In a heart-stopping overtime test of wills, and with their playoff hopes on the line, the Boston Celtics earned their most dramatic win of the season, 117-116 over the Toronto Raptors on a Marcus Smart putback at the buzzer.
The Celtics were led by Isaiah Thomas’ 25 points, while Tyler Zeller added 20 and 9 rebounds. Evan Turner (18 points and 10 assists), Kelly Olynyk (16 points), Smart (15), and Brandon Bass (11) were also in double figures. Toronto was led by DeMar DeRozan, 38 points on 14-25 shooting, and Lou Williams, 27 on 9-17.
The Celts gained ground in the playoff race as Miami lost at Detroit and Brooklyn lost at Atlanta. The Nets are now 35-41 in the 7th seed, Boston is 35-42 and back in the 8th and final playoff spot, and the Heat drop to 9th at 34-42.
Boston was protecting a 2-point lead in the final seconds of OT when DeRozan drove and kicked to Lou Williams, who delivered a back-breaking 3 to put the Raptors up 1 with 4 seconds left. After a timeout, Boston’s inbounds play broke down, and Brad Stevens alertly called another timeout with 2.6 seconds left.
Thomas, who had not been on the court, re-entered the game and a new play was drawn up to get him the ball as he cut from halfcourt toward the hoop. The little lefty drove and the ball was knocked loose, but right to Smart underneath. The rookie laid it up and the horn sounded as the ball bounced off the rim and through.
The game got to OT after Toronto fought back from an 11-point deficit after 3 quarters. The Raptors started the 4th with a 9-1 run before Jonas Jerebko threw down a monster slam (on one of Brad’s now-fabled after-timeout plays). The Cs bounced back as Thomas scored 7 straight points in the late stages of the 4th, and when Bass got away for a dunk in transition, Boston led, 100-94, with 2:19 remaining in regulation. Bass was also fouled, but missed the free throw, then baskets by Williams and DeRozan cut the margin to just 2 points. IT missed a jumper, then DeRozan drove into contact, forcing the foul call. He made both to tie it at 100.
In a scramble on a broken play, Turner saved the day by driving past his defender and squeezing in a twisting layup to beat the shot clock. Boston had a 2-point lead with 32.7 seconds left. After a timeout, the Raptors isolated DeRozan for a quick drive to the hoop. He scored over Turner with 30 seconds on the clock, smartly preserving Toronto’s 2-for-1 opportunity.
The Celts went back to Turner, who used a Zeller pick to free himself for a clutch jumper in the lane – Celts by 2 with 12.8 seconds left. DeRozan returned the favor, taking Turner off the dribble to swish his own runner from the paint. Tied at 104. IT missed from deep at the buzzer and it was on to overtime.
A disputed out-of-bounds call early in OT took the ball away from Boston, which hurt even more after Williams hit a 3-pointer. Olynyk made 2 FTs on a make-up call, then Turner banked in another impossible twisting layup for a 1-point lead. DeRozan followed with a layup and fallaway jumper, putting Toronto ahead, 111-108. IT replied with 2 FTs, but Zeller fouled DeRozan on a jumper and his 2 FTs kept the Raptors ahead, 113-110. IT’s layup was blocked, but Zeller rebounded, was fouled, and made 1 of 2.
DeRozan missed a jumper, thanks to Smart stepping up to cut off his drive, and Boston rebounded. Smart then hit a gigantic trey from the corner to put the Celts ahead, 114-113, with 32 ticks left. While Celts fans held their collective breath, Toronto missed two 3s. Bass was fouled after the rebound, but made just 1 of 2 at the line. Toronto had the ball with 14.9 on the clock and Boston ahead, 115-113, setting up the dramatic finish.
At the start of the night, Toronto was in control, leading 24-15 after 12 minutes. Boston couldn’t buy a hoop for most of the quarter, shooting 7-20 (35%). They also couldn’t get to the line – zero attempts while the Raptors went 8-8. Insult to injury: Tyler Hansbrough, who averages 3.2 PPG and started only because Amir Johnson was injured, scored 10 points in the quarter on 2-2 shooting plus 6-6 FTs. Hansbrough went on to score 18 points for the game, without missing a shot, while grabbing 8 boards.
In the 2nd quarter, Smart, Olynyk and Turner combined to score 12 straight and tie the game at 29. Boston continued to be aggressive, extending the run to 17-2 and taking a 34-31 lead. Brad Stevens turned to Jared Sullinger, who the coach had said probably wouldn’t see the court again until he got some practice time. Sully didn’t score in the quarter but had 5 boards and a hustle play that saved a possession and led to an Evan Turner jumper. Bass abused Hansbrough in the paint multiple times, posting 6 points in the quarter, and Olynyk shot 4-6 (2-3 on treys) for a team-high 10 points at the half. The score was even, 47-47.
The Celtics grabbed control in the 3rd, taking a 62-49 lead while holding Toronto without a field goal for the first 5:40 of the quarter. Avery Bradley temporarily found his stroke with 7 points (his only scoring of the night) on three straight jumpers, including a 3. Tyler Zeller added 12 points in the frame on perfect shooting: 5 FGs and 2 FTs. Lou Williams kept Toronto alive with 12 points in the quarter. Boston led, 81-70, heading to the 4th.
The Green:
Boston scored 32 points on 13-22 shooting in the 2nd quarter and 34 points on 14-26 in the 3rd.
With 4:35 left in the 4th, IT made a long jumper that was ruled a 2, then changed to a 3 after review.
On the second night of back-to-back games, the Celts have now won 12 of 17, including 10 of their last 11 and seven straight.
The Gross:
Boston gave up 34 points in the 4th quarter. Toronto shot 12-17 from the field and 9-10 from the line.
With the score tied and the Celts having a final possession in the 4th, they resorted to IT in isolation. No one set a pick and he launched a 3-pointer that barely hit the rim.
For the second straight night, the officials had Boston fans shaking their heads. In the 1st half, Toronto was 11-14 from the line, while the Celts were just 3-4. Some no-calls against the Raptors and several phantom fouls against Boston had Mike Gorman and Cedric Maxwell openly mocking the refs.
The Greenlights:
GAME WINNER
Replay Review: if Smart’s made FG was released before time expired in OT of #BOSvTOR. Ruling: Upheld, shot counts. http://t.co/vCAggtehqo
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) April 5, 2015
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The Grid:
- Boston is now 2-5 in overtime games, while Toronto is 4-3.
- There were 14 lead changes and 11 ties.
- Points in the paint: Boston 56, Toronto 54.
- 2nd-chance points: Boston 20, Raptors 10.
- Free throws: Boston 15-22, Toronto 30-38
- Besides Johnson (ankle), the Raptors were missing Kyle Lowry (back). Lowry put up 35 points at Boston in November.
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