SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
The upset-mined Boston Celtics sent the defending champion Toronto Raptors on the brink of elimination, with Monday night‘s 111-89 rout putting the 4th-seeded Celtics at 3-1 in the best-of-7
Eastern Conference semifinals of the National Basketball Association playoffs.
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In the Western Conference semis at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, the 2nd-seeded Los Angeles Clippers bounced back from an opening game defeat by turning back the 3rd-seeded Denver Nuggets for the second-straight time, 113-107, and are now up 2-1 in the series.
While the Clippers are now two wins away from facing the No.1-seeded Los Angeles Lakers-4th-seeded Houston Rockets winner in the conference finals, but Toronto must now win three in a row to gain the conference finals versus the 5th-seeded Miami Heat-overall top-seed Milwaukee Bucks survivor after the Bucks avoided being ousted in game four after Miami had won the first three.
Boston took the court as the better team once again, outscoring the Raptors, 25-11, after one quarter and a resounding 62-35 halftime advantage. The rout continued when the Celtics took a 86-63 lead after three quarters, and now, just like the fate of the Bucks, the north of the border team has to win three-straight.
Presently, though, it could well be Boston versus Miami in the conference finals.
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Jaylen Brown topped the Celtic scoring with 27 points, Kemba Walker contributed 21 points and the game-high seven assists, while Jayson Tatum chipped in with 18 points and the game-high 10 rebounds. Boston, at its best from the outside shooting, made 10 of 30 3s, took down 43 rebounds, and had six players in double figures. In turnovers. it had a dozen, and also included six shot blocks.
For the struggling Raptors, it was Fred VanVleet as their scoring leader with 18 points, and in assists with five. Normal Powell added 16 points and OG Anunoby brought down the team-high seven boards. Toronto grabbed 30 rebounds, had four blocked shots, and a dozen turnovers.
The teams play again Wednesday night.
It was a much tighter contest between Los Angeles and Denver. The Clippers were up by a point after one quarter, trailed 59-57, at the intermission, 88-84 after three quarters, but a 18-6 LA run in the fourth quarter brought the triumph that put it up 2-1 in the series.
Paul George paved the way for the Clippers with 32 points and Kawhi Leonard added the game-highs 14 rebounds and six assists. Los Angeles had 41 rebounds and tossed in 11-of-31 3s. George was 12-for-18 from the field and 5-for-7 via 3s.
For Denver, it was Nikola Jokic tying George for the game-high 32 points, and he also scrubbed the boards for the team-high 12 rebounds. Jamal Murray was good for 14 points and a game-high nine assists. Then there was Michael Porter, Jr., adding 18 points and 10 boards. The Nuggets brought down 36 rebounds and made 11-of-34 3s.
The winner here will take on This series will also continue Wednesday night.
