rough night
Cold shooting from Game 1 makes a return
Ugly Game 5 loss to the Celtics has raptors down 3- 2 in their Round 2 playoff series.
Aseries which took a decided abrupt turn in Toronto’s favour after a tough start did another 180 in Game 5.
The Raptors came in looking like the team that had turned a corner having come back from a 2- 0 deficit to even the series.
But Game 5 looked much more like Game 1 for the NBA defending champs and that was definitely not a good thing.
Whether it was simply fatigue from the extensive minutes the Raptors key players piled up getting the series back to even or the Boston Celtics finally finding that extra gear after two games in which they questioned their own desire, this was a dreadfully onesided game — all of it in Boston’s favour.
The 111- 89 final actually disguised just how one-sided this game was for most of the night.
Defensively the Raptors stayed in this one for a little over a quarter but offensively they just never seemed to get right.
Toronto scored just 11 points in the first quarter as the Celtics seemed to blow up everything they tried. When the Celtics were blowing it up, the Raptors were simply blowing open looks or botching layups as the Celtic lead continued to grow.
By halftime that deficit was 32 and challenging even the most optimistic fan to even stay with this.
After hitting 17 three- pointers in Game 4 to steal momentum in the series, the cold shooting from Game 1 returned with Toronto managing just four of their 18 attempts in that first half.
For the Celtics, the biggest rebound games came from the duo of Jaylen Brown and centre Daniel Theis.
Brown, who had a woeful Game 4 going just 4- for18 including 2- of- 11 from three, found his mojo in Game 5 starting off with a three- pointer to open the scoring and coasting to a team best 27-point night.
Theis was a monster from the opening tip defensively in this one, guarding the rim, getting out on the perimeter and guarding smalls and generally doing whatever was needed of him to help the Celtics turn this series back in Boston’s favour.
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse was rather upset with the whistle all night long. The Celtics, like they did in Game 1, owned a sizable advantage in trips to the freethrow line, getting there 23 times to the 10 times Toronto did.
If there was one benefit to the early blowout it was that Kyle Lowry, who played over 90 minutes the past two games combined, finally got a bit of a rest coming out after 34 minutes.
Lowry, who has been the catalyst both of the past two wins and the best player on the floor by far in both, could not sustain those levels for a third-straight game.
He was held to just 10 points on 3- of- 8 shooting and while he had five assists, the Lowry of the past two games was a distant memory.
Prior to the game Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said that what had his attention coming into the game was how the his team would begin defensively both to start the game and the second half.
“I think the biggest thing is we have to defend better at the start of the first and third quarters,” he said in response to a question about the offensive looks his team was getting. “That’s something we’re paying close attention to for sure.”
Stevens certainly had to like what he saw to start the game as the Celtics built a wall around the basket and rejected every advance by a Raptors player.
The Raps did wind up winning the third quarter by a full three points, but with the deficit as big as it was coming out of the half, the three-point edge barely put a dent in Boston’s lead.
It all means the Raptors will be facing elimination in Game 6 on Wednesday when the two teams clash again.
The wild momentum swings in this series suggest nothing will be taken for granted but rest assured if the Raptors get outhustled the way they were in Game 5, the championship reign will come to an end.