For Boston’s Theis, better overall play the remedy for Game 3 loss

Boston starting center Daniel Theis knows the Celtics wouldn’t have lost Game 3 to the Toronto Raptors had they played better earlier.

Boston Celtics starting center Daniel Theis doesn’t sound like he lost too much sleep over the Celtics’ last second loss to the Toronto Raptors Thursday, but he does sound like he knows where to focus his attention to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Less than a second of game time after making what seemed like a game-winning dunk, Theis had to watch helplessly too far away from the play to stop small forward OG Anunoby turn around and sink a desperation 3-pointer.

That somehow went in after an equally miraculous pass by guard Kyle Lowry past 7-foot-5 Tacko Fall.

“Obviously, it was painful yesterday,” shared Theis in a presser on Friday.

“We should never come into a situation we’re up 10 at halftime and [we] just blew the lead at the beginning of the third. So, it’s all about us; we’ve got to play better next towards the beginning of the games [and] in the third quarter so we don’t get in a situation like this to lose the game on the last shot.”

“It’s motivation, because we’re still up two to one, and we want to bounce back and play our way in the next game,” he added.

Whether or not the Celtics can dictate those terms will likely go a long way in determining the momentum of the series after the Raptors unlikely win.

Boston has looked like the better team for much of the series, but the Raptors don’t plan on going out without a fight, either.

Can the Celtics keep their confidence and composure after their Thursday evening gut-punch? Or will they fold at the first real signs of adversity?

At 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time today, we’ll find out.

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