Rapid Recap is designed for the busiest of Celtics fans. Whether you can’t stay awake to read 10 paragraphs or your hangover is just too much, Rapid Recap tells the timeline of the game in only a minute or two.
As my Red’s Army compatriot Rich Jensen noted in this morning’s Dump, Game 2 was the Celtics’ chance to establish real title-contention potential—through a 2-0 series lead on the defending champs. That’s exactly what they did. The Raptors fought much harder this time—19 lead changes, as opposed to zero in Game 1, and 12 ties—but couldn’t execute at the end.
Making a new playoff record for himself, Jayson Tatum was consistently devastating on both sides of the ball with 34-8-6 and a steal. Behind him was Marcus Smart, whose three-point tear in Q4 catalyzed a Cs squad that had sank into a quagmire the previous quarter: 19 points including 5 threes, plus 3 rebounds, an assist and 2 blocks. Jaylen had an almost casual 16-8-2-3-2 line, and while Kemba Walker started with wretched shooting, he heated up at the end, sealing the 102-99 Celtics victory with a dagger jumper and finishing with 17-6-4.
Now, an essential non sequitur before our tweet-based recap:
Could see this being useful pic.twitter.com/eYcEbfW5rc
— #HonkHonk (@ColeyMick) September 1, 2020
Right off, it was clear the Celtics weren’t facing the walleyed version of the Raptors that screwed the pooch in Game 1, and naturally, Toronto’s arguably weakest link from that contest was a big part of it:
And Pascal has immediately come out really aggressive, attacking the paint and both scoring and dishing. Very encouraging start for Toronto both for him individually and the Raptors as a team. https://t.co/kCEpGywBYp
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) September 1, 2020
Counterpoint:
that stepback was a thing of beauty pic.twitter.com/xGXT8OSZ7n
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 1, 2020
Nevertheless:
7-0 Raptors run gives them a 15-9 early lead w/6:26 left in Q1
TOR: 7-for-10
BOS: 4-for-9— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) September 1, 2020
Second counterpoint: We got a Rob Williams dunk after the first timeout, which makes sense. He had to stop his non-linear travel through space-time at the right moment to smash that basket.
Lob to Rob 😂 pic.twitter.com/wpHy1YJBfx
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 1, 2020
That kick-started an 8-0 Cs run to counter the Raps’ 9-0 run. Then there was another Timelord dunk, one that ended in a rough-looking hard fall, but ultimately a false alarm:
Williams now rejoins the team on the bench and looks like he will return. #Celtics #Raptors
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) September 1, 2020
Williams finished with 11 points, 8 of which he got in under five minutes.
Nice Jaylen drop off to Rob cutting, who appears to be okay pic.twitter.com/U8uBssjhkI
— Max Carlin (@maxacarlin) September 1, 2020
Boston had difficulty containing Toronto’s three-point shooting in Q1. Fred VanVleet was the biggest problem in that regard, though OG Anunoby was no slouch either. Nevertheless, the frame ended in a 28-28 tie, due in large part to the Timelord.
"How I Broke My Ass and Became a Finals MVP: A TIMELORD Tale" — by Robert Williams The Third pic.twitter.com/H2zCM56fi2
— 👁️🐷👁️𝙈𝙖𝙣𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙋𝙞𝙜 (@manbearpiggins) September 1, 2020
The second quarter began with some trouble due to the bench disparity between the Raptors and Celtics: Toronto’s is rather deep, while Boston’s…isn’t.
B2b offensive possessions with deep Semi 3's is not, imo, good sports
— Bradsketbawl (@bradsketbawl) September 1, 2020
Wanamaker got lucky, that was a flagrant
— Dr. Daniel fromSport, Esq. (@DanielfromSport) September 1, 2020
(The above being a response to Brad Wanamaker’s shouldering of Kyle Lowry in a non-malicious but irresponsible defensive attempt.)
Turnovers were also a notable Boston problem, as was an offensively out-of-sync Kemba, though neither hurt the team enough to keep the Cs from holding a narrow lead. (Walker eventually netted some points with a trip to the free-throw line.)
Obligatory mention that seeing a free throw fall can really help a player who's cold from the field
— John Karalis 🇬🇷 🇺🇦 (@John_Karalis) September 1, 2020
This is how you run a perfect fast break pic.twitter.com/qRUl4ymemF
— Dante Turo (@DanteOnDeck) September 1, 2020
Despite moments like that, Toronto was still thoroughly in the game at the half with Boston up 50-48.
#Celtics lead #Raptors 50-48 at the half
Tatum: 16pts, 5rebs
Brown: 14pts, 2stls, 2blks
Williams: 10pts, 1blkVanVleet: 14pts, 4asts
Siakam: 11pts, 4rebs
Ibaka: 9pts— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) September 1, 2020
The Raptors came out hard to start the second half, much as they did the first, and retook the lead for the first time since about the 4:00 mark of Q2. Marc Gasol, pretty quiet in this series, morphed temporarily back into the defensive monster we once knew him as, and Serge Ibaka joined the Raptors’ three-point barrage. On the other hand, Kemba finally got a field goal, and the Jays stayed awesome, so things stayed close.
Great use of the shot fake from Kemba!#NBAPlayoffs on ESPN pic.twitter.com/JOhp0TuXZM
— NBA (@NBA) September 1, 2020
Beautiful drop off by Jayson. Improvement as an interior passer from him is so crucial pic.twitter.com/vOfcQIgYit
— Max Carlin (@maxacarlin) September 1, 2020
Again, that stupid Raptors bench, though:
This rings so true right now https://t.co/IFRamCVEEH
— Adam Taylor (@AdamTaylorNBA) September 1, 2020
And a noble but failed effort at Marcus Smart to grift an offensive foul only further emboldened Toronto:
Marcus is the only one willing to go that length to get a call #HeartofaChampion
— Riffs Man (@Riffs_Man) September 1, 2020
(Apologies to the Pats fan readers for the following:)
that call will probably be reversed and maybe should, but on the other hand nick nurse wears the world's dumbest non-TB12 branded hat, so
— shai huludgeous-alexander 🐗 (@diaboliam) September 1, 2020
[screaming internally] pic.twitter.com/coH5U6UytT
— The Ringer (@ringer) September 1, 2020
78-70 Toronto at the end of three frames—not catastrophic, given how badly the Cs played in the last few minutes of Q3.
https://twitter.com/softcoredancing/status/1300939457160523777?s=20
Marcus Smart, sensing that tweet with his superhuman perception, proceeded to hoist and can a trio of consecutive three-pointers.
MARCUS SMART THE GREATEST SHOOTER OF ALL TIME
— bread b☘️y (Celtics in 5) (@MarxistSmart) September 1, 2020
THE GREATEST TO EVER PLAY THE GAME OF BASKETBALL
— KG (@karla________) September 1, 2020
marcus smart.
marcus smart.
marcus smart.— smarfwater™ (@smarfwater) September 1, 2020
"Doesn't make one until it matters."
That's what we like to call WINNING PLAYS #Celtics pic.twitter.com/y4czZi1Mbn— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) September 1, 2020
He just…kept…making…triples.
That’s FIVE 4th quarter 3s from Marcus Smart pic.twitter.com/rwTBxiTrVF
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) September 1, 2020
Toronto began cracking somewhat under the pressure, making the sort of dumb fouls and turnovers that were Boston’s sole province in that rotten third quarter, and also finally going cold on the offensive end…
Jayson length in the passing lanes, easy 2 pic.twitter.com/yHzkeMfmeK
— Max Carlin (@maxacarlin) September 1, 2020
…well, for a little bit. Then suddenly Boston barely had a lead again, and we were seeing prime Kyle Lowry foul-grifting (which you have to accept if you root for SMARF to do it, but still), and your humble scribe was getting nervous…
KEMBERRRRR pic.twitter.com/ztYtrBluC9
— Max Carlin (@maxacarlin) September 2, 2020
But with a Cardiac clutch jumper and some critical misses by the Raptors, that was a wrap.
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