Everything you need to know about the Raptors' 104-103 victory over the Celtics with BSJ insight and analysis
HEADLINES
Raptors steal win on a buzzer-beater: OG Anunoby hit a buzzer-beating 3 as time expired, giving the Raptors a 104-103 win over the Celtics in a pivotal Game 3. The Celtics looked to be on the verge of taking a 3-0 series lead after Kemba Walker (29 points) dished off a terrific pass to Daniel Theis for a go-ahead dunk with 0.5 seconds remaining. That half-second of time was just enough for Nick Nurse to draw up a gem however after a timeout, with Jaylen Brown losing Anunoby in the corner long enough for him to make the go-ahead basket.
Brown had been terrific up to that point on defense all night with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks but it was a key mistake with the game on the line. Kyle Lowry had a game-high 31 points for the Raptors in the win to go along with 8 assists (including the game-winning pass) while Fred VanVleet snapped out of his shooting slump with 25 points, including 17 in the second half.
The Celtics now lead the series 2-1 with a big Game 4 looming on Saturday night.
Celtics waste a gem from Kemba Walker: The Celtics have been passing the baton all series long with terrific offensive performances among their stars and it was Kemba Walker’s turn again in Game 3. He was the best player on the floor all night for Boston, scoring 29 points on 9-of-15 shooting while getting to the free-throw line seven times. He also grabbed game-high three steals and dished off what would have been a game-winning basket to Daniel Theis on a pretty no-look dish after attracting three defenders. Brown chipped in with 19 points as well but Walker had to carry the offense for much of the night as Jayson Tatum (5-of-18) and Marcus Smart (4-of-15) struggled through tough shooting nights. It wasn’t enough to top a Toronto offense that managed to come alive in the second half as the starting five combined to score 94 points on the night.
TURNING POINT
TWO UP
Kemba Walker in the first half: The All-Star point guard played his best half of the postseason against Toronto, scoring 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, while knocking down all six of his free throw attempts. His 21 points in a half were more than any Raptor had scored in the first two games of the series, before finishing the night with 29.
Jaylen Brown: The swingman snapped out of a shooting slump in the first half to knock down five of his first eight shots, with all the makes coming inside the arc. More importantly, he provided a dominant presence on the defensive end, piling up a postseason career-high with 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in the first half alone. He ended up setting a new career-high with 12 defensive rebounds and four blocks giving him first double-double of the postseason.
TWO DOWN
Jayson Tatum in the second half: Just five points for him on 1-of-6 shooting as he struggled in isolation at times against OG Anunoby.
Brad Stevens: The Raptors got some offensive momentum in the third quarter when Enes Kanter came into the game, which opened the door to some open looks from 3-point range for Fred VanVleet. Kanter only played for four minutes but there’s no question the sequence helped Lowry/VanVleet found their rhythm in the second half (33 combined points).
TOP PLAY
TIME LORD ON ATTACK ??? pic.twitter.com/Vjk0gHrbrZ
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 4, 2020
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Enes Kanter shouldn’t see the floor again in this series: The Celtics came out flat in the beginning of the second half against a Raptors matchup zone, blowing much of a 10-point halftime advantage right away. However, one of the solutions to this problem was not bringing in Kanter, Boston’s biggest defensive liability at center. He only saw four minutes in this game but the Raptors scored with ease on the majority of his defensive possessions in which he was attacked in the pick-and-roll. With Rob and Grant Williams playing so well in their smaller roles at center and power forward, it felt like this was an unneeded adjustment from Stevens at a critical portion of the game. Kanter could be of use later in this postseason but one of the Williamses should be manning the middle anytime that Daniel Theis needs to rest. For the offensive upside it provides, it’s clear that it’s outweighed by the limited resistance he provides on the defensive end. With the Raptors struggling to score all series long, the Celtics need to ensure they have personnel on the floor to keep it that way.
Game 4 will tell us a lot about this group after that. Heartbreaker: The Celtics had their ticket punched to the Eastern Conference Finals for a couple of minutes after the Theis dunk and that has to be a punch to the gut for these guys after the way things ended on Thursday night. The Celtics let one slip away against a team that has been known for its resiliency in the postseason before and that’s troublesome from a pressure standpoint heading into Game 4. There is nothing that says the Celtics shouldn’t bounce back from this one but it’s also fair to note that the Raptors have struggled from some bad shooting luck in the first two games of this series before finally getting their stars going in the second half of Game 3. That momentum has been tough to sustain at any point in this series for Toronto but now they have finally put the Celtics back on their heels for the first time in this series. Will the Celtics take command once again in Game 4? Or will this turn into the back-and-forth battle we anticipated from the start? A strong performance on Saturday night will be a key indicator of what type of run this team is capable of for the rest of this postseason.