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OG Anunoby exhausted a three-pointer that rang the bell as the Toronto Raptors resurrected their NBA title defense Thursday with a 104-103 victory over the Boston Celtics.
Kyle Lowry, tasked with putting the ball in with half a second left and the Raptors down 103-101, threw a perfect pass over Boston’s towering Tacko Fall to Anunoby on the opposite sideline.
Anunoby stood up and fired, and the Raptors cut the deficit in the Eastern Conference semifinal series to best of seven to 2-1.
“I was hoping to achieve it. I don’t shoot trying to miss…. I was not surprised, ”said Anunoby, who was harassed by his teammates.
The Raptors avoided a 0-3 hole, from which no NBA team has returned to win a postseason series.
“The pass was nothing. OG made the shot, ”said Lowry, who led the Raptors with 31 points, six rebounds and eight assists. “All credit goes to the shot, man. That is a difficult shot. Give that credit to OG.
“The pass was just to give to a guy like OG. It’s OG time, man. That is a great moment for that child. “
Fred VanVleet scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half and Pascal Siakam scored 14 of his 16 after the break and Anunoby contributed 12 points for the Raptors, who recovered from a 57-47 deficit at halftime.
“We scrapped, we scratched and we fought,” Lowry said. “We never give up.
In a final quarter that saw seven lead changes, neither team led by more than four points, Boston looked ready to take absolute control of the series when center Daniel Theis, fed by Kemba Walker’s skillful pass through the traffic, he scored a dunk for a 103-101 lead with 0.5 seconds left.
During the timeout that followed, Boston brought in Fall, who tops out at 2.26m, to defend the play within bounds, but was unable to contain the 2019 champions.
“Much credit to those guys. It was an incredible opportunity, ”said Walker of Boston, who led the Celtics with 29 points.
Jaylen Brown added 19 with 12 rebounds and Jayson Tatum had 15, but Boston has a series on its hands now.
Game four is Saturday.
“One game at a time,” Lowry said of the Raptors’ mindset as they look to level the series in the NBA’s COVID-19 quarantine bubble in Orlando, Florida. “Great emotional moment right there (but) that’s over. Now we have to focus on the next game. “
At the end of the game, Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points as the Los Angeles Clippers got off to a great start to their Western Conference semifinal by crushing the Denver Nuggets 120-97.
Leonard made 12 of 16 shots from the ground and made all four of his free throws, while Paul George had 19 points and Marcus Morris finished with 18 for the second-seeded Clippers to lead the series 1-0.
Leonard wasted no time putting his stamp on the Nuggets series as he did in a 4-2 first-round win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Leonard shines
Coming into Thursday’s game, Leonard was averaging 32.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. This time, Leonard only had two rebounds. He didn’t have to press the issue against the Nuggets because the Clippers held a 69-51 lead at the half and a 91-67 lead at the end of the three quarters.
The Clippers managed to contain Denver star Jamal Murray, who finished with just 12 points and six assists after scoring 50 points in two games in the previous series against Utah.
Nikola Jokic had 15 points, Paul Millsap finished with 13 points and nine rebounds for Denver, who was coming off a grueling seven-game series win over the Jazz.
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