Friday, Sep 11, 2020 9:26 AM
SUMMARY
Celtics 92 – Raptors 87
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The Toronto Raptors season is over and the NBA champions have had to drop their flag in large part due to turnovers.
Jayson Tatum had 29 points, Jaylen Brown added 21 and the Boston Celtics beat the Raptors 92-87 on Friday to win the series 4-3.
The Celtics will now face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference final. Meanwhile, the Raptors will enter the offseason with some uncertainty.
Fred VanVleet had 20 points, Kyle Lowry had 16 and Serge Ibaka finished the game with 14 points for the Torontonians.
It was another tough offensive performance for Pascal Siakam, who led the Raptors in points this season before the NBA ceased to operate on March 11. He scored just 13 points and 11 rebounds in the ultimate game loss.
The Raptors played like the ball was coated in butter, committing no less than 18 turnovers. Those turnovers led to 31 points for the Celtics.
The Boston squad have been number one for the Raptors all season, winning three of four matches before the start of this series.
In the seventh game, there were 11 lead changes and the Celtics led just 72-71 at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Celtics started the final period with a seven-point surge capped by a turnaround from Siakam. They were leading by eight points following a dunk by Brown.
A long three-point basket from VanVleet and a tap from Siakam brought the Raptors just four points closer, but turnovers were once again expensive. Two free throws from Tatum extended the Celtics’ lead to 10 points with 4:51 remaining.
Nick Nurse’s men did not give up and closed the gap to four points following a lowry stride shot.
Grant Williams was fortunate enough to put the Celtics back to a two-possession lead, but he missed both of his free throws. Tatum recovered the ball on the fly, however, forcing a foul against him. He made one of his two free throws.
VanVleet had the opportunity to level the score, but his three-point shot with 12 seconds left did not hit the basket. This streak sounded the death knell for the Raptors.
Turnovers take out the Raptors
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