You knew that at some point in this series the Raptors were eventually gonna hit a bunch of threes, right? Three frustrating games of sub-30% shooting finally gave way to a 17-for-44 night, and 10 more made threes than the Celtics, which made the difference in a game where the Celtics shot better overall from the field and hit more free throws than the Raptors.
Before we get to the Game 4 thoughts, I’d like to once again highlight the terrible living conditions Canada has created for our Indigenous people. After years and years of neglect and abuse, Canada’s First Nations now have some of the highest suicide rates in the world, and in fact the leading cause of death for First Nations people under the age of 44 is suicide or self-harm. Our Indigenous people deserve better mental health and wellness support.
You can learn more about this issue in Tanya Talaga’s book and lecture series, All Our Relations; meanwhile, the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention remains an invaluable resource for anyone who’s had thoughts of self-harm or is worried about someone who has.
OK, let’s think some thoughts:
1. Kyle Lowry Masterclass 2.0
For the second straight game Kyle Lowry was the best player on the floor, and an absolute joy to watch. It’s almost like he gave Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam two games, and then pulled a Thanos and said “fine, I’ll do it myself.”
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How about some Kyle Lowry Winning Plays (TM) to help you wake up this Sunday morning. First, breaking up an alley-oop for a guy who’s eight inches taller:
Second, the lovely little drop-off for a trailing Pascal Siakam:
Then, diving on the floor after knocking a ball away from Jayson Tatum (and having Tatum land right on those balls of steel):
And let’s not forget the three offensive fouls drawn, including the game-sealing one on Tatum with 32 seconds to go:
NBA.com
Lowry also finished with 11 rebounds, tying Serge Ibaka for the game high, and didn’t miss one of his game-high eight free throw attempts.
2. Threes, but Balance Please
So the Raptors finally started to get some threes to fall, which was great… but then maybe fell in love with the shot a little too much, ending up with a series-high 44 attempts.
After they finished 6-of-13 in the first quarter, the second seemed like the ideal time to try and establish an inside presence. Use one to set up the other, right? Instead the Raps shot another 13 threes in the frame, with Pascal Siakam attempting four (and missing all of them).
They course-corrected in the second half (and of course we have to credit the Celtics defense too), so here’s hoping the Raptors can find a better shot balance and shoot an even higher percentage from downtown in Games 5 and 6.
3. Responding to Celtics Small Ball
I’ve expressed my desire to see the Raptors break out the smaller, Siakam-at-centre lineup, and once again I was left hanging — though this time, it wasn’t needed, and Serge Ibaka’s scoring certainly was. I was a bit surprised, though, to see the Celtics use a centre-less lineup for more than six minutes last night, including the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Raptors did their best to take advantage; they went inside on several possessions in that stretch, and got a nice dunk from Ibaka, an offensive rebound from Ibaka, and drives from Norman Powell and Pascal Siakam. Still, the stretch ended even, with both teams scoring 10 points (and the Celtics actually out-rebounding the Raptors by one).
I’m not certain what precipitated Brad Stevens opting to sit both of Daniel Theis and Robert Williams III at once, as both have played well. But if he does it again, I like the Raptors’ chances.
4. Sky High OG
I’ve always been a big fan of OG Anunoby showing us his hops:
NBA.com
I still think there are more opportunities for Anunoby to make his presence felt on offense in this series. The Celtics have done a better job not shading as far off of Anunoby after his 20-point Game 2, but I still noticed a few plays where VanVleet and Siakam attempted to break down the D, and OG had extra space on the wings, but the ball didn’t find its way to him. I also think there are also some opportunities for cuts to be made when Marc Gasol is on the floor — although again, to Boston’s credit, I noticed Theis crowding Gasol more last night, making it difficult for him to see the floor as well.
5. Hate to Love ‘em
Generally speaking, it’s very easy to hate the Celtics as a franchise, especially when they’re playing against your favourite team. But Jaylen Brown’s activism and leadership heading into and during the Bubble made it very difficult to dislike him, and then Jayson Tatum had to go and do this:
“Deuce loves lions and loves Lion King and I always carry my food to the game so it’s just a little something for when he sees the picture he sees that daddy has a Lion King lunchbox.”
And then Brown gave us a wonderful 4-for-18 shooting performance, including 2-for-11 from downtown! This, following Tatum’s 5-for-18 in Game 3. They’re really trying to make us love them, aren’t they?
(I’d love to give all the credit to the Raptors D here for that poor shooting, and of course they do make things uncomfortable for shooters. But Brown was just way off last night, even when he was wide open.)
We’ve seen the Raptors’ shooting “regress to the norm” in this series, so after a couple of bad shooting performances, I’ll admit I’m worried about the Celtics wings turning things around in Game 5. (Tatum and Kemba Walker remain terrifying whenever they turn the corner on the pick and roll up top, too — it feels like it leads to a score 100% of the time.)
If that happens, at least it’ll be a little easier to dislike them again.
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So, there’s still a lot of series left to be played, and I don’t think the Celtics are going to go down easily. I’m glad this is going (at least) six games, though — I truly wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the 2019-20 Raptors yet.
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.
