That’s what the Toronto Raptors learned Tuesday night against the Boston Celtics.
After squandering an eight-point fourth-quarter lead, the Raptors had a chance to tie it up late. They went to their lead scorer Pascal Siakam in the final seconds, hoping to erase a three-point Celtics lead, but Siakam’s foot was one size too big. As he turned tried to maneuver in the left corner, his foot came down just out of bounds, allowing the Celtics to clinch a 2-0 series lead with a 102-99 victory in Game 2.
None of it would have been possible for the Celtics if not for a herculean fourth quarter from Marcus Smart. The Celtics’ 26-year-old wing started the game 1-for-5 from beyond the arc but came out to start the fourth quarter on fire, nailing five straight 3-pointers to turn an eight-point Raptors lead into a one-point Celtics advantage.
“It’s tough, he got five threes,” Kyle Lowry said. “We played a well-energized game, we just didn’t close it out. We just didn’t finish the game defensively as we should have.”
It was a classic performance from Smart one of the most hot-and-cold players in the NBA.
“I ain’t never met nobody like Smart,” Jayson Tatum said. “He is one of a kind.”
Late in the fourth quarter, Tatum had a chance to put the Celtics up six with just over a minute to go, but with OG Anunoby guarding him, he extended his arm, pushing off and getting called for the offensive foul. Upset by the call, he turned around in frustration, gesturing in disgust and getting called for a technical.
It was the lone lowlight for Tatum in an otherwise remarkable 34-point performance. The mistake opened the door for a Raptors comeback, as Lowry pulled Toronto to within three by converting the technical.
But that comeback was not to be.
Siakam’s first attempt to tie the game was snuffed out by Smart, who appeared to foul the Raptors’ forward on the drive, but touched the ball out-of-bounds giving the Raptors one more chance.
“I think Smart fouled the sh*t out of him on the one,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said.
Lowry subsequently took the ball out of bounds and found Anunoby on the inbound, but when the ball was swung to Siakam, he stepped out of bounds, turning the ball over to the Celtics.
It was the lone turnover from Siakam, who looked impressive as a facilitator at times, but again continued to struggle with his shot. He went 6-for-16 from the field and just 1-for-4 from 3-point range.
“We just tell him our confidence is in him,” Lowry said. “We know how good he can be and how dominant of a basketball player he can be, he has to figure it out and play, make some shots, if he makes some shots it’s a different game, he makes some layups it’s a different game, it happens sometimes, it just happens, he’s missing some shots that he’s used to making.”
The loss squandered an impressive scoring performance from Anunoby who set a playoff-high with 20 points, the most of any Raptors player Tuesday evening. He nailed four 3-pointers in the game and looked fluid scoring at the rim.
The problem for Toronto was their 3-point shooting from their starting guards who combined to shoot 3-for-19 from 3-point range.
“I think my shots feel good, but you want to see them go in a little bit more,” Lowry said. “I haven’t shot the ball extremely well, and I know I can shoot, so it’s kind of like just being in the mindset of alright, there it is, there it is, keep getting a feel for it.”
The big Raptors’ fourth-quarter lead came thanks to an 11-0 run in the third quarter, sparked by a Serge Ibaka 3-pointer and culminating in a transition layup from Fred VanVleet and a free throw from Siakam after Nurse got a foul call overturned.
Free Throw Disparity:
The free throw disparity in the first half was certainly a little questionable for the Raptors. Boston got to the line nine times before the break while Toronto recorded zero free-throw attempts.
Tatum alone went to the free-throw line 14 times, nearly as many as the Raptors as a team who took 19 free throws.
“He shoots 14 free throws which is as much as our whole team shoots,” Nurse said. “That’s the frustrating part.”
Down 0-2:
It wasn’t too long ago that the Raptors were down 0-2 to the Milwaukee Bucks in last year’s Eastern Conference semifinals and clawed back to win four straight.
“I mean we’re pretty pissed right now we’re down 0-2, but you know we have to go back and look at the film and understand what we’ve done wrong and what we can do better,” Lowry said. “This is not a situation, we’d like to be in but you know it’s not a normal situation in the playoffs where we last two home games. We just lost two games. We got a chance to get enough to get one game. That’s all gotta do is get one game and take one day, one game at a time and know that the Celtics have been playing extremely well so we got to find a way to, you know, get our ourselves going.”
Though Kawhi Leonard won’t be stepping onto the court for Toronto in this playoffs, the Raptors are an experienced group who knows how to overcome playoff adversity.
Buzzer Beater:
Siakam ended the first half with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer over Jaylen Brown from way behind the arc.
Moment of the pre-game:
Prior to the game, the Sportsnet broadcast showed Fred VanVleet’s daughter Sanaa waiting to presumably her father before Game 2.
Raptors players were allowed to have their family members join them in the NBA bubble on Monday.
Up Next:
The Raptors will tip off Game 3 against the Celtics on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET.
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.
