When it comes to playoff series in any sports, it's all about the bounce back effort-after a win or a loss. For a still relatively young group like this edition of the Celtics who sprinted out to a 2-0 series lead vs. the Raptors, only to lose the next two games in frustrating fashion, tonight showed why they have a great chance to reach the Eastern Conference Finals and perhaps even beyond that. Boston led Toronto from start to finish in a true Game 5 beatdown, 111-89 (it wasn't even that close since they were up 30 points for a brief moment) that gives them a 3-2 series lead with a chance to send the Raptors back to Canada on Wednesday night (6:30, ESPN).
The C's defense was locked in from the opening tip as they held Toronto to just 11 points in the first quarter which tied a franchise record for the lowest output in a playoff frame. This had the feeling of an early-round March Madness mismatch as Boston was in front by 27 points (62-35) at halftime before the ultra rare extended garbage time (basically the entire second half) in an Eastern Conference semifinal game. The Raptors outscored the Celtics 28-25 in the third quarter and 26-24 in the fourth quarter, haha they should be very proud of themselves for that.
After being held under 20 points in each of the first four games of the series, Jaylen Brown exploded for a game-high 27 points with six rebounds and three steals. He had the highlight of the game (and one of the top plays thus far in the postseason) when he dunked on Game 3's hero but current zero OG Anunoby (who was a game-low minus-26!!!!!). I've maintained that Boston's starting five is better than Toronto's and they proved it once again this evening as they all had at least 12 points: Kemba Walker (21 points, 7 assists)-who has been the best all-around player in the series-was over 20 points for the second time in the series, Jayson Tatum (18 points, 10 rebounds) notched another double-double, Daniel Theis (15 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks) put together one of his best performances as a Celtic and Marcus Smart (12 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists) was back to his usually most effective self in a more defensive-minded role. Hell my man Brad Wanamaker played 28 minutes (which is a lifetime for a substitute like him) and scored a playoff career-high 15 points which is really all you need to know about how well Game 5 turned out for the Green.
Toronto's offense was extinct all game long (too soon dinosaur fans?) with only three starters scoring in double-figures: Fred VanVleet (team-high 18 points, 5 assists, 3 steals) was the lone Raptor who showed up while Kyle Lowry (10 points, 5 assists, 2 steals) morphed back into the guy who used to always disappear in the playoffs while Pascal Siakam (10 points) continues to fortify his case as the fraud of this round of the playoffs for either conference. Marc Gasol was held scoreless in 14 invisible minutes which is saying something for where he's at in his long NBA career and the only explanation for him starting every game is that he must have naked pictures of his goofy head coach Nick Nurse or something. Off the bench, Norman Powell (16 points) was Toronto's second-leading scorer which is never a good thing unless it's a preseason game and something called Matt Thomas added 10 points. As you can imagine, the stats were all laughably in Boston's favor: they shot nearly 11% better from the floor (49.4%-38.8%), hit more than twice as many free throws (24-11) and they grabbed nine more rebounds (45-36) than Toronto.
I would not assume that Game 6 will be easy for the Celtics but the fact is that the Raptors have been in the Disney World bubble longer than any other team so you have to wonder if they already each have one large foot out of their luxury hotel room doors. They won an NBA title last season and without Kawhi Leonard, nobody thought that they would come anywhere close to a repeat. They have had a great season but Boston is a better club in almost every measurable way. Miami failed yesterday in their first opportunity to eliminate Milwaukee but no worries there since they still lead the very overrated Bucks 3-1 and Giannis has seriously hurt his ankle two games in a row. The point is that the C's should bring this same level of focus and intensity to Wednesday so they don't give the Raptors any hope in a winner-take-all Game 7 on Friday night which nobody from Boston wants any part of, trust me on that. The C's cannot expect the Heat to lose again to Milwaukee so they'd best follow their lead and get to the Eastern Conference Finals ASAP.
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