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| Nate Robinson attemps a high-flying layup |
On Sunday afternoon in Toronto, the Celtics faced the Raptors. It wasn't really a close game, for the Celtics were without big-time playmaker, Rajon Rondo, and the Raptors dominated them from the second and third quarters of the game. For the second game in a row, the Celtics were forced to comeback, and for the second game in a row, they failed to complete the comeback. After the Celtics got off to a hot start in the first quarter, it went downhill from there. But that was only until late in the fourth quarter...The Celtics trailed by as many as 12 points early in the fourth quarter, but put together a 17-1 run later in the period to give themselves a 98-96 lead. They maintained a lead into the final moments of the game, as Glen netted 2 at free-throw line to put the C's ahead 101-98 with 21.3 seconds remaining. The Raptors called a timeout, and instead of drawing up a play for a game-tying 3-point attempt (like the Celtics thought), they elected to extend the game with an attempt at a quick two-point shot. Toronto executed perfectly out of the timeout and Sonny Weems scored an easy layup with 18.8 seconds left on the clock to bring the Raptors within one point.
Ray Allen took the inbound pass after Weems' bucket and turned to dribble up court, expecting to be fouled at some point and be sent to the line. But Leandro Barbosa reached around Allen and got away with a whack on the sharpshooter's left arm that resulted in the ball popping out of his possession. It bounced into the frontcourt and Jose Calderon took possession with 12.9 seconds remaining in the game.
It was a chaotic moment, but the Celtics' defense stayed poised. Pierce rose up and blocked Barbosa's attempt at a game-winning shot just outside the paint, seemingly saving the game for Boston. The rebound, however, fell into Amir Johnson's hands, and he went up quickly for another layup attempt from directly in front of the hoop. Pierce and Kevin Garnett both attempted to block that shot as well, and they did, but Pierce was whistled for a foul. Johnson went to the line and nailed both of the critical free throws to put Toronto on top, 102-101, with 2.7 seconds remaining.
Boston actually got a fantastic look at the basket on their final shot when Pierce dribbled down the right side of the lane and put up a fade-away jumper over DeMar DeRozan, but his shot came up just shot as time expired. With that, the C's were left with their second straight disappointing loss as they head to Atlanta to close out a difficult back-to-back Monday night.
Game Notes
The teams combined to commit 55 personal fouls, resulting in 77 free throw attempts.
Boston shot 28-of-38 from the line, while Toronto made 30 of its 39 attempts.
The Raptors' bench outscored Boston's 31-21.
Andrea Bargnani scored a game-high 29 points.
The No. 19 was randomly common in Boston's box score, as two players (Paul Pierce and Ray Allen) scored 19 points and three players (Semih Erden, Marquis Daniels and Delonte West) finished with a minus-19 in the plus/minus category.
Kevin Garnett and Allen tied for a team-high with eight rebounds apiece.
Reggie Evans grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds for Toronto.
Both teams made 34 field goals.
Pierce led the Celtics with five assists, which tied with Leandro Barbosa for the game-high.
Barbosa also scored 12 points off the bench.
All five of Boston's starters finished with a positive plus/minus rating, while all four reserves finished in the negative.
Amir Johnson finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for Toronto.
The teams combined to commit only 24 turnovers, 13 by Boston and 11 by Toronto.
Box Score
TEAM-----1---2---3---4-----TOT.
BOS-------31-27--17--26---101
TOR-------23-38--21--20---102
src- espn.com
pic- celtics.com
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