- Toronto Raptors lost to Boston Celtics last night, 111-89.
- The champions are close to being eliminated, as they trail 2-3 in the series.
- They wouldn’t have the lead once throughout the entire game.
Celtics Came Out Furious
The start of the game eventually decided the same. The Celtics‘ rampage destroyed the Raptors and their morale, creating enough space between the two sides. With 3:24 left until the end of the first quarter, Toronto scored just 5 points. They would end that frame with 11, while Boston had 25.
“I think the energy level of our guys, we kinda just weren’t with it tonight, which is disappointing,” Nick Nurse explained. “They looked faster, stronger, and hungrier than we did.”
The Raptors had just four field goals made throughout the first 12 minutes of this game, with five turnovers. The interesting thing is that they had open shots in the majority of the situations, but simply the basketball wouldn’t go in.
The offense started to show signs of life in the second quarter, yet that didn’t last for too long. Meanwhile, the defensive effort was constantly terrible. Boston dropped 37 points, getting away to 62-35 at the halftime. The C’s closed the sequence with a 23-7 run, during which their rivals made just two of their 13 shots.
“We were playing with great purpose,” Brad Stevens said at the post-match conference. “You could feel that from the get-go.”
Even though many believed that the Raptors have the momentum after two straight victories and that they might repeat the series against the Bucks from the previous year, that won’t happen. Back then, Milwaukee had a 2-0 lead, but Toronto posted four straight wins to advance to the finals.
Frustration Overwhelms Raptors
At one point, Serge Ibaka and Kyle Lowry were having a small dispute. Lowry would make a technical foul, and Ibaka wasn’t happy because of it. Luckily Fred VanVleet calmed everyone down, preventing a more serious situation.
FVV explained following the game that the whole thing isn’t bad as it appeared. Still, this is something nobody wanted to see. It is a sign of weakness, hopefully, a temporary one.
Lowry didn’t have a good game, and that might is probably the cause for everything. The All-Star point guard scored 10 points, with five assists, shooting 3-for-8 from the field.
VanVleet had 18 with five assists and three steals, while Norman Powell played well of the bench with 16 buckets. Pascal Siakam added just 10 points, the same as Matt Thomas. In the end, Toronto shot 38.8% from the field, and had 10 rebounds fewer than the Celtics, 43-53.
Jaylen Brown had a team-high for Boston, 27 points and six rebounds, with 10 hits in 18 attempts. Kemba Walker scored 21, assisting seven times, and continuing to struggle with three-point shooting. Celtics’ playmaker made just one downtown basket in six tries. Meanwhile, Jason Tatum posted a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Daniel Theis had 15 with 8 boards.
Brad Wanamaker was superb off the bench delivering 15 points and three rebounds in 28 minutes.
Game 6 is this Wednesday.
