Kemba Walker ignites, Celtics beat Toronto, 112-106

Kemba Walker’s reaction to a tough night in Philadelphia last Wednesday was to say he had to learn how to be himself.

After scoring 11 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter against the defending NBA champs last night, perhaps Walker was reintroduced to himself.

With Grant Williams playing small ball center and Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown all hitting big threes in the last 4:30, the Celtics beat Toronto, 112-106.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown rolled a lucky number, each Celtic springing for 25 points, to go along with a 15-point, eight-rebound night from Gordon Hayward.

They needed every drop to offset a 33-point night from Pascal Siakam and another 29 from Kyle Lowry.

Tatum’s 3-pointer, on the tail end of an 11-2 Celtics run, was good for a 104-100 lead with 4:32 left, only for the Raptors to tie the score on baskets from Anunoby and Siakam.

But the Celtics came out of a timeout with a Gordon Hayward 3-pointer with 3:24 left. Siakam took most of that away with two free throws, but Tatum drove, kicked out to Brown on the right elbow of the arc, and the Celtics forward buried a trey with 2:47 left for a 110-106 lead.

Walker then produced a big stop, drawing a charge on Siakam – a call that held up despite a Toronto challenge. Two Brown misses and a shot clock violation later, Kyle Lowry threw the ball away.

Walker missed, but Hayward grabbed the rebound, and killed the clock.

Siakam’s 15-point third quarter, including three 3-pointers and a pair of three-point plays, knocked the Celtics back into an 82-76 hole by the start of the fourth.

A pair of early Marcus Smart treys started the quarter off right, with the latter cutting the Toronto lead to 84-82.  A Serge Ibaka hoop, followed by a Kyle Lowry 3-pointer, put an end to that brief stab at momentum.

This is where Walker stepped in with his first dominant moment as a Celtic, scoring seven straight Celtics points, including a 3-pointer. With Lowry answering twice down the other end, Walker cut the Raptors lead to two points for the third time with a drive, and after an Ibaka 3-pointer, rebounded a block and drew the foul, hitting twice from the line.

Brown blocked Lowry and then scored with a goaltended fullcourt drive. Brown assisted a Hayward fast break drive the next time down. Siakum scored, and the Celtics polished off the 11-2 run with a Grant Williams finish and a Tatum 3-pointer for a brief 104-100 lead with 4:32 left.

The Celtics opened the third quarter with a thin 50-49 lead, took on some life behind a pair of Brown baskets, and watched as Siakam took over, following up a three-point play with a 3-pointer and, after an Anunoby three, a drive for another three-point play and a 72-66 Raptors lead with 4:25 left in the third.

The Toronto star wasn’t finished, even as the Celtics found their flow again, this time with Tatum and Walker sandwiching treys around Siakam’s fourth bomb of the night.

Grant Williams set up Tatum’s third trey of the night (from the left corner) with an offensive board and kick-out, only for the Raptors to run off the last seven points of the quarter, including 3-pointers from VanVleet and Siakam, the latter for an 82-76 Toronto lead.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2MOlhfV