NBA Wrapup RaptORs 104, CeltiCs 103

LAKE BUENA VISTA,

FLA. » The Toronto Raptors were a half- second away from falling into the abyss that no NBA team has ever escaped. Down by two points, down by two games, the reigning champions needed a miracle.

OG Anunoby delivered. Anunoby caught a cross- court pass that

Kyle Lowry threaded over everybody else on the floor and hit a 3- pointer as time expired, giving the Raptors a win over the Boston Celtics in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Thursday night.

The Celtics still lead the series 2- 1. But it’s not 3- 0 — and that means the Raptors still have realistic hope. The Raptors mobbed Anunoby after the shot, reveling in the moment.

“Someone hit me in the nose,” Anunoby said. “It’s cool.”

The Celtics took a twopoint lead when Kemba Walker found Daniel Theis for a dunk with a half- second left.

No team in NBA history has rallied from a 3- 0 series deficit. The Raptors won’t have to try it now; Lowry elected to audible and throw the long pass — threading it over Boston’s 7- foot- 5 Tacko Fall, who was put in specifically to disrupt the inbounds play — to Anunoby.

“The pass was nothing,” Lowry said. “OG made the shot. All the credit goes to the shot, man. That’s a tough shot. Give OG that credit. The pass was just to get it to a guy like OG. It’s OG’s moment, man. That’s a great moment for that kid.”

Lowry played virtually the whole way, finishing with 31 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Fred VanVleet scored 25 points, Pascal Siakam had 16 and Anunoby 12.