Where do you begin after watching the craziest game of the NBA playoffs this season? Let's start with the most important fact: Toronto outlasted Boston 125-122 in double overtime meaning that Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals will be in primetime on Friday night (9, TNT). The winner advances to face Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals while the loser exits the Disney World bubble for good. As you can assume by the score and the stage, there were many heroes for both teams and perhaps only one real goat. There was no question who was the star of the night (and perhaps the best player of the series): Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry (game-high 33 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals) simply refused to let his team lose. Toronto has now won three of the last four games in the series after Boston took the first two games.
The Raptors also received a solid outing from Lowry's backcourt mate Fred VanVleet (21 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals) which was not a shock. Arguably, Toronto's second-best player on the night was an unexpected one-Norman Powell-who scored 23 points (including 10 points in OT) off the bench. OG Anunoby (13 points, 13 rebounds) had a double-double while Pascal Siakam (12 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals) didn't do much when you consider that he played the most minutes of anybody on either side (54). Serge Ibaka was questionable coming into Game 6 with a sprained ankle but he gutted it out and posted 13 points with three blocks in 21 minutes off the bench.
Before this evening, the Celtics were 15-0 when Jaylen Brown scored 25+ points in a playoff game. As I've always said, goofy stats are made to be broken since Brown was excellent with a team-high 31 points, a team-high 16 rebounds and two steals. Marcus Smart (23 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) had a triple-double while Jayson Tatum (29 points, 14 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks) nearly matched that. Daniel Theis (18 points, 7 rebounds) also played well, particularly in overtime where he finished a pair of alley-oops. I can't fairly pin the loss on one guy but Kemba Walker (5 points on 2-for-11 shooting, 7 assists) was invisible. If he had been anywhere near his normal self, Boston would have won this going away by double-digits.
This followed Game 5's start as Toronto was ice cold but the Celtics weren't much better as they grabbed a 25-21 lead after the first 12 minutes. Both teams scored 27 points in the second quarter giving Boston a slim 52-48 advantage at halftime. A disturbing storyline from the entire series continued as the Raptors outscored the Celtics in the third quarter (33-25). I could probably be on Brad Stevens' staff (assuming that I could quarantine and pass a bunch of Covid-19 tests in time) if I solved that riddle, why does that keep happening? The first quarter was a brickfest and the fourth quarter was the sequel that nobody wanted as neither team could buy a bucket but the C's did just enough (21-17) to force overtime. The first overtime was pretty gross as well because each club could only manage a measly eight points apiece. Things heated up in the second overtime with the Raptors outscoring the Celtics 19-16.
Take a breath, I think that we all need one at this point. Some stats were eerily similar: they each hit 44 shots from the floor including 19 3-pointers. Toronto had twice as many steals (10-5) and blocks (8-4) and three less turnovers (15-12) which gives you an idea how Boston lost when they grabbed 12 more rebounds (58-46) including six more offensive (14-8) and dished out 10 more assists (32-22). Oh and the Raptors' bench outscored the Celtics' bench 38-16. Yeesh.
Looking ahead to Friday which promises to be very exciting for basketball and sports fans in general, Boston is 23-7 all-time in Game 7s (2-1 under Stevens) while Toronto is 3-2 all-time although they've won their last three in a row. There really isn't that much left to say, it's just a question of which players/team will step up when it matters the absolute most? The stakes are going to be very high as the Raptors bid for their second consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearance while the Celtics try for their third trip there in four years. You figured that this would be a great series and while it's been bumpy at times, here we are.
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