Celtics defense big in Game 5 victory
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — T h e g a m e p l a n f r o m Boston coach Brad Stevens was simple: Start things off with an increased effort on defense to set an immediate tone.
The Celtics did exactly as he asked — and put the reigning NBA champions on the ropes.
Jaylen Brown scored 27 points and the Celtics never trailed, rolling past the Toronto Raptors, 111- 89, in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Monday night.
Boston now leads the series 3- 2 and can earn a trip to the East Finals on Wednesday.
“We were playing with great purpose,” Stevens said. “You could feel that from the get- go.”
Kemba Walker scored 21 for the Celtics, whose starters outscored Toronto’s starters by a whopping 9345. Jayson Tatum scored 18, Daniel Theis and former Pitt standout Brad Wanamaker each had 15 and Marcus Smart added 12 for Boston.
“The job’s not finished yet,” Brown said. “We’ve still got a lot of work that needs to be done.”
Fred VanVleet scored 18 for Toronto, which trailed by as many as 30. Norman Powell scored 16 for the Raptors, while Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry managed 10 points apiece. Matt Thomas also had 10.
Here’s what Toronto got out of its first 18 possessions: five points on 2- for- 15 shooting, a stretch that included everything from missed open layups to airballed contested jumpers, along with five turnovers in the game’s first 8: 53.
“I know it sounds crazy, but I thought our offense was awesome for like the first eight minutes,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “I thought it was awesome. I don’t think those shots could have been more open.”
They were down 18- 5 after all that, and it got worse in a hurry.
Another big scoring run — this time, 23- 7 — in the second quarter pushed Boston’s lead from 37- 25 to 60- 32. The Raptors had gone 5 for 6 from the field just before that spurt and seemed to be getting in a rhythm; they missed 11 of their next 13 shots and things got out of hand. Tonight our defense really set up our offense,” Walker said.
Toronto outscored Boston 28- 25 in the third and it already didn’t matter; the Celtics’ lead was 87- 63 going into the fourth. “We just didn’t play crisp enough,” Lowry said.
“We didn’t look at the rim early enough in the shot clock to attack. But it happens. Now we got to watch the film and make adjustments and play for our lives.”
Boston is only 17- 21 since 2008 when it has a chance to clinch a series.
Other game
Clippers 113, Nuggets 107: Paul George scored 32 points, Kawhi Leonard added 23 along with a big late block and the dynamic duo helped the Los Angeles Clippers rally in the fourth quarter for a win against the Denver Nuggets in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal series. Leonard did a little bit of everything as he grabbed 14 rebounds and dished out six assists. He also had two blocks, including one late on a shot by Jamal Murray at the rim. George turned in a torrid shooting night. He finished 12 of 18 from the floor, including five 3- pointers. Los Angeles takes a 2- 1 lead in the best- of- seven series.