Celtics lose 104-103 on last-second shot; series now at 2-1

The Boston Celtics nearly took a three game lead, but a hail-Mary shot from OG Anunoby stole the win for Toronto.

The Boston Celtics took a haymaker early from the Toronto Raptors early in their Game 3 contest from their northern neighbors, but weathered the storm due in large part to starting point guard Kemba Walker getting hot in the first half.

The Raptors on the tip, and Kyle Lowry got Toronto on the board with an and-1 on Daniel Theis, and quickly built a 5-0 lead. Boston’s Jaylen Brown scored first for the Celtics, but didn’t score again until Smart got fouled by Pascal Siakam at the 9:30 mark.

Walker got on the board with a trey soon to cut the lead to two, and Brown would tie the game up at 16 with just under six minutes to play in the quarter. The UConn product gave Boston the lead briefly before an elbow to the face of Lowry by Theis handed it back with the German being assessed a tech.

Both teams traded buckets as the first frame wound down, with OG Anunoby and Walker nailing 3-pointers to finish the quarter, the Celtics carrying a 33-28 lead into the second frame.

Boston began the second quarter with Jayson Tatum tossing in a finger roll, but Anunoby would answer back with another trey. Once again, neither team could get much in the way of separation early, going basket for basket early in the frame.

The Celtics started to heat up as Brown hit back-to-back baskets to put Boston up 44-37 with five minutes left in the quarter. Fred Van Vleet would pick up a tech of his own, sending Walker to the line for the conversion.

Marcus Smart scored a 3 to give the Celtics their biggest lead of the game at nine, but Van Vleet stayed hot, cutting the lead to 47-52 with 1:45 left in the half. Tatum and Walker would quickly double that lead to close out the frame, putting Boston up 57-47 going into the break.

The penultimate frame began with Siakam cutting the lead to six with a pair of quick makes, and the Raptors slowly whittled away at Boston’s lead. Smart hit a trey just under the 10-minute mark, but Lowry came back with a bucket on the next possession.

Van Vleet cut the lead to six with 8:15 to play in the frame, and then four soon after. A Siakam trey would give Toronto their first lead since the first quarter at 68-66, but Enes Kanter would tie it back up on the next play.

Once again, the teams traded makes, a Robert Williams flush getting another tech called to give the Celts the lead. Brad Wanamaker looked like he might have given a tech back in a collision that saw his knee meet Lowry’s groin, but the basket would count with Boston headed into the final frame up 80-76.

Boston started the fourth with a pair of 3-pointers to take an 82-80 lead, and Siakam would extend the lead to three with a trip to the stripe. Walker would cut it back to one with a jumper, and would tie it again at 83 from the line.

Walker gave the Celtics back the lead at 87-85 with 8:45 left in the game, and Grant Williams would extend it to four points with a dunk, but Norman Powell came back with a layup on the next play. Lowry wrest back the lead briefly with a 3, but Tatum got to the line to put Boston up 91-90.

Powell came back with a trey of his own with 6:30 left in the game, and a Marc Gasol layup put the Raptors up 95-91. Brown cut it to two with a stepback jumper, and Tatum tied it up at 95 with 4:30 left in the game. A Theis dunk gave Boston the lead, and a Brown flush extended it to four.

Lowry came back with a layup to cut the lead to two with as many minutes to play, but Brown kept attacking, and threw down another dunk to hang onto the lead. Lowry answered back with another make to cut the lead to 101-99, Toronto calling a timeout.

Van Vleet tied it up with 21 second left in the game, but Theis would nail a dunk, seeming to secure the win for the Celtics. Anunoby hit a three as time expired, stealing a 104-103 win to bring the series to 2-1.

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