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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida – Boston and the Los Angeles Clippers struck first.
Toronto and Denver came back with strong rebuttals.
So with that, the leaders in a tough pair of conference semifinal series will be a reward for the winners on Monday night. Boston and Toronto will play Game Five of their Eastern Conference series to open the doubleheader, followed by Game Three of the Western Conference showdown between the Clippers and Nuggets.
The Raptors lost Games One and Two to the Celtics before winning Games Three and Four. The Nuggets were defeated in Game One, then never lost in Game Two to the Clippers.
“It looks like we’re playing a little bit better,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “I think really, as a team and certainly people are starting to get back to who we know they are, who they can be.”
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The Raptors needed a 3-pointer from OG Anunoby to win Game 3 and avoid a 3-0 series deficit, then clinched a Game 4 win. But Celtics coach Brad Stevens isn’t concerned about his team’s ability to bounce back after back-to-back losses.
“We have a lot of tough, competitive guys there,” Stevens said. “We will play better.”
CELTICS VS. RAPTORS
Series tied 2-2
I NEED TO KNOW
Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam played the entire second half of Game 4 for Toronto, and Lowry has been on the floor for about 90 of the final 96 minutes of the series. The Celtics haven’t lost three games in a row since mid-January, but the Raptors, who were 1-5 against Boston this season before Games 3 and 4, seem to have discovered something.
KEEP MONITORING
Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart. They were 6 of 26 shots from the field in Game 4, 3 of 17 from 3-point range. The Celtics have to believe that they will both be better on Monday.
INJURY CLOCK
Gordon Hayward (ankle) is in quarantine, a mandatory step when someone comes out of the bubble, preparing to return to the Celtics, but Boston is not yet expecting him to play in this series.
THE PRESSURE IS ON
Still in Toronto. The reigning champions have won two in a row to tie the series, but a loss in the fifth game would put them back on the ropes. Taking a third game in a row would put them one game away from a trip back to the conference finals, and Boston would be behind in a series for the first time this postseason.
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