The Celtics held the Raptors to their lowest-scoring half of the season (35 points), helping the Celtics to open a 27-point lead in the first half that they never looked back from on their way to a dominant 111-89 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 starting figures, including all five Boston starters. Kemba Walker chipped in with 21 points and 7 assists while Brad Wanamaker added a playoff career-high with 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.
TURNING POINT
The Celtics starting five has really struggled to score the ball in this series but they finally managed to breakthrough midway through the fourth quarter, breaking open a rock fight in the opening few minutes with a 16-4 run to push their lead into double digits. They never looked back from there.
TWO UP
Jayson Tatum: 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.
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. He also limited to Pascal Siakam to 4 points in 22 minutes.
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 period on just 20 percent shooting from the field. It’s their second lowest scoring quarter of the entire season.
Fred VanVleet: The starting guard continued his shooting woes for an entire starting five that was completely out of sync early. He missed six of his first seven shots, including all three from 3-point range.
TOP PLAY
Semi Ojeleye’s reaction to Jaylen Brown’s dunk is tremendous pic.twitter.com/cwTZENcjM3
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) September 7, 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
- The team that wins Game 5 in a 2-2 series goes on to win the series 82 percent of the time.
- Marcus Smart is just 3-of-15 from 3-point range over the last two games. Jaylen Brown is 8-of-30 from deep during the series.
- Pregame column: Celtics need Brad Stevens to meet challenge in crucial Game 5 vs. Raptors
- A look at potential adjustments for the Celtics offense: NBA Notebook: Three ways for the Celtics offense to get on track against Raptors