Thriller may be just the appetiser
Celtics thump Raptors to take series but still expect stiff challenge if they meet in play-offs
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MIAMI • It was an easy win for the Boston Celtics over defending champions the Toronto Raptors on Friday night but their battle this National Basketball Association (NBA) season may not be over yet.
As it stands, there is a likely chance that the two teams will clash again in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, and Celtics coach Brad Stevens has warned that this 122-100 rout would not have any significance when the day comes.
"This game will mean nothing if we get that opportunity again," he said at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, where the league is playing in a bubble due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
"They're a really good team. I thought they missed a lot of open looks and it just wasn't their night. Our guys played well, but it won't mean anything in a couple weeks."
Boston also won the season series against Toronto, taking three of the four meetings. Following Friday's victory, they have now won back-to-back games for the first time in the bubble.
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum powered the Celtics (46-23) with 20 and 18 points respectively, keeping the Raptors (49-19) from clinching the Eastern Conference second seeding. Boston are three games ahead of fourth-placed Miami (43-26).
"We're getting there," Tatum said.
"I don't want to put a cap on it, say where our ceiling is, but we're improving every day and we don't want to stop."
The Celtics, who boasted seven double-figure scorers, never trailed against the NBA's second-best defensive squad, jumping ahead 52-37 at half-time and outscoring the Raptors 39-20 in the third quarter.
"I don't think it's a surprise when your offence is dialled in like that," Stevens said.
Boston shot 49 per cent from the field and made 16 of 46 (34.8 per cent) from three-point range.
They were eight of 12 from behind the arc in the third quarter when they outscored Toronto.
The Raptors, who committed 18 turnovers, shot just 42.7 per cent from the field and were just 10 of 38 (26.3 per cent) from long range.
Fred VanVleet led Toronto with only 13 points. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Kyle Lowry, Norman Powell and Pascal Siakam added 11 points apiece and Terence Davis had 10.
The Raptors - who had won seven consecutive games, including their first three contests since the resumption of play - know it could be much different should they face the Celtics again in the play-offs.
"One thing about this team, we always bounce back and we always stick together," Powell said. "I'm not too worried."
In other games, the Brooklyn Nets and Orlando Magic clinched the last two berths in the Eastern play-offs in different fashions.
Brooklyn, led by 22 points from Caris LeVert and 21 from Joe Harris, routed Sacramento 119-106.
The Nets (33-36) ensured ninth-place Washington could not pull within four games to force a play-in series under NBA restart rules.
Orlando (32-38) had a chance to win and seal a berth but the Philadelphia 76ers rallied in the second half to beat them 108-101.
Instead, they reached the playoffs when Washington lost to New Orleans 118-107, leaving the Wizards (24-45) the only winless bubble team and too far back to threaten the Magic.
In the West, Dillon Brooks scored 22 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 121-92 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Grizzlies win snapped a five-game losing streak that dated back to before the season was put on hold by the pandemic.
It also kept Memphis (33-37) in the eighth spot in the Western Conference, a game ahead of Portland with three remaining.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
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