Raptors (0-2) at Celtics (2-0) Round 2 Game 3 9/3/20

[SparzWizard]

I feel like 76ers fans are more happy then Toronto Raptors fans right now.

LibertyBallers must be laughing at the C's right now for choking, yuck.

[keevsnick]

I feel like 76ers fans are more happy then Toronto Raptors fans right now.

LibertyBallers must be laughing at the C's right now for choking, yuck.

Well that happens when you dont even put up enough of a fight to be in position to choke.

[Phantom255x]

This loss sucked, but it's still not as bad as that Game 6 loss to Washington a few years ago when Wall hit that buzzer beater. If you remember, that game was Friday night, and Game 7 was not until Monday night, so it was a long and depressing few days before Game 7. Tough weekend.

At least we're still up 2-1 in this series. Maybe this is a "wake up call" as we had been playing sloppy lately and not a full 48 minutes

[ozgod]

I feel like 76ers fans are more happy then Toronto Raptors fans right now.

LibertyBallers must be laughing at the C's right now for choking, yuck.

Just gotta do this in reply:

[SparzWizard]

This loss sucked, but it's still not as bad as that Game 6 loss to Washington a few years ago when Wall hit that buzzer beater. If you remember, that game was Friday night, and Game 7 was not until Monday night, so it was a long and depressing few days before Game 7. Tough weekend.

At least we're still up 2-1 in this series. Maybe this is a "wake up call" as we had been playing sloppy lately and not a full 48 minutes

Dude, I remember that miserable game. We was celebrating my birthday at Dave & Busters. Saw the game, John Wall killed the C's at the buzzer and boy was I really disappointed while all these LA/random team fans were murmuring or rejoicing lol.

I'm so glad Kelly Olynyk showed up in Game 7 and buried them lol.

[Atzar]

I feel like 76ers fans are more happy then Toronto Raptors fans right now.

LibertyBallers must be laughing at the C's right now for choking, yuck.

Who cares?  We swept their asses out of the bubble and now they're about to hire a goldfish for a coach. 

[gouki88]

I feel like 76ers fans are more happy then Toronto Raptors fans right now.

LibertyBallers must be laughing at the C's right now for choking, yuck.

Lol, what? This doesn't make any sense.

[Tr1boy]

I was asking how in heavens did Tacko Fall not bother Lowry inbound pass??

Well sneaky Lowry took two-three steps back from the sideline

Lowry would not had the same luxury in a regular basketball court. Would have been a much difficult pass to OG

[Redz]

Tacko -3 plus minus in 0.5 seconds 😞

lol
I posted earlier that this would give him a -17,820 per 48.  I mean that's gotta be a record, right?

[GreenCoffeeBean]

Sucks to lose this one but can’t win a championship without a little bit of adversity. Toronto played this one like an elimination game. Would have been really nice to essentially make it one. Lowry, Anunoby, Fred, and Siakam player 46, 45, 40, and 37 minutes respectively. Let’s hope that extra mileage shows up in game 4.

[ozgod]

From Washburn in the Globe:

The Celtics were so close, achingly close to taking complete control of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the defending champion Toronto Raptors.

And then OG Anunoby crept down the baseline, Marcus Smart pointed for Jaylen Brown to cover him, but with the pumped-in crowd noise and the intensity of the moment, Brown didn’t hear him. So, he was a half-step too late in closing out on Anunoby as he gathered an absurdly difficult crosscourt pass from Kyle Lowry.

And Anunoby sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer, sending the Raptors to an improbable win and the series into sudden suspense.

What was even more demoralizing about the loss was the Celtics again proved they were the better team throughout the game. They led most of the way and thought they delivered the knockout blow when Kemba Walker found Daniel Theis for a dunk with 0.5 seconds left.

Those 0.5 seconds will be reviewed countless times by Celtics players over the next 40-plus hours. Why did they play zone on the final play? Who let Anunoby get so open? How did Lowry throw a pass over 7-foot-5-inch Tacko Fall, inserted on that final play to guard the inbounds pass?

“We’ve just got to be better as a unit,” Brown said. “Regardless of what [defense] we was in, we know we had to guard the 3-point line. So that was just a [expletive] disgrace at the end of the game. That was just terrible. No way we should have lost that game. I take responsibility for that, not just that play but a lot of the playoffs before.

“It’s the NBA playoffs. Either you let them gain momentum or you come back and get ready to play the next game.”

Just when it appeared Brown was ready to move forward, that outrage returned again, and it was understandable.

“We just needed one stop to win the [expletive] game and we end up losing,” Brown said. “But you move on. We’ve got to be ready for Game 4.”

And as much as Brown tried to move on, again he couldn’t. And again, it’s OK.

“They made a remarkable play at the end of the game,” he said. “It was just a miscommunication, the coverage that we was in. That’s all that really is. He snuck along the baseline and we’ve just got to communicate better. That can’t happen. It’s just me being four years in, I’ve got to be better. Can’t give up a three at the end of the game. It’s a [expletive] disgrace. It’s terrible. No excuse for it at all. It was ridiculous. Can’t take your foot off the gas at all, gotta be ready to play Game 4.”

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/03/sports/celtics-next-assignment-is-forget-this-move/

I want them mad...I want them to realize there's no days off, no possessions off. This is the defending champs they're playing, and after winning 6 in a row it's good to get a reality check. They will come out firing on Saturday.

Also...I guess the pumped-in crowd noise is really loud. 

[Redz]

It's really a shame that Kemba's pass to Theis will now be lost to history, because that was one of the all time great clutch passes.  You just don't see too many last second passes like that. 

[SparzWizard]

It's really a shame that Kemba's pass to Theis will now be lost to history, because that was one of the all time great clutch passes.  You just don't see too many last second passes like that.

Well, the Celtics better win the series so at least that pass can somehow still be remembered. Even though the outcome of the game will overshadow it.

[SparzWizard]

From Washburn in the Globe:

The Celtics were so close, achingly close to taking complete control of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the defending champion Toronto Raptors.

And then OG Anunoby crept down the baseline, Marcus Smart pointed for Jaylen Brown to cover him, but with the pumped-in crowd noise and the intensity of the moment, Brown didn’t hear him. So, he was a half-step too late in closing out on Anunoby as he gathered an absurdly difficult crosscourt pass from Kyle Lowry.

And Anunoby sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer, sending the Raptors to an improbable win and the series into sudden suspense.

What was even more demoralizing about the loss was the Celtics again proved they were the better team throughout the game. They led most of the way and thought they delivered the knockout blow when Kemba Walker found Daniel Theis for a dunk with 0.5 seconds left.

Those 0.5 seconds will be reviewed countless times by Celtics players over the next 40-plus hours. Why did they play zone on the final play? Who let Anunoby get so open? How did Lowry throw a pass over 7-foot-5-inch Tacko Fall, inserted on that final play to guard the inbounds pass?

“We’ve just got to be better as a unit,” Brown said. “Regardless of what [defense] we was in, we know we had to guard the 3-point line. So that was just a [expletive] disgrace at the end of the game. That was just terrible. No way we should have lost that game. I take responsibility for that, not just that play but a lot of the playoffs before.

“It’s the NBA playoffs. Either you let them gain momentum or you come back and get ready to play the next game.”

Just when it appeared Brown was ready to move forward, that outrage returned again, and it was understandable.

“We just needed one stop to win the [expletive] game and we end up losing,” Brown said. “But you move on. We’ve got to be ready for Game 4.”

And as much as Brown tried to move on, again he couldn’t. And again, it’s OK.

“They made a remarkable play at the end of the game,” he said. “It was just a miscommunication, the coverage that we was in. That’s all that really is. He snuck along the baseline and we’ve just got to communicate better. That can’t happen. It’s just me being four years in, I’ve got to be better. Can’t give up a three at the end of the game. It’s a [expletive] disgrace. It’s terrible. No excuse for it at all. It was ridiculous. Can’t take your foot off the gas at all, gotta be ready to play Game 4.”

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/03/sports/celtics-next-assignment-is-forget-this-move/

I want them mad...I want them to realize there's no days off, no possessions off. This is the defending champs they're playing, and after winning 6 in a row it's good to get a reality check. They will come out firing on Saturday.

Also...I guess the pumped-in crowd noise is really loud. 

I haven't heard statements from Brad Stevens yet, need to know why Kanter was inserted in, why it was zone defense, why the team was miscommunicating. A lot of questions and adversities.

This is one of those games where you need Bill Belichick to instill the mindset of "We're onto Cincinnati" and get them ready for Game 4 because this loss was totally unacceptable and a momentum changer.

I would not have been this upset if it was a regular-season game. But these are the playoffs, and every game counts.

[CelticsElite]

Noticed that we spent the entire time out talking to tacko telling him how to block the inbounds pass


Check it out

https://youtu.be/t0aLmBCXoqA