The Raptors, who continue to chase the Cleveland Cavaliers for first place in the Eastern Conference, raced out to a 19-point lead and looked headed for a rout of their Atlantic Division rival, which dropped two spots to sixth in the East with the loss.
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Sunday’s game was a fairly typical Raptors affair. He has been inconsistent for too long, but racked up a double-double against the Thunder and brought all sorts of third-quarter energy against the Raptors. In 22 games as a starter, he has averaged 7.2 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks.
Isaiah Thomas has not sounded like a happy camper during a tumultuous week for the Celtics. “We got ourselves back into [Friday’s] game, so we showed signs of playing like we know how, but a good team like the Raptors you can’t just play one good quarter”.
C Jonas Valanciunas, who hasn’t played since March 14 due to a left hand contusion, was available for the Raptors but didn’t see any action….
DeRozan missed a potential game-winning shot at the regulation buzzer, but Lowry and DeRozan scored nine quick overtime points, helping the Raptors (46-21) take a 94-88 lead with1:17 remaining. But down so many crucial pieces, you could have hardly expected it would be a breeze.
Toronto improved to 13-4 since the All-Star break and pulled within one win of matching its single-season record (49) set last season. “That’s so important”, Casey said. “Nothing is going to be easy with Boston”. A plan to spark another run with a super-small ball lineup that had Marcus Smart at the four backfired with a seemingly endless string of turnovers and sloppy possessions, allowing Toronto to take back control.
The Celtics turned the ball over seven times in the first quarter and six times in the fourth, leading to a total of 21 points for the Raptors. 600 and 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall, while the Raptors are 5-1 ATS in their last six games overall and 5-1 ATS in their last six against Eastern Conference opponents.
A 3-pointer from Fournier with 1:11 remaining trimmed Toronto’s lead to 97-96, but DeRozan responded with a floating jumper with 53.9 seconds left and added the free throw after being fouled by Ersan Ilyasova.
Stevens refuses to pin Boston’s struggles on the absence of Crowder and Jerebko.
“Everybody misses players”, he said. Stevens told reporters in Toronto. “When someone attacks you like that you have to come out and fight and I thought our guys did a good job of turning around and fighting back. But they weren’t, so other players have to step up”.
CLIPPERS AT WARRIORS: One of the league’s most spirited rivalries is renewed on Wednesday when Golden State returns home from a three-game road trip to host the Clippers. They have won 12 of their past 15 games.
STAT LINE OF THE WEEK: Bismack Biyombo, Raptors: 16 points, 25 rebounds, 42 minutes in a double-overtime win over the Pacers on Thursday. There are winnable games out West against the likes of the Suns and Lakers, but the Clippers, Trail Blazers and Warriors are a bit more challenging. That suggests that Boston would have at least another week without him.
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“People are going to pick and choose what they want to write and I can’t control that”. They lose games, not because they are a bad team, but because they are unorganized and don’t maintain their usual style of play in the last few minutes of game.
