On the heels of an historic and emotional week that had the Toronto Raptors “very close” to leaving the NBA bubble, being back on the court offered no refuge for the defending NBA champions on Sunday.
Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart scored 21 points apiece to lead the Boston Celtics to a lopsided 112-94 win over the Raptors in Game 1 of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals.
And in the minutes after the demoralizing loss, the Raptors spoke about the emotional toll of recent events, including protests and the subsequent league shutdown after last week’s shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Wisconsin.
“Basketball always matters, but in this situation, at this time, it’s taking a backseat,” Lowry said. “Yes, it’s our job and we’re going to go out there and perform at the highest level we can possibly perform at. There’s no excuses, but we have an obligation right now to use our platform. That’s why we’re still here.”
WATCH | Celtics spread out scoring to cool off Raptors:
Boston had 6 players reach double-digits in scoring as they beat Toronto 112-94 in Game 1 of their East semifinals series. 0:41
Lowry, who’d been a question mark after suffering a sprained left ankle in Game 4 a week ago against Brooklyn, had 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Serge Ibaka had 15 points and nine boards off the bench, Pascal Siakam had 13 points, OG Anunoby had 12, Fred VanVleet added 11 points, and Norm Powell finished with 10.
Sport can be solace in turbulent times, but coach Nick Nurse said that wasn’t the case for his team Sunday.
“There was no joy,” Nurse said. “It was a tough day for us. . . nothing was much fun out there today.”
A sluggish start was almost expected considering the week. But the Raptors, who’ve rolled to 32 wins in their past 37 games, were slow and disorganized on the defensive end, and struggled mightily on offence. They were outscored 51-30 from three-point range.
Boston improved to 4-1 against Toronto this season, including two lopsided victories in the restart bubble.
The Raptors didn’t put up much of a fight, trailing 19 points in the first half. The gap grew to 22 points in the third quarter, and when Tatum hit a baseline jumper to end the third, Boston headed into the fourth up 88-73.
A three-point play by Lowry to start the fourth sliced the difference to 12, but that was as close as the Raptors would come, and when Smart scored on a three in front of Boston’s bench, the long bomb had the Celtics up by 24 points with just under five minutes to play.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens dismissed suggestions Boston controls the series heading into Tuesday’s Game 2.
“We’re not even in the ballpark of doing that yet,” Stevens said. “We won one game.”
Back from near boycott
The game marked a second restart of sorts. Racial and social injustice was already a theme for the NBA’s restart after several high-profile deaths in the U.S. ignited protests. After Blake’s shooting, Powell and VanVleet raise the possibility of a boycott.
On Wednesday, the Milwaukee Bucks did just that, refusing to take the court for their game against Orlando. That led to a shutdown of the league for three days and similar strikes among several pro sports leagues, including the WNBA and NHL.
Asked if the Raptors considered leaving, Ibaka said “We were close, we were very close. We’re here . . . we are here for a reason, not only to play basketball but to use our platform to change things out there.”
Early in the game, Boston’s big man Daniel Theis blew by Marc Gasol like the Spaniard’s feet were glued to the floor. The moment exemplified a Raptors defence that was a step behind from the opening whistle. Boston led 39-23 to end the first quarter.
Ibaka’s layup capped a 7-0 run to start the second and had the Raptors within nine points. But Toronto’s woeful shooting continued — the Raptors were just 1-for-12 from long distance in the second quarter and 5-for-23 from the field. Boston built its lead back up to 17 and took a 56-42 advantage into the halftime break.
Late in the third, a VanVleet turnover led to a windmill dunk by Boston’s Robert Williams. The demoralizing play summed up Toronto’s afternoon.
Lowry said the roller-coaster week, however, wasn’t to blame.
“Emotionally, it hit us hard,” he said. “(But) today we just didn’t play well. We didn’t play well enough to win the basketball game and no excuses made, we’ve got to play hard, we’ve got to go out there and do our jobs harder, do our coverages harder, execute better.
“The Boston Celtics beat us tonight, one game, we have to regroup, readjust, and get ready for the next one.”
Both teams fresh off sweeps
After dispatching the Brooklyn Nets easily in four games in the opening round, the Raptors indeed face a much stiffer test against Boston, which seems to have found the formula against Toronto. The Raptors beat 10 teams in the NBA’s restart including Milwaukee and Los Angeles, but have now lost twice by a combined 40 points to Boston.
The Raptors need Siakam, who picked up three early fouls, to get going offensively.
“(Early foul trouble) kind of makes you think about how you play and stuff and it makes you question a lot of things in how you move, but it happened and I’ve just got to figure out a way to bounce back once that happens,” he said. “I can’t let it affect my game.”
The afternoon began with a moment of silence for 18-year NBA veteran Cliff Robinson, coach Lute Olson, and actor Chadwick Boseman, who all died this week.
“It was very sad to see him leave us so early,” Ibaka said of Boseman.
Both teams knelt with arms linked for the U.S. and Canadian anthems.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
