The Boston Celtics are the only team to beat the Toronto Raptors in the bubble. During game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals the Celtics showed that wasn’t a fluke.
From the opening tip of the game the Raptors looked out of sorts. They started off by missing their first four shots and turned the ball over twice in the initial 3 minutes of the game.
Adding insult to injury, Paschal Siakam had 3 fouls in the first quarter which forced him out of the game until the middle of the 2nd quarter.
Toronto’s biggest payers didn’t shoot the ball well at all. Siakam, VanVleet and Lowry combined to shoot 13-44 (29%) from the field.
“I think more, we have to play a lot better. I think especially at the offensive end. We really just weren’t very good. We didn’t make many shots. We didn’t play with great composure. We didn’t execute very well. It was a rough one today on a lot of fronts. I think that the actual X’s and O’s and the tactical part, we’ll need to do better. But it wasn’t a very good rhythm on the day for us.”
Toronto Head Coach Nick Nurse
One the other side the Celtics played an efficient game despite turning the ball over 22 times.
Jason Tatum and Marcus Smart both put up 21 points and Jaylon Brown chipped in 17.
Smart said after the game that the Celtics were focused on the defending champs.
“You got a team like Toronto, the defending champs, a really, really good team and they know what it takes … you have to be locked in even more,” Smart said. “And that’s just (what) we try to come out and do.”
Marcus Smart
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