Marcus Smart scored 16 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and Jayson Tatum posted a playoff career-high of 34 points, helping the Celtics rally from a 12-point second half deficit and for a 102-99 win.
The Celtics went on a 29-9 run in the fourth quarter to erase a deficit largely behind Smart’s 3-point shooting. Smart knocked down five 3s in the frame, all coming within a five-minute span. Tatum and Smart did the heavy lifting early but it was Kemba Walker (11 fourth quarter points) who came up big in crunch time with a pair of jumpers in the final 2:30 to give the Celtics the cushion they needed to hold on to the win.
OG Anunoby had a team-high 20 points for how Raptors, leading five different players in double figures for Toronto. The Celtics now lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 with Game 3 looming on Thursday night.
Celtics defense stands strong late: The Raptors played with a lot more energy in this game right out of the gate (28 first quarter points) but they were not able to score with the game on the line. Boston held Toronto to just 23.8 percent shooting in the fourth quarter and 1-of-11 from 3-point range in the final frame, allowing the Celtics to outscore them by double digits (32-21) in the fourth quarter. No one on the Raptors roster made more than one field goal in the quarter as the starting five combined to go 3-of-16 from the field against a gritty Celtics defense that featured some big surprise minutes from Grant Williams at power forward. With Toronto’s long range shots not falling in this series, they haven’t shown the ability to create enough in the lane.
TWO UP
Rob Williams: The backup center tied his postseason career-high with 10 points in just six minutes of action in the first quarter. He’s now shooting 80.4 percent from the field in the bubble.
Jayson Tatum: After a slow start in Game 1, Tatum has been getting to his spots early in this one on the offensive end. He opened the game with 16 points on 5-of-9 FG, to go along with a team-high 5 rebounds
TWO DOWN
Kemba Walker: The All-Star was dominant in Game 1 but was unable to get into a rhythm in the first half of Game 2, missing his first eight shots from the field including five from 3-point range. He didn’t manage to get on the board until he made two free throws later in the second quarter.
Turnovers: The Celtics backcourt was sloppy with their passes and ball handling early on in this one, with Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown combining for five of the team’s 10 turnovers in the first half. Those miscues allowed the Raps to score 9 fast break points, more than they scored in Game 1 alone.
INJURY REPORT
Rob Williams fell hard on his back/tailbone after a putback dunk in the second quarter. He received some treatment in the locker room but returned to the game. Marcus Smart suffered a hip injury after a moving screen from Marc Gasol. He played 17 minutes in the first half but did not close the first half like usual.
TOP PLAY
that stepback was a thing of beauty pic.twitter.com/xGXT8OSZ7n
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 1, 2020
PG: Kemba Walker
SG: Marcus Smart
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Jaylen Brown
C: Daniel Theis
G: Fred Van Vleet
PF: OG Anunoby
C: Marc Gasol
