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Pascal Siakam (43) of the Toronto Raptors dunks the ball during the first half of an NBA conference semifinal basketball game against the Boston Celtics on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida (Photo AP / Mark J. Terrill)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Pascal Siakam had 23 points and 11 rebounds, Kyle Lowry added 22 points and 11 rebounds and the Toronto Raptors tied the Eastern Conference semifinal in two games each, beating the Boston Celtics 100-93 on Saturday.
Two days after winning Game 3 with a triple from OG Anunoby when time expired, the Raptors didn’t need any big shots. Instead, they just put together long stretches of stops, shutting down most of Boston’s perimeter shooters and Jaylen Brown in particular.
Serge Ibaka had 18 points off the bench on 7 of 9 shooting and Fred VanVleet finished with 17 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Jayson Tatum had 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics. They won their first six postseason games before losing the last two. Kemba Walker scored 15 points and eight assists.
The Celtics were 7 of 35 (20%) from 3-point range. Brown missed his first nine attempts behind the arc and finished 2 of 11 and 4 of 18 overall. Tatum, Walker and Marcus Smart were all 1 of 6 on triples.
The Raptors managed to get their own shots off track late in the third quarter to open up the first sizable lead for either team, and Boston couldn’t hit enough shots to make a dent in that.
The Celtics were within half a second of taking a 3-0 lead, from which no NBA team has recovered, after Daniel Theis’ basket gave them a two-point lead Thursday.
But the Anunoby 3 led the defending NBA champions, who overcame a 2-0 deficit in the Eastern Conference finals, on the road to what they hope is a similar recovery.
Coach Nick Nurse assumed the Raptors would quickly refocus after the euphoria of that victory, recalling how well they played with a short break after Kawhi Leonard’s series-winning shot to beat Philadelphia in Game 7 of the second round. before falling in Game 1 at Milwaukee.
He was right, as Lowry sent them to a quick 11-4 lead with eight points. He scored 11 points in the first quarter, which ended with Toronto leading 31-27. There were five draws in the fourth, even as VanVleet’s 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds left made it 49 overall.
After some cold perimeter shots from both teams, the Raptors finally had a strong stretch late in the third, taking two 3s from VanVleet and another from Ibaka in just over a minute to open up their biggest lead at 79-68. Toronto led by eight after three.
The Celtics never got within five in the fourth quarter and when they last did so, Tatum was charged with an offensive foul with 32 seconds to go.
TIP-INS
Raptors: When Lowry retired 1:31 remaining in the first quarter, it was his first break in game action since late in the first quarter of Game 3. He re-entered that game with 1:29 remaining in the period after approximately one Hiatus. 90 seconds and played the rest of the game.
Celtics: Boston shot 44% overall. … Brown finished with 14 points and six rebounds.
HAYWARD HEALTH
Celtics coach Brad Stevens said he believed Gordon Hayward, who sprained his right ankle in Game 1 of the first round against Philadelphia, would return to campus Monday.
“But he’s not going to play anytime soon,” Stevens said.
FAMILY MATTERS
Nurse agreed with comments from Denver coach Michael Malone on Friday expressing disappointment that coaches were unable to have guests inside the bubble this week, as the players did. But he also said that he probably wouldn’t have brought his family anyway, not thinking that it would be a great place for the family, noting that there are other team personnel who couldn’t bring guests either.
“So it’s more than just the coaches that are affected,” Nurse said.
7 UP
When Lowry and Brown got into a fight with each other, it gave the PA announcer some headaches, who mistook his numbers 7. When Brown fouled Lowry in the first quarter, he announced that the foul was Lowry’s, saying ” my fault “after a moment of confusion. Lowry hacked Brown in the second and it was announced as a foul on the Celtics player.
gsg
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