kunin yung pang-finish so kailangan paghandaan namin yun," he said. "Sa Friday, pipilitin namin ibigay ang lahat para matapos na.

At alam din namin na hindi ganoon babagsak o ibibigay ng Magnolia ang laban kaya sabi nga nila puso diba?

"Sana sa Friday, kaming lahat ng mga teammates ko, gustuhin na tapusin na," added Santos. (JT) TORONTO (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 16 points, Fred VanVleet and Serge Ibaka each had 15 and the Toronto Raptors moved closer to clinching the top seed in the Eastern Conference by beating the Boston Celtics 96-78 on Wednesday night.

Toronto increased its lead over second-place Boston to three games. Both teams have four games remaining.

Kyle Lowry scored 13 points for the Raptors, who earned a split in the season series with the Celtics and clinched the tiebreaker over Boston, based on each team’s record in conference play. Toronto is 37-11 against the East, while Boston is 31-17.

With its 56th win of the season, Toronto matched the franchise record set in 2015-16.

Delon Wright had eight points, eight assists and nine rebounds for the Raptors, who entered having lost five of their previous eight, including the past two. Toronto lost at Boston on Saturday and again at Cleveland on Tuesday.

Marcus Morris scored 21 points, Greg Monroe had 17 and Al Horford 16 for Boston, who were held to their lowest point total of the season. The Celtics scored 80 in a Jan. 18 loss to Philadelphia.

The Celtics shot 3 for 22 from 3-point range, their fewest made 3-pointers of the season. Boston’s previous low was six, set twice.

The Celtics lost Tuesday in Milwaukee and have dropped consecutive games after winning six in a row.

Terry Rozier started for Boston after sitting out Tuesday because of a sprained left ankle. He scored two points in 28 minutes and shot 1 of 9.

Jaylen Brown and Monroe each scored five points in the first as Boston led 20-14 after one. Toronto made six of 23 attempts in the opening quarter, going 2 of 11 from 3-point range, and didn’t score over the final 3:29 in its lowest-scoring first quarter of the season.

Boston made nine turnovers in the second, leading to 17 points for Toronto, as the Raptors rallied behind six points from Wright to lead 43-33 at halftime. The Celtics had more turnovers in the first half (14) than made baskets (13).

After making eight of 19 field goal attempts in the first quarter, Boston shot 5 for 18 in the second and 5 for 19 in the third. DeRozan scored eight points in the third as Toronto took a 67-53 lead into the fourth.