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Jayson Tatum finished with 29 points and 12 rebounds when the Boston Celtics booked their spot in the NBA Eastern Conference final with a 92-87 victory in seven games over defending league champion Toronto Raptors on Friday.
Jaylen Brown scored 21 points, Marcus Smart added 16 points and Kemba Walker 14 for the Celtics who won the series 4-3 and advanced to their third Eastern Conference final in the past four seasons.
“If you want to achieve something great, if you want to win, it won’t be easy,” Tatum said. “That’s what we’re here for.”
Boston will play the Miami Heat in game one of the best-of-seven series scheduled for Tuesday in the quarantine bubble in Orlando, Florida.
Fred VanVleet had 20 points to lead the Raptors, whose title defense came to an end after battling 2-0 and 3-2 deficits in the series.
“We don’t play very well in this series. There is no denying that. But pretty much everything else we did this season was amazing, “said Toronto coach Nick Nurse.
Kyle Lowry scored 16 points before fouling in the last minute. Pascal Siakam scored 13 points with 11 rebounds as the Raptors turned the ball over 18 times, including a half dozen times in the fourth quarter.
The Celtics’ Smart blocked Siakam late in the quarter with Boston up by just two, 89-87. Lowry fouled at the other end with 35 seconds to go.
Celtics rookie Grant Williams missed two free throw opportunities, but Tatum was fouled on the rebound and made a free throw for a 90-87 lead.
VanVleet missed a possible triple tie with 12 seconds to go by landing an air ball. Walker made two free throws at the other end to seal the victory.
In the Western Conference, Jamal Murray sparked a rebound in the fourth quarter and rookie Michael Porter made several decisive plays down the stretch as the Denver Nuggets stayed alive with a 111-105 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Nuggets increased the pressure on the Clippers in the fourth quarter to reduce Los Angeles’ lead in the semifinal series to 3-2.
Canadian Murray scored 26 points, Nikola Jokic had 22 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and Paul Millsap scored 17 points for the Nuggets, who were also down 3-1 in the previous series before coming back to win three in a row against the Nuggets. Utah Jazz.
Murray was able to untangle himself in the fifth game after being contained for much of the series by a rotating trio of Clippers defenders, including Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Patrick Beverley.
“We play better when we have our backs against the wall,” Murray said. “It’s as simple as that. We go up fighting. They got off to a good start but we had to fight back ”.
American Porter made a series of key plays late in the game, including a three-point dagger from 27 feet with 71 seconds remaining to give the Nuggets a five-point lead, 105-100.
Porter, 22, also blocked Ivica Zubac 35 seconds later and scored four free throws in the final 21 seconds.
Leonard scored a game-high 36 points and George finished with 26 for the second-seeded Clippers trying to advance to their first Western Conference final.
Leonard has scored at least 30 points in seven postseason games. He’s averaging nearly 30 points per game in the postseason, but he didn’t get much help from the Clippers’ bench in Game 5.
Murray recovered very well on Friday, making five of seven baskets from beyond the arc after shooting six of 15 from the field in the fourth game.
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