Raptors survive, defeat Celtics in instant classic 2OT victory
- by Grant Boone
- in Sports
- — Sep 12, 2020
The Toronto Raptors survived an elimination scare from the Boston Celtics, emerging with a 125-122 victory in Game 6 to keep its season alive.
Williams, a power forward and first-round draft pick by the Celtics in 2019, scored six points and pulled down a rebound for Boston in the loss.
Instead, the Celtics will prepare for Game 7 on Friday. At the time of his departure, he was the two-time Southeastern Conference Player of the Year. He later made a pointed comment about it to reporters.
© Kim Klement, USA TODAY Sports Kyle Lowry scored a game-high 33 points for the Raptors.
While the Celtics hold an edge in recent dates with Toronto, posting SU wins in eight of their last 13 overall, they have produced mixed results in recent Game 7 appearances, going 6-6 in 12 contests since 1988.
Friday's victor will meet the Miami Heat in the conference finals.
It wasn't pretty - VanVleet, Lowry, Powell, Siakam and Anunoby scored at a rate of 87.7 points per possession, which. isn't good - but they were able to make life hard enough for the Celtics to win in double overtime and force a Game 7.
The Congolese big man had been questionable after spraining his left ankle late in Monday night's 111-89 loss to Boston, but in his pre-game availability Wednesday, coach Nick Nurse said Ibaka was "OK".
A career playoff-high 13 rebounds were instrumental to Toronto's win, and the calm with which he's played is in flawless concert with his personality. On the bright side, Marcus Smart notched a triple-double while Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 60 points and 30 rebounds. His final points came on a clutch fadeaway to give the Raptors a four-point lead with just a few seconds remaining.
OG Anunoby sank a huge three at the buzzer to give the Toronto Raptors a 104-103 victory in Game 3 against the Boston Celtics. And Serge Ibaka's three consecutive three-pointers helped swing the momentum in the Raptors' favour in the second quarter.
"I think he played a really good game (Wednesday) night".
It would be hard to argue that any player in the league emphasizes the ability to be tough as well as Lowry- he's once again leading the playoffs with seven charging fouls drawn.
When asked if he thought he did anything wrong, Nick Nurse was having none of it, saying no, they were "just competing".
