By: Adamo Marinelli
September 3rd, 2020
Orlando, Florida: The Toronto Raptors were staring adversity right in the face going into game three, being down 2-0, and wanting to avoid trailing 3-0 in their second-round series against the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics had won five of 6 games against Toronto heading into game three.
The Celtics proved to be a very talented opponent for the Raptors with many weapons on offense and on defense too.
All facets of game one were dominated by the Celtics.
Game two was a lot closer. The Raptors were competitive for most of the game, but another lackluster shooting performance - from the field and from three - and too many turnovers - including Siakam’s with 30 seconds left in the game - were too much for the Raptors to overcome.
Not to mention, Marcus Smart scored 16 of his 19 points in the 4th quarter, with 5 three-pointers. The Raptors had no answers on defense and their offense sputtered too.
After game two, many questions surrounding if Pascal Siakam could be the #1 guy for the Raptors, if the Raptors could get back to making 3 pointers, and who will step up for this team in the clutch were floating around. The pressure was also on Nick Nurse to give bench players like Serge Ibaka and Matt Thomas more minutes.
The Raptors answered in a big way in game three.
The Raptors shot 46.6% from the field and 32.5% from beyond the arc, both statistics were much better than their game 1 and 2 output.
Part of the reason the Raptors’ shooting improved was the fact that they were able to move the ball around and make the extra pass to avoid settling on a bad look. They had 23 assists.
The Raptors recorded 13 turnovers, the Celtics had 14. Both teams excelled in the paint, scoring 48 and 50 points, respectively.
The Raptors got back at what they are good at, using their defense to generate offense with 14 fast-break points. The Celtics only had two.
The Raptors were also much better defensively, playing a variety of zone coverages that limited the three-point shooting for the Celtics.
The Celtics were 0-5 from beyond the arc in the 4th quarter and only 9-29 (31%) in the game. A huge part of the reason the Raptors’ switched their defensive schemes was to limit the Celtics’ three-pointer, especially in the 4th quarter. They did that today.
If the Raptors lost this game, their 7 missed free throws would be a big reason. You can’t leave points on the board against a good team.
Kyle Lowry was huge in game three, playing 46.5 minutes and scoring 31 points, adding six rebounds and eight assists.
Pascal Siakam and Fred Van Vleet also had big games recording 16 points, seven rebounds, and two assists and 25 points, three rebounds, and six assists, respectively.
O.G Anunoby put up a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, including the game-winner.
After receiving criticism in game two for being slow on defense and a bad shooter, Marc Gasol had a good game defensively and put up 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Serge Ibaka was huge on defense too.
After Fred Van Vleet tied the game 101-101 with an acrobatic layup, Kemba Walker found a wide-open Daniel Theis who slam-dunked it with 0.5 seconds left to take a 2 point lead.
The Raptors used their last timeout and Kyle Lowry made an incredible cross-court pass over the 7’5” Tacko Fall right to O.G Anunoby in the corner, who made no mistake in the clutch.
Game four tips off 6:30 pm ET on Saturday, August 5th. It is another must-win game for the Raptors who want to avoid a 3-1 series deficit.
The Raptors will need to continue to excel defensively and shoot the ball well to win game four.
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