Raptors stun Celtics
Buzzer-beater gives Toronto life in series
There were five-tenths of a second on the clock, and 7-foot-5 Tacko Fall with his eight-foot wingspan was guarding 6-foot-2 Kyle Lowry on the inbounds pass.
And yet the Toronto guard, who willed himself to 31 points Thursday night, mostly in the paint, looped a crosscourt pass to an open OG Anunoby in the opposite corner anyway, with just enough time for the Raptors forward to bury a walk-off 3-pointer for the win.
RAPTORS 104 CELTICS 103
The Celtics had good reason to be a little stunned after last night’s 104-103 loss to Toronto. Not only had they finally found a lategame use for Fall, they had apparently wrapped this one up when Daniel Theis dunked off a Kemba Walker no-look pass with the aforementioned five-tenths of a second left.
“They’re a good team, they’re the defending champs,” said Jaylen Brown. “We knew they wasn’t going to go down without a fight so we gotta be ready to throw the next punch. That’s it. They responded, they made a remarkable play at the end of the game. The fight continues. Get ready for Game 4.”
Toronto, which had shot 26% from 3-point range over the first two games, suddenly looks very much alive by cutting the Celtics’ lead in this second round playoff series to 2-1.
Though the Raptors were, for the most part, cold once again from deep, shooting their average for the series at 26% over the first three quarters, they found that elusive range in the fourth. Fred VanVleet, on the way to 25 points, hit a pair of murderous treys as part of a 5-for-9 downtown effort by the Raptors in the fourth.
The Celtics struggled all night against Toronto’s shifting coverages, as evidenced by Jayson Tatum’s 5-for-18 night from the floor, and still came within Anunoby’s touch-and-shoot jumper of winning their seventh straight playoff game.
Brown, part of the coverage responsible for the Raptors forward, pointed a finger at himself.
“It was just a miscommunication. That’s really all what happened,” he said. “At the end of the day, we’ve just gotta be better as a unit. Regardless of what we were in, we know we had to guard the 3-point line. So that was just a (bleeping) disgrace at the end of the game. That was just terrible. No way we should have lost that game.
“I take responsibility for that. Not just that play but a lot of the plays before. And it happens. This is the NBA playoffs. Either you let them gain momentum or you come back and be ready to play next game.”
At least the Celtics have a few things to work on between now and Game 4 Saturday night.
Zone deaf
With Miami another example, the Celtics often fall horribly out of rhythm against zone coverage. And Toronto is one of the best there is at mixing coverages and slowing down a strong offensive group like the Celtics.
The Celtics had some success fighting the zone with the use of Enes Kanter, but overall they were moving in cement.
“They’re switching up defenses obviously,” said coach Brad Stevens. “They have long, athletic guys that can do it, they have smart guys. The way they play man they’re used to rotating and scrambling and all that stuff, so I thought we attacked it better as the game went on. But they mixed it up. They had some triangle, they played some zone, they’ve got the guard in the middle of the zone, they played obviously a lot of man, mixed up their matchups. It’s one of those games, like the previous two, where you have to be ready to attack different things at different times.
Unbalanced scoring
Walker scored 29 points, but this time didn’t benefit from any balance: Tatum, doubled at every turn, simply had to work too hard, scoring 15 points on 5-for-18 shooting, and matching his lowest scoring output of the playoffs.
“I’ve got to find my spots. A lot of times they’re blitzing, diving, collapsing, so finding open guys. I missed a lot of shots I feel like I should have made,” he said. “That’s on me. But again, it’s just one game. Be ready next game.
“For me it’s as simple as can’t change what happened. It happened. Gotta move on. So that’s what we’re going to do. Gonna move on. Try to get the next one.”
Royal treatment
Toronto, and especially Lowry, received the red carpet treatment in the paint: Though paint scoring was fairly balanced, with the Celtics holding a slight 5048 edge in that category, Lowry continually beat them downhill. And they were at their defensive worst at the start of the third quarter, when Pascal Siakam (twice), Lowry and VanVleet scored Toronto’s first eight points of the quarter at the rim.
“I thought we started the third quarter really low,” said Stevens. “I just didn’t think we played well. We gave up four layups right out of the gate.”