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.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
