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SIX CELTICS scored in double digits, led by Jaylen Brown with 27 points, as Boston dominated the Toronto Raptors 111-89 on Monday night to take a 3-2 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series for best. of seven near Orlando.
Kemba Walker added 21 points, Jayson Tatum had 18 with 10 rebounds, Brad Wanamaker and Daniel Theis each scored 15 and Marcus Smart 12 for the Celtics, who bounced back from two straight losses after losing a 2-0 lead in the Serie.
Boston will have a chance to clinch a berth in the conference finals with a victory in Game 6 on Wednesday.
Fred VanVleet had 18 points to beat the Raptors, who never led in the contest and trailed by as much as 30 points.
The Celtics fled early when the Raptors endured one of their worst playoff quarterfinals in franchise history. Boston was up 18-5 after 8 1/2 minutes when Toronto started with 2 of 14 shots from the field.
The Raptors finished the fourth shooting 4 of 20, and were down 25-11. They made one of nine shots from 3-point range.
Boston’s lead was 46-25 on a 3-pointer by Tatum with 4:55 left in the second. The lead came to 28 before halftime, and the Celtics entered the break with a 62-35 lead after Walker hit the buzzer with a float.
Brown led Boston with 16 points in the first half, Tatum added 12 and Smart and Wanamaker each had 10. Meanwhile, neither Raptors player was in double figures. Toronto shot 13 of 43 (30.2%) at the half and four of 18 from 3-point range (22.2%). The 27-point halftime deficit was tied for the highest a defending NBA champion ever faced during a playoff game, according to STATS.
The Raptors started the third with a 6-0 run, Pascal Siakam hitting a trio of short-range baskets, but the Celtics’ lead never fell below 20 in the fourth. At 4:23, Boston’s lead reached 79-49 on a jump back from Brown.
The Celtics led 87-63 after three, and the Raptors emptied their bench midway through the quarter.
For the game, the Celtics outscored the Raptors by 49.4 percent to 38.8 percent. Boston made 24 of 27 free throws, while Toronto made 11 of 13.
CLIPPERS RETAKE SERIES EDGE
Paul George scored 32 points and Kawhi Leonard added 23 as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Denver Nuggets 113-107 on Monday to take a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series near Orlando.
The Clippers lost by as much as 12 in the first half, but were able to walk away two one-place victories in the Western Conference finals. Leonard grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and added the team’s six best assists.
Nikola Jokic had 32 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, while Michael Porter Jr. added 18 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for the Nuggets. Jokic became the first player in Nuggets history with 14 career playoff games of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray, who scored 50 points twice in the first round against the Jazz, was limited to 14 points on 5 of 17 shots. However, he had nine assists, the most of the game.
The Clippers trailed 97-90 before going on an 8-0 streak over a 1:28 stretch midway through the fourth quarter to take a 98-97 lead. Los Angeles extended the run to 14-4, taking a 104-101 lead with 4:27 remaining on a jump back from Leonard.
When Lou Williams laid down with 2:04 left, the Clippers held a 109-103 lead, the biggest in the game up to that point.
The Clippers got off to a better start in Game 3, taking a 33-32 lead after a game quarter after falling behind 44-25 after the first quarter of Game 2. George scored 10 points in the first quarter Monday at four of seven shots. – Reuters
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