Making them look Smart: Stevens draws up another winner – Boston Celtics Blog – ESPN
Unflappable as always, Stevens huddled his team with 2.6 seconds to play, swapped his personnel, reached into the back of his mind’s encyclopedic playbook and set into motion a sequence that ended with Marcus Smart beating the buzzer in a thrilling, 117-116 overtime triumph over the Raptors on Saturday at the Air Canada Centre. The play Stevens drew up had speedy point guard Isaiah Thomas collecting the ball on the move near midcourt and trying to finish at the rim. Thomas encountered traffic near the hoop and — whether he muscled up a shot attempt or simply tried to pass (he told reporters in Toronto he was trying to do the latter) — he managed to get the ball to Smart, who had crashed on the baseline, corralled the ball before it could sail away, tap-danced into position, and quickly laid the ball in just before the buzzer.
Ranking the NBA’s 30 teams | The Sacramento Bee The Sacramento Bee
13. Toronto Raptors (45-31, LW 13): Beating good teams has been hard for the Raptors in the second half of the season.
Raptors left reeling as Celtics win in OT | Toronto Star
“The game is all about instinct, and when you know it’s only two seconds left and you’re coming from the other end of the court, you think it’s just going to be one shot,” was how DeMar DeRozan described the dramatic final play. And it was just one shot but it came from Smart, not from Thomas, who was being hotly pursued by Lou Williams after beginning his foray to the basket on the Celtics’ side of halfcourt and 2.6 seconds left in the game. “It was full court, strip, layup . . . that’s a lot to transpire,” said Williams, who had seemingly won the game for Toronto with a three-pointer with four seconds left in overtime. “But it’s a lesson to be learned too. You can never relax, never feel like a game has been won. It always comes down to the final buzzer going off. That’s two heartbreakers in a row for us, but it builds character. Guys are feeling it.”
Celtics gut Raptors on last-second shot | Raptors | Sports | Toronto Sun
“It’s frustrating but it’s part of the league,” Casey said before the game. “We can’t panic about it or over — analyse it. It is what it is. It’s a great opportunity to play Lou at the point, more minutes for Greivis or even Pat (Patterson) and Tyler (Hansbrough) to get time at the four. Even Jonas (Valanciunas) has a greater opportunity to score.” Hansbrough, who got the start in place of the injured Amir Johnson, took full advantage of his opportunity and went 5-for-5 from the field and 8-for-8 from the line for 18 points and seven rebounds. It got so good for Hansbrough that the crowd started MVP chants for the king of the Raptors blue-collar brigade. Midway through the third with the Raptors leaking oil like your grandfather’s ’72 Chevy, Hansbrough got the crowd back in the game when he stole the ball at mid-court and then went in for the uncontested dunk.
Smart’s buzzer-beater gives Celtics OT win – Yahoo Sports
With 2.6 seconds left and Boston trailing by one, Smart took a pass from a driving Isaiah Thomas and sneaked behind the collapsing Toronto defense to score the winning basket, silencing the sellout crowd of 19,800. ”When he drove he committed two defenders, including mine,” Smart said. ”Lou Williams swiped (the ball) toward the area I was in and I was able to get the shot off in time.” Williams, who’d put Toronto in front with a 3 just seconds earlier, thought he’d secured the win when he got his hands on Thomas’ pass. ”I thought I did enough,” Williams said. ”I figure it’s game. I thought I got the stop. It was just a bad bounce.”
“We knew we had a timeout when we drew up the first play. I didn’t really want to inbound it if our first option wasn’t open, and it wasn’t open,” Stevens explained, per ESPN Boston. “We were trying to go to Evan [Turner] and they smothered it. They actually switched and it made it a worse matchup for us. I knew right when I saw them switch that I was going to call timeout, but then Marcus [Smart] threw it in, so I got [the timeout] as quickly as I could.” Stevens has sound reasoning for his decision, but it’s strange since most coaches would’ve lived or died with the results of the play call, regardless of the execution.
Celtics defeat division champion Raptors in OT, 117-116 – CelticsBlog
Thomas may not have hit the winning shot, but his team-high 25 points led Boston to the win. Taking the ball to the hoop at the end of the game proved to be a much wiser decision than the one that ended regulation, which resulted in Thomas settling for a three-pointer at the buzzer that clanged off the rim. Evan Turner flirted with another triple-double, with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 10 assists. He scored the final two baskets for Boston in regulation to put them in position to get to overtime. Toronto native Kelly Olynyk always seems to play well in his hometown, and tonight was no different. He put up 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including a pair of 3’s. DeMar DeRozan led the way for the Raptors, pouring in a game-high 38 points. Tyler Hansbrough chipped in 18 points on a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor and 8-for-8 from the free throw line, before fouling out in overtime.
Raptors lose OT heartbreaker 117-116 to Boston in final 2.6 seconds – Raptors HQ
To get a close game of course, you need participants on the other side. For the Celtics, it was the names you’d expect: Isaiah Thomas carved up the Raps’ subpar perimeter D, Evan Turner made a series of circus layups when Boston needed them, and on that final play it was Marcus Smart in the right place at the right time to put the game away. Meanwhile Tyler Zeller and Kelly Olynyk did their best to wage war against the Raptors depleted front line (even a gimpy Amir Johnson would have made a difference). Despite an astounding perfect game from Tyler Hansbrough (18 March Madness-fueled points) and a solid double-double by Jonas Valanciunas, it wasn’t enough. Those 2.6 seconds still loomed.
Toronto Raptors heartbroken by Boston Celtics
Okay, fine. You want a recap of the Toronto Raptors‘ devastating 116-117 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics? It evolved from the disappointing style of play we’ve grown far too familiar with over these past months to a nail-biting, blow-trading finish. The Raps played flat-out poor defense in the first half yet managed to secure a tie at the break. In the final two frames the home team orchestrated a more focused effort in part to effective scoring from DeMar DeRozan and Lou Williams. DeRozan hit a series of clutch shots in the final minutes to pull his team back into the game, but his performance was matched by Celtics guard Evan Turner. In the extra five minutes the Raps appeared poised to win following a valiant showing from Tyler Hansbrough and further offensive contribution from DeRozan. In the end, in the wake of Sweet Lou’s ice-cold three to give Toronto a one point lead.
