Absolutely facing the doorstep, the Toronto Raptors suddenly came to life.
Oz Anunobi was able to catch a crossquart inbound from Kyle Lowry and wasted no time in a 3 pointer Marl and the Raptors beat the Boston Celtics 104-103 in Game 3rd of the Eastern Conference semifinal series on Thursday night.
Toronto beat the Boston series lead 2-1. The Celtics took a two-point lead when Kemba Walker found Daniel This with a half-second left.
No NBA team in NBA history has escaped a 3-0 series deficit. Raptors don’t have to try it right now.
“I had confidence in him,” Lori said. “We’ll win.”
Lori played virtually perfectly, completing 31 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Fred Vanvlitt scored 25 points, Pascal Siakam 16 and Anubi 12.
Waller scored 29 points for Boston, losing for the first time in seven playoff games. Jelen Brown had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Gelson Tatum finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Celtics.
Marc Gasol did a layout with 5:57 PM left for a four-point lead; The Celtics responded with the next eight points, rising to 99-99 with 39.22 left in Brown’s Dunk.
Siakam was called for his third foul as a charge leaving 7:44 PM half; Raptors coach Nick Nurse used his solo challenge to protest, but upheld the replay call, a big decision against Toronto.
When Siakam took a seat for half, Toronto trailed 38-37. The sight became very quick without him on the floor.
After going to the break: At 6:42 PM the Raptors outscored 19-10 and the Celtics went 57-47 in the half. Walker had 17 points in the first quarter and gave up 3 points this time – and finished the second and tried again to give Boston its biggest lead.
Lowry was 0 for 5 from the three-point range in the game and 1 for 1 in the series before connecting from the left corner through the third, to get the Raptors at 61-60. Toronto would eventually lead by four as third, but Boston regained the lead and took an 80-76 top in fourth place.
The next match between those two teams will be held in Saturday 5 September.
