Tag: east semis

WATCH: How the Celtics defensive game plan has shut down the Raptors

Watch this excellent video breakdown on how the Boston Celtics have taken away the Toronto Raptors’ transition game.

How have the Boston Celtics managed to go up two games to none in their second-round series against the NBA’s defending champions, the Toronto Raptors?

In a word, defense.

Specifically, transition defense — the Celtics have found a way to stymie the way the Raptors’ top-five defense generates the majority of their offense in transition, as their active hands and overhelping tends to create a host of fast-break scoring opportunities.

Through gaming the scheme by which Toronto has managed to earn a top seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference in a season many analysts assumed a retooling or even rebuild was in the cards after Kawhi Leonard’s exit, Boston has put themselves in pole position to advance past their Atlantic Division rivals.

There’s still two wins required on the Celtics end to do so, but if the Raptors don’t find a way to adapt in a hurry, we may just see ‘The North’ packing up and departing that direction once again.

Watch the video embedded above to see an excellent video breakdown by the folks at the Coach Daniel YouTube channel of what it is the Celtics are doing to take away Toronto’s transition game.

Previewing Boston Celtics-Toronto Raptors Game 3, Round 2

The Boston Celtics try to put the NBA’s defending champs in a 3-0 hole as they face the Toronto Raptors for Game 3 of their East Semis series.

The Boston Celtics are leading the Toronto Raptors two games to none in their Eastern Conference Semifinals series, and look to make it a commanding 3 – 0 lead as they become the ‘home’ team in the Disney bubble restart’s neutral site format.

If there is any benefit from the virtual courtside fans, the Celtics will need it, as this looks to be a pitched battle with the Raptors likely to push their hardest yet for a win to avoid ending up in a virtually insurmountable hole.

The injury situation remains the same for both teams, with the Celtics still without veteran forward Gordon Hayward (ankle), Tremont Waters (knee) and Javonte Green (knee), the latter of which has returned to the bubble.

As far as what we can expect to see in terms of adjustments, it’s likely the Raptors will roll with a similar game plan as in Game 2, given it took five straight three-pointers from Marcus Smart to secure the win. We may see a bit more zone defense, given it seemed to bother Boston a bit.

Both teams will try to tighten up their play, as both had long sequences of sloppy play that could have changed the course of the game in their previous meeting. We expect another tight game at the Celtics Wire, our prediction going to the Celtics with a 107 – 105 win.

Most online bookmakers continue to favor the Raptors, but again very slightly with Boston getting a +1.5 spread.

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How to watch or stream Boston Celtics-Toronto Raptors Game 3, Round 2

These are all the ways you can watch or stream the Boston Celtics Game 3 meeting with the Toronto Raptors in Thursday.

The Toronto Raptors find themselves in the unenviable position of being down two games to none against the Boston Celtics, having dropped Game 2 by a razor-thin margin on Tuesday.

They’ll hope to find a way to adjust their offense against the Celtics, who have done an outstanding job of slowing down the Raptors’ transition game while holding their perimeter shooting to just over 25% in both games of the Eastern Conference Semifinals to date.

Does Toronto coach Nick Nurse have the goods in reserve? Can the team adapt before they dig the whole even deeper? And where can you watch to find out?

The Celtics Wire can only help you with that last question before the game, but we’ve got you covered in the viewing advice department.

For the New Englanders among us with cable packages carrying NBC Sports Boston, you can watch the game on that channel.

NBCSportsBoston.com and their ‘MyTeams’ app are alternatives you can use to stream the game as well.

TNT is also carrying the tilt for those of us who get that channel in our cable package, and subscription-based services like NBA TV, NBA League Pass, Hulu + and FuboTV are other options you can use to watch the game if you don’t mind paying for the privilege.

Tip-off is 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, August 3rd.

If you can’t watch the game live, be sure to check back afterwards for full game highlights, as always.

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Down 2-0 to Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, Nurse unhappy with refs

Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse isn’t very happy with the officiating in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Boston Celtics.

This is usually the Boston Celtics bone to pick.

However, the tables in postseason officiating gripes seem to be piling on the opposing team for the first time in a long time (if you ask Celtics fans, anyway), with defending champion Toronto Raptors making it known they are not happy with the officiating in their second-round series with Boston.

USA TODAY Sports’ own Mark Medina was on hand for their Game 2 tilt, and he shared his reaction to Nurse’s postgame presser.

“Raptors coach Nick Nurse,” began Medina, “he made a lot of veiled comments about the officiating afterwards. Jayson Tatum, the Celtics star, he had 14 free throws, and Nick Nurse said ‘they took care of him’ tonight.”

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The full quote is as follows:

“The only frustrating part of it is this; he shoots 14 free throws, as much as our whole team shoots; that’s the frustrating part. I think our guys were working hard on him and we were doing a pretty good job. He did make some good shots, they were obviously getting him the ball a lot, getting him in space. We could have helped a little bit better here and there, but they took very good care of him tonight.”

Medina reports that when the Raptors coach was asked directly about his opinions on the refereeing, Nurse demurred for fiscal reasons.

Whether you buy that the officials have had a significant role in Toronto’s travails against their Atlantic Division rivals, or attribute it to simply being a bad matchup in the matchup-driven playoffs, Medina’s assessment that the Raps’ season is in jeopardy is the correct one.

But it would also be foolish to consider their defending champs licked, as they came back from a similar deficit to beat the Milwaukee Bucks.

Toronto will need to find a source of reliable offense in a hurry even if it is as improbable that Marcus Smart will be hitting five 3s in a row again any time soon as it is the Raptors will be shooting around 25% from beyond the arc.

Otherwise, we’d recommend investing in broom futures.

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NBA fines Marcus Smart $5,000 for flop in Game 2 win over Raptors

Boston Celtics veteran guard Marcus Smart has been fined $5,000 for flopping in the team’s Game 2 win over the Toronto Raptors.

The NBA has announced it will fine Boston Celtics veteran guard Marcus Smart $5,000 for flopping in the Celtics 102 – 99 win over the Toronto Raptors in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals series on Tuesday evening.

The Oklahoma State product collided with Raptors small forward Pascal Siakam on a play late in the game’s third quarter, with Smart selling the contact hard while falling to the ground on the play.

The defensive theatrics would end up earning the Flower Mound native an initial foul call that would quickly be overturned with a successful coach’s challenge by Toronto head coach Nick Nurse.

Smart was slapped with not only a reversal of the call but his own foul as a result, which could have been the end of the game for Boston as Toronto had just built its biggest lead of the game.

However, it served instead as a catalyst for the sequence of the Texan defensive specialist nailing five straight 3-point shots to wrest back the lead for the Celtics.

Five large is rarely an amount to scoff at, but in this case it seems like a worthwhile investment for the heart and soul of the Celtics.

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WATCH: ‘We’re on a mission’ – Boston Celtics second round hype video

The Boston Celtics are on a mission to hang Banner 18, and they want everyone to know it.

The Boston Celtics currently sit two wins away from making the Eastern Conference Finals for the third time in four years, six wins from their first NBA Finals in a decade, and ten wins from Banner 18, which would be their first title in a dozen years.

Blessed with a deadly young core with more postseason experience than many veteran-heavy contenders currently vying to deny the Celtics at least one of those necessary 10 wins, the great leaps forward made by the wing duo of shooting guard Jaylen Brown and swingman Jayson Tatum may well be the catalyst needed to secure them.

With the veteran leadership of Gordon Hayward, Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker backing up the team’s considerable youth movement, the sky is literally the limit for this rising franchise, and they have put together this second-round hype video to let us know they intend to win it all.

Watch the video embedded above, and try to save a little of the adrenaline it generates for Thursday’s Game 3 collision with the Toronto Raptors.

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Smart ‘did what he had to’ in Game 2 vs. Raps: expects a Game 3 battle

Boston’s Marcus Smart let it fly to critical success against the Raptors in Game 2, but doesn’t expect the next tilt with Toronto to be easy.

It’s not every day that an NBA player will hit five 3-pointers in a row in a game even if they are one of the league’s best shooters, and rarer still to pull it off in the middle of a pitched battle in the postseason.

And while Boston Celtics veteran shooting guard Marcus Smart has quietly morphed into one of the NBA’s best off-the-dribble 3-point shooters in the NBA despite being one of the worst in the history of the league earlier in his career, even he couldn’t have expected himself to nail five treys in a row against the Toronto Raptors Tuesday.

Asked if he was guarded differently than in the Celtics’ first round series against the Philadelphia 76ers in which the Flower Mound native shot a shockingly low 13.3% beyond the arc after Boston’s Game 2 win, Smart made it clear he didn’t think so.

“There’s no difference,” he explained.

“Last series against Philly, thank god for Jayson [Tatum] and Jaylen [Brown], who were really rolling, and so my touches on the offensive end were limited, which is okay since we are so versatile and talented, it’s going to be nice like that. It’s going to be nice when two or three guys, maybe one guy’s off but everybody else is on. So, I just had to do what I had to do. Let’s play defense and do all the little things I can do to help my team win.”

“Same thing this series,” he added; “just tonight, my team needed more scoring from me and I just brang it.”

After putting up such low numbers against the 76ers, it would be easy to shrink from shooting.

But Boston needs Smart to step up in the absence of teammate Gordon Hayward — out for the series with a sprained ankle — nor is it in the Texan’s DNA to take his foot off of that particular gas pedal.

“I just kept telling myself all you need is one to go in, and you’d be right back there,” Smart opined, “and once I saw the first one go in, I knew that the next time I catch it, I’m shooting if I’m open.”

As his head coach has made a point of emphasis with the team, the Celtics will need to stay hungry and aggressive in their play if they are to defeat the reigning NBA champions despite being in a 0-2 hole.

It was, in fact, in the Raptors’ last postseason collision with the Milwaukee Bucks that they managed to recover from just such a deficit.

“We have to continue to play desperate,” reiterated the veteran guard.

“We have to play like we’re down. We have to play games to win and not just not to lose. A lot of teams at this point play not to lose, instead of just being who they are. For us, that’s getting up into guys, playing good defense, and moving the ball on offense.”

It would be easy to get complacent riding a two-game lead in any series, but champions take care of business, and celebrate when the season is over.

And at least up until this point, it’s looking like he Celtics have no intention whatever for celebration until they’ve logged another 10 wins.

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Stevens has praise after G2 win vs Raps, but cautions job isn’t done

Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens has plenty of praise for his team after their Game 2 win over Toronto, but cautions the job isn’t done.

Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens had a lot of praise for his players in their Game 2 win over the Toronto Raptors in the East Semis, but he was careful to balance it with the struggle remaining to get past a very dangerous Raptors squad as well.

In particular, he had praise for center Robert Williams III’s play in the first quarter, who had some of his best postseason play of his still-young career.

“He’s the only reason we were in the game in the first quarter,” offered Stevens. “I did not think we started well.”

“I thought our first six minutes were sloppy, and I didn’t think we got to our spots. I think the pace that Toronto was playing at was much different than our pace, but when he came in, he changed it for us, made enough plays to get us into the quarter … so he’s been great. But we’re going to keep rotating those guys; I came really close to putting [Enes] Kanter in when we were down 12 because I know he can score and and rebound and, but other guys were able to step up and everybody else has to keep ready.”

“That rotating center spots been good for us,” he added.

Teammate Grant Williams had a few solid plays as well, though he played considerably less in this contest.

And Marcus Smart’s five straight threes were simply uncanny.

“When Grant Williams was out there, I thought he gave us great minutes rebounding the ball and guarding his yard on [Pascal] Siakam a few times. But then, Marcus obviously makes the big shots, but our defense went up to a different level too.”

“They’re a real hard team to play against and keep coming at you,” observed the Celtics coach.

True to his ‘never too high, never too low’ ethos, Stevens emphasized how lucky they were to have come away with the win, hinting that one should not expect the defending champs to continue shooting around 25% from deep in this series.

“A couple of those three years go in, and that game can change pretty quick. But one thing’s for certain when we leave tonight, we know that we’ve got a hell of a battle on Thursday. So, get in the ice baths whatever you need to do, because it’s going to be right back like that on Thursday [for Game 3].”

This is the right way to be approaching the situation with a team that came back from being down 0-2 as recently as last season against a team that had just dispatched the Celtics in five games (the Milwaukee Bucks), only to come back and win it.

In fact, there’s a good chance this series could be the biggest challenge Boston faces in the postseason before the NBA Finals, no matter how things shake out.

With the Bucks down a game already in their series with the Heat and the Celtics having bested their opponent in two of their three meetings, the biggest thing Boston can due to punch a ticket to the finals might just be taking care of Game 3, as obvious as that might sound.

And so far, the Celtics have been all business, their plan of attack singularly focused on the next game in front of them, no matter what else is going on — and so, so much is going on.

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WATCH: Jayson Tatum’s Boston Celtics-Toronto Raptors full highlights

Watch all of Boston Celtics All-Star swingman Jayson Tatum’s highlights from Game 2 against the Toronto Raptors Tuesday night in this video.

The Boston Celtics find themselves up two games to none in their East Semifinals series with the reigning NBA champion Toronto Raptors due in no small part to the stellar play of All-Star small forward Jayson Tatum, especially in Game 2 of the series.

The St. Louis native put on quite a show, recording career playoff highs in points (34 of them!), makes from the foul line (a perfect 14-of-14 of those) and assists (six) to go with 8 rebounds and 8-of-17 shooting including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.

“One game at a time. This series is far from over. You’ve got to win four,” said the Duke product after the win via the A.P.

So, whether you missed the game or just want to revisit how Missouri’s favorite son did against the Raptors Tuesday evening while you wait for the third act of Tatum’s play against Toronto Thursday, we’ve got you covered.

Watch the video embedded above for all of Tatum’s highlights from his Game 2 performance against the Raptors.

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Celtics sneak by Raptors 102-99, take 2-0 East Semis series lead

The Boston Celtics moved to within two games of the Eastern Conference Finals with a 102-99 victory over the Toronto Raptors Tuesday.

The Boston Celtics knew the Toronto Raptors would have a different plan for Game 2, but didn’t expect to see it so soon. The Raptors won the tip, and immediately tried to take it to the cup as Kyle Lowry got himself rejected at the rim by Daniel Theis.

Toronto got themselves on the board with a Marc Gasol make in the paint, and the Raptors looked to take it inside. Both teams traded blows early as Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum got the Celtics in the game.

A 9-0 run by Toronto put Boston in a 17-9 hole early, but a flush from Robert Williams III stopped the bleeding and sparked an 8-0 run for the Celtics to tie the game up at 17 with 3:30 in the quarter.

The Raptors threatened to pull away a few times, but solid play (interrupted by a scary fall) from Time Lord  and good shooting from Tatum kept the two teams neck-and-neck late in the first, the score tied at 28 points going into the second quarter.

The Celtics started the second frame with a Tatum trey, but Serge Ibaka answered right back on the next possession. Neither team was able to get separation early in the second, but the Celtics retook the lead with a trip to the line for Tatum to put Boston up 35-34 with seven left in the half.

A trey from Theis added to the lead, but Pascal Siakam immediately erased it on the other end. Marcus Smart took a hard hit from Gasol, but seemed to be okay. Kemba Walker got his first points from the line with 4:30 to go in the half, but turned it over shortly after to allow Fred Van Vleet to tie it at 40.

Van Vleet would hit a trey on the next play as well, but Brown came back with one of his own. Boston built themselves a small cushion as the half wound down, but a Siakam 3-pointer as time expired sent the Celtics into the break up 50-48.

The penultimate frame began with OG Anunoby drilling an open 3, followed by the first field goal of the game for Walker. Sloppy play and bad defense gave the Raptors a 59-54 lead, but a Tatum 3-pointer soon after made up for it.

The Duke product went into attack mode, getting to the line on the next play to tie it up. The Raptors went on a run in response and built a four-point lead, but Tatum kept attacking, tying it up at 64 with six minutes left in the frame.

Toronto didn’t let up, and a strip leading to a transition bucket by Lowry forced a Celtics timeout as Boston went down 72-66. Ibaka drained a 3 out of the stoppage to give the Raptors their largest lead.

A turnover on the next play led to a coaches challenge to give Toronto a 78-66 lead with 2:45 left in the game. Tatum kept attacking as well, though, and quickly cut the lead to eight, the Celtics going into the final frame down 78-70.

Boston began the fourth with a 3-pointer from Smart to cut the lead to five, and then two more to cut it to 80-79. He’d tie it up at 82 with a fourth trey, but Brown knocked knees with Lowry in another scary collision. A fifth 3 from the Texan gave Boston the lead, and a Walker trip to the line for a 3-point shot put the Celtics up 90-87 with 6:30 to go in the game.

Tatum hit Boston’s 14th trey, then a steal led to a bucket by Walker pushing the lead to eight. A trip to the line for Siakam and a 3 from Van Vleet cut it to 95-92, forcing a timeout from Boston. Gasol fouled out with three minutes left, sending Tatum to the line to convert both.

Lowry would get to the line, converting both, but Walker hit a dagger to put the lead at six. Tatum got a tech to cut the lead to three, and Lowry cut it to one from thee stripe on the next play. Walker answered back with 40 seconds left to force a timeout, but Toronto couldn’t score, Boston winning 102-99.

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