NBA Playoffs: Boston Celtics also steal Game 2 against Toronto Raptors

The Boston Celtics took the 2-0 series lead against the Toronto Raptors in a real crime thriller in Game 2. In the 102-99 victory, Marcus Smart really catches fire in the fourth quarter, and Jayson Tatum also sets a new career record. That is too much for the Raptors, who went into the final section with a guided tour (here are the highlights of the game).

Toronto Raptors (2) – Boston Celtics (3) 99:102 (BOXSCORE), Serie: 0-2

After three quarters, Smart had a meager 3 points and 1 out of 5 from downtown, but in the first minutes of the final section, the Guard Dreier let it rain. Five triples in a row brought the Celtics back into the game, Smart just barely missed the three-way record in a playoff quarter (6 by Antoine Walker 2002).

Smart finished the game with 19 points, but the best man on the side of the Celts was Jayson Tatum, who recorded a new playoff career high with 34 points (8/17 FG, 4/7 threes, 14/14 FT) (here goes it to its highlights). In addition, he collected 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Kemba Walker got 17 points (6/18 FG, 1/8 threesome) despite throwing problems, Jaylen Brown contributed 16 points. Daniel Theis put on 3 counters (1/5 FG), 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks (the complete block party can be found here in the video).

OG Anunoby led the Raptors with 20 points, and Serge Ibaka (17) also knew how to convince the bank. Fred VanVleet scored 19 points, but had enormous problems with his throw (8/22 FG, plus 7 assists). Similar to game 1, this also applied to his other colleagues (11/40 threesomes, 27.5 percent). Pascal Siakam (17, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, 6/16 FG) also showed light and shadow. Thus, the reigning champion is live before game 3 in the night from Thursday to Friday (from 0.30 a.m. DAZN) returned 0-2 in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Raptors coach Nick Nurse should have enjoyed the start of the game even better than anything he saw in Game 1. Siakam was aggressively looking for a finish in the opening minutes, while Toronto scored easy points in the transition and an early 9-0 run. On the part of the Celtics, Brown – and Robert Williams! The “Time Lord” benefited from some of his colleagues’ slip-throughs and even sank a midrange jumper for 10 points in the first quarter (28:28).

Raptors leave – but Boston makes the comeback

Boston had to do without the Big for much of the second quarter after he injured his back after a violent fall after a tip-in dunk. But he could continue playing. Both teams cooled down tremendously, and for almost three minutes, neither the Celtics nor the Raptors sank a field goal.

Theis ended the losing streak with a three in the middle of the run. Numerous ball losses nevertheless worried Boston, the good three-way quota in the first half (7/18 3FG) gave the Celtics a small advantage. A deep buzzer beater from Siakam made the score 50:48 for Boston.

After the break, the pace of the game slowed down extremely, both teams now increasingly went to the free-throw line. In Boston, Tatum was primarily responsible for the offense, he repeatedly worked out good throws or trips to the Charity Stripe, even against strong defense by Lowry or Siakam. However, little came together with the remaining Celts (3/17 FG and 0/8 three in the third quarter).

The Raptors role-players saw a completely different picture: Anunoby started the game with 4 of 4 from downtown and then cleverly attacked the basket (and delivered a strong defense), and Ibaka also confirmed his good game with several triples. So Toronto sat down towards the end of the third quarter with an 11-0 run for the first time. Tatum (13 of the 20 Celtics points in the third quarter) kept the gap tolerable after 36 minutes (70:78).