The Celtics suffered their first loss of the playoffs Thursday night on a last-second 3-pointer.
Just when it looked like they would be taking a 3-0 series lead over the defending champion Toronto Raptors, the Celtics gave up a corner 3-pointer by OG Anunoby at the buzzer.
The shot came after a cross-court inbounds pass from Kyle Lowry over Tacko Fall and gave the Raptors a 104-103 victory.
The Celtics had taken a 103-101 lead with 0.5 left on the court when [...]
The Celtics suffered their first loss of the playoffs Thursday night on a last-second 3-pointer.
Just when it looked like they would be taking a 3-0 series lead over the defending champion Toronto Raptors, the Celtics gave up a corner 3-pointer by OG Anunoby at the buzzer.
The shot came after a cross-court inbounds pass from Kyle Lowry over Tacko Fall and gave the Raptors a 104-103 victory.
The Celtics had taken a 103-101 lead with 0.5 left on the court when Daniel Theis took a no-look bounce pass from Kemba Walker and scored on a dunk. They were one defensive stop at the buzzer from taking a commanding lead, but the series stands at 2-1 heading into Game 4 Saturday night.
The Celtics had trailed, 95-91, with less than six minutes to go and went on a 10-2 run for a 101-97 lead, but baskets by Lowry and Fred VanVleet tied it with 21.5 seconds to go.
Walker drew extra attention as he drove the lane, then found Theis alone at the basket.
Walker had 29 points on 9 for 15 shooting with three steals while Jaylen Brown had 19 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks.
Jayson Tatum scored 15 points to go with nine rebounds and six assists. Marcus Smart struggled with his shot and had 11 points with five rebounds and four assists.
Lowry scored 31 points with eight assists and VanVleet scored 23 points, hitting five 3-pointers.
After holding a 10-point halftime lead, the Celtics fell behind during the third quarter. The Raptors turned to a zone defense that unsettled the Celtics’ offense.
The Raptors went in front, 68-66, thanks to a 21-9 run, giving Toronto its first advantage since a 23-21 lead late in the first quarter.
The Celtics were down, 72-68, with 2:17 left in the third quarter when they went on a 12-4 run to take an 80-76 advantage into the last 12 minutes.
Grant Williams started things with a corner 3-pointer and Walker followed with a 3-pointer.
Robert Williams then scored on a driving dunk, and converted a foul shot after being pushed in the air by Pascal Siakam to put the Celtics up, 77-74.
Brad Wanamaker scored on a drive and was fouled by Kyle Lowry with the three-point play opening the four-point lead after three quarters.
The Celtics struggled with their shot in the third quarter, finishing 8 for 21 thanks to a late flurry.
The Celtics were in front, 57-47, at the half after Walker made a 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left, just beating the shot clock to give him 21 points at the break.
A Lowry basket with 7:17 to go in the second quarter pulled the Raptors within 38-37, but the Celtics answered with a 9-0 run over 2:08 to open a 47-37 advantage.
Theis started the spurt with an alley-oop with Brown contributing three baskets and Walker hitting a technical foul shot.
A pair of VanVleet 3-pointers helped the Raptors pull within 52-47 late in the half, but Tatum scored inside with 35.1 seconds to go before Walker’s 3-pointer.
Brown had 10 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots in the half for the Celtics, who had a 29-21 rebounding advantage.
For the second time in three games, Raptors’ top scorer Siakam was in first-half foul trouble. He picked up his third with 7:44 left in the second quarter, an offensive foul when Siakam ran into Grant Williams.
Raptors coach Nick Nurse used a challenge to try and overturn the call, but it was upheld.
Lowry got the Raptors off to a quick start, scoring 10 points in less than five minutes to open the game.
Toronto led by as many as seven points early in the opening quarter, but the Celtics grabbed their first lead at 17-16 on a Theis free throw with 5:27 to go.
Tatum struggled in the quarter, missing five of his six shots, but Walker picked up the slack.
After struggling with his shot through three quarters in Game 2 and finishing with 17 points, Walker matched that point total in the opening 12 minutes. He was 5 for 6 from the floor, hitting a pair of 3-pointers, and connected on all five free throws while playing the entire quarter.
Walker closed the quarter with a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Celtics a 33-28 advantage going into the second quarter.
jfenton@enterprisenews.com
On Twitter at @JFenton_ent.