The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tatum, Smart lift Boston (2-0) past Toronto
Reigning NBA champion Raptors look to be in serious trouble for making a repeat.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. — Jayson Tatum scored 34 points, Marcus Smart made five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and the Boston Celtics beat the Toronto Raptors 102-99 in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Tuesday night, putting the reigning NBA champions in serious trouble.
Smart scored 19 points, Kemba Walker had 17 and Jaylen Brown scored 16 for the Celtics, who now hold a 2-0 series lead. The Celtics are 3-0 against Toronto in the NBA’s restart bubble at Walt Disney World, and 5-1 against the Raptors this season.
OG Anunoby had 20 points for Toronto, which got 19 from Fred VanVleet — who missed a 28-footer as time expired. Serge Ibaka and Pascal Siakam scored 17 points apiece and Kyle Lowry added 16 for Toronto.
Smart made three 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions in a 73-second span early in the fourth, then added another trey about a minute later — and a fourpoint play a minute after that, putting Boston up 86-85 with 7:55 left.
It was part of a 29-9 run by Boston, with the Celtics going up 95-87 with 4:18 left.
The Raptors finally seemed they had matters figured out late in the third quarter, taking a 12-point lead — the momentum seeming like it had swung on an overturned call that, correctly, went Toronto’s way. A layup by VanVleet, followed by a free throw from Siakam after officials reversed a call that he fouled Smart, gave Toronto a 78-66 lead with 2:46 left in the third.
The Raptors scored only nine points in the next 10:39. But just when things looked like they had gone totally awry, Toronto scored five straight to make it a 95-92 game with 3:35 left, and the Raptors got within one on a pair of free throws by Lowry with 1:01 remaining.
But Walker hit a stepback on the next Boston possession, and the Celtics held on from there.
THUNDER 104, ROCKETS 100
Chris Paul gave the Oklahoma City Thunder at least one more game in the bubble, scoring 15 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter for a 104-100 victory over the Houston Rockets late Monday night in Game 6 of a Western Conference first-round series.
Paul made two free throws with 13.1 seconds left and the game tied at 100, and Danilo Gallinari added two more after a turnover by Russell Westbrook to finish it off.
Game 7 will be tonight, with the winner advancing to face the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers. Gallinari had 25 points. James Harden had 32 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Rockets, while Robert Covington had 18 points and Westbrook scored 17 in his second game back from a right quadriceps strain.
HEAT 115, BUCKS 104
Jimmy Butler scored a playoff career-high 40 points, Goran Dragic added 27 and Miami clamped down defensively in the final three quarters to beat Milwaukee in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series late Monday night.
Bam Adebayo had 12 points, 17 rebounds and six assists for the fifth-seeded Heat, who are 3-1 overall against the top-seeded Bucks this season. Tyler Herro added 11 points for Miami, which improved to 5-0 in the postseason.
Khris Middleton scored 28 points for Milwaukee, which also dropped Game 1 of its first-round series against Orlando. Brook Lopez had 24 points on 8-for-10 shooting, and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 18 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Bucks.
But Antetokounmpo’s night will likely be best remembered by what he did at the foul line: The reigning MVP went 4 for 12 from the stripe, the worst performance by anyone with at least 12 free-throw attempts in a playoff game since Andre Roberson went 2 for 12 for Oklahoma City on April 23, 2017, against Houston.
Kyle Korver added 11 for the Bucks, who scored 40 points in the first quarter and managed 64 the rest of the way.