ORLANDO (Florida) • The Toronto Raptors have got the bit between their teeth.

After going down 2-0 to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals last year, they reeled off four successive victories to advance and subsequently landed their first National Basketball Association championship.

Toronto are at the halfway point of a similar recovery after beating the Boston Celtics 100-93 on Saturday to knot their semi-final series at 2-2.

Pascal Siakam paced the champions with 23 points as the Raptors seek to gain the upper hand in the best-of-seven series for the first time in Game 5 today and momentum is on their side, just like last summer.

"We can always get to another level. I feel like we can always do that and obviously everyone clicking at the right time, and once we have that, we're a pretty special team," he said. "Feels like we're starting over. It's a great team we're playing against. It's not going to be easy. We know that."

Teammate Kyle Lowry, who contributed 22 points, added: "We just continue to focus on every possession, every game. We know how tough those guys are. We've just got to continue to make it tough on those guys."

Just like in Game 3, the Raptors' defence again shone at Disney World, restricting their opponents to seven for 35 from three-point range.

Forward Jaylen Brown, in particular, had a miserable night, missing his first nine attempts from behind the arc to finish two for 11, and four for 18 and 14 points overall.

His teammates were equally poor from long range, with Jayson Tatum - whose 24-point display led all scorers - Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart going one for six.

Brown later defended his performance, telling MassLive.com that he was "a good shooter" and insisting Boston, who have not advanced to the NBA Finals since 2010, could not be counted out just yet.

"It's make or break time, 2-2, the series is tied up," he said. "We got to bounce back and be ready to fight. That's what it comes down to, fight. We have to be ready to fight for our lives next game and keep playing good basketball."

In the West, the Denver Nuggets, who were trounced in the opener, came back with a vengeance, powering to a 110-101 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers to even their semi-final series at 1-1.

They had a blistering first half during which their lead was as many as 23 points, and Jamal Murray, who had a game-high 27 points, claimed his team showed their true colours.

"Game 1, we were tired. I hate to admit it, but we were tired," said the guard. "We came out sloppy, exhausted, fatigued. We didn't make any shots, we didn't get back on defence. Tonight, we just upped the energy and that's all it took to win."

Game 3 takes place today.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

LA LAKERS V HOUSTON

West s-finals, Game 2 StarHub Ch202, 8.30am