Canada Sports News

• The Toronto Raptors defeated Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the East semifinals, 100-93.
• Champions tied the series at 2-2.
• Threes were a big difference in Saturday’s contest, with the Raptors hitting 17, and the Celtics just 7.

Raptors Back on Track

The Raptors were in a similar situation against the Milwaukee Bucks last year in the conference finals, and they went on to eliminate the Bucks with 4-2. Many hoped to see the same scenario here, but they were aware that this crew lacks Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green.

Still, nobody was thinking about these two guys following the last night’s game. The champs proved to be one hell of a unit even without a superstar like the Claw.

“I think we can always get to another level. I feel like we can always do that, and obviously everyone clicking at the right time, and once we have that, we’re a pretty special team,” said Pascal Siakam.

The former Most Improved Player of the year recorded a double-double with 23 points and 11 boards, but what was more important, he was there when needed the most. Even though Siakam shot 2-for-13 from downtown, he would go down under the rim and muscle his way to the basket when Toronto needed safe points.

One other strong guy was the X-factor tonight, and that is Serge Ibaka. The Spaniard had 18 points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes, hitting threes perfectly 4-for-4. Ibaka contributed a lot off the bench, setting the tone on both ends of the floor.

The Celtics were close but managed to snap the lead just a few times around the halftime, and that was a minimal advantage. Toronto was ahead all the time, often exceeding a 10-point mark in the final 12 minutes.

Threes Made the Difference

Toronto had a worse field-goal percentage in this game, 39.5% compared to 44% of the Celtics. But what helped the Raptors win were the three-pointers. The champs had 17 in 44 attempts, while Boston made seven in 35.

Lowry and Fred VanVleet combined had two more than the entire rival team. Lowry ended with 22 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, 4-for-10 from behind the arc, and VanVleet had 17 with six boards and dimes each and five triplets.

On top of this, they played defense extremely well, and coach Nick Nurse had to say a few words about that as well. He would mention Lowry’s motivation and poise at the start of the match, which eventually gave confidence to all other players.

“When anyone comes out that aggressive, it usually gives us a boost, but he obviously is our team leader and our veteran and when he does it, it automatically gets everybody a burst of energy, focus and confidence,” Nurse said.

Among the Celtics, Jayson Tatum had 24 points and 10 boards, shooting 10-for-16, but drilling just one three in six attempts. Kemba Walker scored 15 with 8 assists and Jaylen Brown 14 and six rebounds. These guys were the only ones with a double-digit number of points with the Celtics.

Game 5 is this Monday.