Everything you need to know about the Celtics' 111-89 win over the Raptors with BSJ insight and analysis:
Box Score
HEADLINES
Celtics take command of series with dominant defensive effort: Boston held the Raptors to their lowest scoring half of the season (35 points), helping the Celtics open a 27-point lead in the first half that the C’s never looked back from on their way to a dominant Game 5 win. The Raptors starting five was held to just 45 combined points in the ugly shooting effort, as the C’s locked down on the defensive end by limiting Toronto to just 20 percent shooting in the first quarter — a slow start the Raptors were unable to recover from.
Jaylen Brown led the way on the offensive end for the C’s, scoring a game-high 27 points to lead six different Celtics in double figures, including all five Boston starters. Kemba Walker chipped in with 21 points and 7 assists while Brad Wanamaker added a playoff career-high 15 points off the bench. Fred VanVleet had a team-high 18 points for the Raptors as Toronto managed to shoot an ugly 38 percent from the field and 30 percent from 3-point range. The Celtics now hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Celtics starting five carry the offensive load: After struggling as a unit (88 points per 100 possessions) over much of the first four games of the series, Boston’s starting five bounced back in a big way on Monday night. The group collectively scored 93 of Boston’s 111 points on the evening while shooting a superb 57 percent from the field. Brown, Tatum and Walker did the heavy lifting with their offense but secondary scorers like Marcus Smart (12 points, 6 assists) and Daniel Theis (15 points, 5/5 FG) really helped turn the game into a blowout early by taking advantage of their open looks against a pesky Raptors defense. Boston doubled up the Raptors starting five (93-45) in the scoring column and that ensured there would be no comeback once Boston got up by double digits early in this one.
TURNING POINT
The Celtics starting five has really struggled to score the ball in this series, but they finally managed to break through midway through the first quarter, breaking open a rock fight in the opening few minutes with a 18-5 run to push their lead into double digits. They never looked back from there.
TWO UP:
Jayson Tatum in the first half: Before picking up his third foul on a tough call on a loose ball, Tatum led the Celtics in points (12), rebounds (7) and assists (3) over his 17 minutes of action. His commitment to all facets of the game helped the C’s turn the game into a blowout early.
Jaylen Brown: The swingman wasted no time bouncing back from a rough Game 4, scoring a game-high 16 points in the first half on 6-of-11 shooting from the field on his way to 27 points. He shot over 50 percent from the field (10/18 FG) and knocked down three 3s after his nightmare performance on Saturday.
TWO DOWN:
Raptors in the first quarter: The Raptors set a new franchise record for fewest points in a quarter during the postseason with just 11 points in the opening frame on just 20 percent shooting from the field. It’s their second lowest scoring quarter of the entire season.
Raptors 3-point shooting: The Raptors knocked down just 30 percent of their 3s, with most of those makes coming during garbage time in the second half. They’ve now shot below average from 3-point range in four of the five games in this series.
TOP PLAY
Semi Ojeleye’s reaction to Jaylen Brown’s dunk is tremendous pic.twitter.com/cwTZENcjM3
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) September 7, 2020
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Celtics looked like a different defensive team compared to Game 4: It was a night-and-day performance from the Celtics on the defensive end during Game 5, especially when compared to Saturday. From the opening tip, the C’s were locked in on their defensive assignments, closed out well at the 3-point line and ensured they wouldn’t be out-hustled for loose balls or miss box-out assignments. This was more reflective of the effort we’ve seen from the Celtics all year, but there was also a subtle tweak that paid dividends for Brad Stevens. His decision to put Marcus Smart on Kyle Lowry helped serve a couple of important purposes during the win. It not only put Boston’s best defender on the best offensive player the Raptors have had in the last two games, but it also freed up Tatum to play more of a helper role off the ball while guarding OG Anunoby. The decision helped Tatum provide valuable support in the paint and allowed him to roam like a free safety at times to take away passing lanes from Toronto. For a team that struggled to create in the half court, it made life a lot tougher for Toronto to produce good looks, turning this game in to a blowout quickly.
Daniel Theis delivers his best performance of the postseason at the perfect time: The German big man has struggled with his consistency this postseason on the offensive end, but he has the speed edge against Marc Gasol in this center matchup. We saw him take advantage of that during Game 5 more than at any point of this series. He efficiently tallied his 15 points on Monday, hitting all of his shots while getting to the free throw line seven times. The Celtics need that kind of secondary scoring from him with the Raptors elite defenders at the wing and Theis didn’t look hesitant with his finishing in this one either. His defensive versatility has been on display all series, but the scoring punch was exactly what the starting five needed to break out of its offensive funk together. Meanwhile, Marc Gasol went scoreless with zero points, giving the C’s a huge advantage in the center category that turned this game into a blowout midway through the first half.