Jayson Tatum had a game high 29 points including a huge offensive rebound and a foul shot late, to lead the Boston Celtics to a 92-87 win over the Toronto Raptors in game seven of the Eastern Conference Semifinals Friday night at the Walt Disney World Resort. Boston wins the series 4-3, and advances to the Eastern Conference Finals for the third time in four years.
Things went back and forth over the first several minutes, before Boston used a 13-0 run sparked by a three-pointer from Tatum and two from behind the arc by Marcus Smart for a 19-7 lead. Toronto would then go on their own run of 15-2 over the next 3:43 to take a 22-21 advantage. The Raptors held a slight lead at the end of the first 12 minutes 27-26. The Celtics took a very brief lead in the second quarter with the first basket, but then Toronto took over the next five or so minutes and took their biggest lead of the night at 40-33 when Serge Ibaka hit three free throws with 6:05 to go in the half. Boston turned up their defensive pressure and fed off that to get the offense going, and outscored the Raptors 17-6 in the final six minutes to take a 50-46 lead into the break. The Celts combo of Jaylen Brown-Tatum-Smart went for 38 of the 50 points, while Ibaka and Fred VanVleet had 12 each for Toronto.
Boston stormed out of the locker room and scored the first five points of the third quarter as they held a pair of nine point leads. Toronto wouldn’t go away staying within striking distance and overtaking the lead once again when VanVleet knocked in a three-pointer, but it was the Celtics taking a 72-71 lead to the final 12 minutes. A three-pointer by Kemba Walker, and layups by Tatum and Daniel Theis to open the fourth pushed the lead to eight for Boston. Kyle Lowry would later cut the deficit to 89-87 with two free throws with 1:21 to go. Then after a Tatum miss, Smart would block Norman Powell at the rim on an fast beak layup attempt to tie the game. After a Celtics miss on the other end, Brown would get an offensive rebound that would lead to a pair of free throws from Grant Williams with 35.4 seconds left. Williams missed both however, but Tatum was able to corral an offensive rebound and get fouled. Tatum hit one from the line, and VanVleet missed a game tying three-point attempt for Toronto that never reached the rim with 12 seconds to go. Walker knocked in two from the charity stripe to put it away.
Tatum added 12 rebounds and seven assists to his point total in the Boston win. Brown finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, and four steals. Smart had 16 points, six assists, and three steals. Walker also finished in double figures with 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists. VanVleet led Toronto in the loss with 20 points and six assists. The Raptors also put four others in double figures- Lowry (16), Ibaka (14), Siakam (13), and Powell (11). Both teams struggled from three-point range on the night combining to go 17-66 (25.7%). The Celtics also shot only 13-23 from the foul line that kept the Raptors in the game. The defending world champions from Toronto finish the season with a final record of 67-24. Boston will now prepare for the Miami Heat in the Conference Finals. The green have taken two of the three matchups in the regular season between the two teams. Game one is Tuesday night. The Celts will attempt to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
