Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. NBA Playoff Basketball is going on!
What do you know? The Raptors have tied their series with the Celtics.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Mark J. Terrill/AP.)
Well, like I said before, the Raptors are going to be such a tough out. They’ve now tied the series.
Once again, they’ve been there before. The Raptors knew that the situation was dire, just like the game before. So Kyle Lowry spurred them on early. He scored 11 of the first 14 Toronto points.
Pascal Siakam didn’t have a sparkling shooting day. But he kept being aggressive. He had 23 points and 11 boards for the game.
They knew they needed to make the 3-ball. Fred VanVleet led that charge. He made 5 threes. The Raptors made 17 overall.
Serge Ibaka knew the Raptors needed punch off the bench. He made 4 threes on the way to 18 points.
Nick Nurse knew that this is pretty much a win-or-go-home situation. Siakam and VanVleet played 45 minutes. Lowry played 44. He knew he needed his best players on the court at all times. I’m sure Mike Budenholzer might do the same thing against Miami later on today. (Yeah, right.)
As for Boston, they couldn’t get it going from behind the arc (7 for 35; that is a fantastic 20 percent). Only Jayson Tatum got it going (24 points) while Jaylen Brown struggled (14 points off 4 for 18 shooting). Now they have to come back quick as the champions are rolling.
Now it’s a best-of-three between these two teams. Does this young wing duo from Boston overwhelm Toronto? Or does the aura of the champion keep going over the next two or three games?
This series is turning out fantastic. I wish I could say the same thing for the other East semifinal, which may not go further after this weekend.
Bullet Passes
Meanwhile, the Nuggets also knew the severity of their situation. They came out like Orange Cassidy in Game 1 and more like the Ultimate Warrior in Game 2. They jumped on them early and led wire-to-wire. It’s tough for any team, even the Clippers, to play from behind the whole time.
The Clips did get the 23-point lead down to 5 in the fourth but Jamal Murray (27 points) and Gary Harris (13 points) made consecutive threes that pretty much put the game out of reach.
Kawhi Leonard only scored 13 points in this game. He had scored 29 or more in the previous 7 playoff games. It’s safe to say they needed more from Kawhi.
Like I said, Sunday might be the last day the Bucks play. They are down, 0-3, against the only undefeated team left in the postseason, the surprising Miami Heat. In the meantime, the Lakers could use that same Jolt Cola that the Nuggets used on Saturday against the Rockets. They might want to take Houston’s defense and rebounding seriously.
NBA Playoff Scoreboard
Game 4: #2 TOR 100 vs #3 BOS 93 (Series is tied, 2-2)
Game 2: #2 LAC 101 vs #3 DEN 110 (Series is tied, 1-1)
Watch This Play
I really like this three-man fastbreak that the Raptors did. Fred to Kyle to Pascal.
B-E-A-UTIFUL pic.twitter.com/aD0dLgNsL2
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) September 6, 2020
More playoff basketball coming up! Stay safe, bubble.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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