Everything you need to know about the Raptors 100-93 win over the Celtics with BSJ insight and analysis
Box Score
HEADLINES
Raptors use third quarter breakout to grind their way to win: Pascal Siakam snapped out of his offensive funk with 23 points while Kyle Lowry added 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Raptors grinned their way to their second straight win over the Celtics with a 100-93 win on Saturday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The series is now tied at 2-2 largely thanks to an atrocious 3-point shooting night for the Celtics from the perimeter, as Boston knocked down a season-low seven 3-point shots while hitting a season-low 20 percent of their attempts from the field. That enabled the Raptors to overcome 39.5 percent shooting and claw their way to the win despite scoring just 20 points in the fourth quarter.
Jayson Tatum had a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds but also committed a game-high five turnovers including a crucial offensive foul in the final minute that ruined the C’s best chance of cutting the Raptors lead under three points. Kemba Walker added 15 points and 8 assists but the C’s got little offensive production elsewhere. Jaylen Brown struggled through his worst shooting night of the postseason (14 points on 18 shots) while no other Celtics scored in double figures.
Raptors dominate second-chance points and the effort game: All of the talk after an ugly Game 3 loss in Boston was about how the Celtics were eager for a chance at redemption after letting a win slip away in the closing seconds. However, Toronto looked like the hungrier team all need in this one, beating Boston to loose balls and rebounds for much of the night. The Raptors are subpar offensive rebounders as a team (24th in NBA) but they doubled the C’s up in the second-chance points (24-12) in this contest, taking advantage of all eight of their offensive rebounds. A lot of those second chances simply came as the C’s failed to box out, opening up the door for easy points for a Toronto team that was struggling on halfcourt offense all night. This type of effort on the glass was more indicative of a random game in January rather than a crucial Game 4 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
TURNING POINT
For the third straight game, the Raptors soundly outplayed the Celtics in the third quarter, breaking open a tight in Game 4 with a 12-3 run early in the frame against the C’s starting five in what was a one-point game. Toronto led for the rest of the night after this outburst as the Celtics failed to trim the deficit below four points for the final 18 minutes against a gritty Raptors defense.
TWO UP
Robert Williams: The big man continues to give the Celtics productive minutes, although they were a bit too limited in Game 4. He scored six points and had a team-high four rebounds in 13 minutes but only managed to play two more minutes in the second half as Stevens opted to focus on perimeter defense with Serge Ibaka hot from 3-point range.
Semi Ojeleye: Some surprise offense from the reserve guard in the second quarter as he scored all seven of his minutes over 62 seconds to help Boston rally an early deficit and tie the game at halftime.
TWO DOWN
Jaylen Brown: No rhythm early on with his jump shot as he missed seven of his first eight shots overall, including all four from 3-point range. He tied the Celtics with a team-high 18 field goal attempts but knocked down just four in his worst shooting outing of the postseason. He also went an ugly 2-of-11 from 3-point range.
3-point shooting: The Celtics had their worst shooting night as a team all season, hitting just 20 percent of their 3s while knocking down a season-low seven 3s in a game.
TOP PLAY
smooth to the basket pic.twitter.com/3xgFgRrVhP
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 6, 2020
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Nine shots for Kemba Walker is unacceptable: The All-Star point guard has been a nightmare to defend for the Raptors in this series, yet the ball constantly found Brown instead of him in the fourth quarter with the shot clock winding down. Walker attempted just one shot in the fourth quarter while Brown attempted nine in the midst of a miserable shooting night. That division of labor isn’t acceptable on a normal shooting night for the C’s wing, much less in the midst of his worst shooting performance of the postseason. Toronto is a gritty defensive team so there is a good reason they are trying to make things tough on Walker and keep him from getting opportunities. However, Brad Stevens and Walker have to get more creative in finding ways to get him shots at this point of the game. Brown doesn’t have a mismatch offensively in this series so he should not be the guy trying to create in late clock situations against Siakam or Anunoby. Good things have been happening all series long with Walker in the pick-and-roll and in a crucial playoff game we didn’t see him in enough spots to punish the Raptors defense, which left the rest of the C’s offense looking punchless outside of Jayson Tatum.
Celtics tried to do it themselves too much in this one: While Walker lacked enough aggression in this one, the same can’t be said for the rest of the C’s stars. The C’s mustered 18 points in the fourth quarter as they played panicked in the face of a consistent deficit. With the 3-point shot not following, Tatum, Smart and Brown tried to do it themselves on multiple occasions and the results were ugly. Tatum had a series-high five turnovers, Brown missed 14 shots while Marcus Smart couldn’t hit a shot (2-of-9) and coughed up five turnovers. The Raptors defense drew four charges in the win and those are the types of miscues the C’s have managed to avoid in this series before tonight. Instead, they are falling into the traps that Toronto is setting on the defensive end, with a mix of zone looks and box-and-1 coverages throwing the Celtics out of whack. Stevens has to find an appropriate counter to these varied coverages in Game 5, otherwise the Celtics trying to improvise good offense without Gordon Hayward available is turning ugly.