Tatum's Celtics prove too much for shaky Raptors in defensive epic
The Celtics and Raptors went down to the wire in the seventh and deciding game of their memorable Eastern Conference semifinal series, with Boston prevailing, 92-87, to set up an East finals matchup with Miami.
Here are three takeaways from Game 7.
Tatum's the real deal
After a revelatory rookie year that included a conference finals battle against LeBron James and a disappointing sophomore campaign that saw him settle for low-efficiency offense, Jayson Tatum found what looked like a potential superstar gear down the stretch of his third season.
Coming into the bubble, I wrote that "if this is who Tatum is now, the deep, balanced Celtics have the goods to knock off any East contender." If there was any doubt left coming into Game 7, Boston's 22-year-old star erased it Friday night in Orlando. This is who Jayson Tatum is now, and he's a full-fledged superstar.
Tatum didn't shoot the ball well Friday, but few did in the grinding, winner-take-all slugfest that was Game 7, and he was still able to dominate in virtually every aspect. Tatum finished with 29 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, a steal, and a block in 44 minutes, joining James and Larry Bird as the only players in history to post game highs in all three of points, boards, and assists in a Game 7.
Tatum's ability to create for himself and get a shot off in nearly any situation is an invaluable skill that separates the true championship alphas on the offensive end, but the first-time All-Star is so much more than just someone who can make tough shots. Tatum uses his length to near perfection on the defensive end and was a key contributor to the team defense that flummoxed Pascal Siakam and the Raptors throughout the series.
When Grant Williams missed two free throws with 35 seconds left and the Celtics up only two against the rallying champions, it was Tatum who skied in to secure the rebound and extend the crucial, crunch-time possession.
On a team with a veteran star in Kemba Walker, another young stud in Jaylen Brown, and even the injured Gordon Hayward, who spent the season inching toward returning to his All-Star form, Tatum has emerged as the undisputed leader.
The Celtics will go as he goes. Given how good Tatum already is at 22, I think Boston can live with that.
An all-around defensive masterpiece
The Raptors and Celtics finished second and fourth, respectively, in defensive rating this season, so it's not a surprise this turned into a defensive series that produced only 179 points in a Game 7.
Still, take a moment to appreciate just how sharp, consistent, and inventive the defense was between these two teams over the course of 28 quarters (plus two overtime periods).
The Raptors' aggressive, scrambling defense may have been burned at times by Boston's unique ability to punish that strategy, but it mostly worked, holding the Celtics' fourth-ranked offense in check while keeping the Raptors afloat in games they otherwise should've been buried in.
In Game 7, for example, the Raptors held the Celtics without a field goal for the final 5:20, once again giving themselves a chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
This after neither team scored over the final 1:59 of regulation in Game 6.
The league's most creative defense also brought plenty of tricks to the table. Nick Nurse busted out a variety of zones, had the Raptors shapeshifting between schemes from possession to possession, and dusted off his famous box-and-one on Walker at various points in the series - even with one of Tatum or Brown still on the court.
What the Hayward-less Celtics were lacking in yet another shot-creator, they made up for in defensive versatility with Marcus Smart taking Hayward's place in the starting lineup.
Smart stood his ground on Siakam post-ups, discouraged Toronto from running its offense through Kyle Lowry when he guarded the six-time All-Star, was an all-around menace, and came up with a critical chase-down block on Norman Powell in the final minute of Game 7.
Tatum's defensive contributions have already been chronicled. Brown troubled Siakam as much as any other Celtic. Walker was supposed to be the one Celtics starter Toronto could pick on, but he put forth perhaps the best defensive effort of his career over the last two weeks. Daniel Theis did an excellent job moving his feet to corral Raptors guards on the perimeter.
The majority of this series was played without a single defensive liability on the court, and in the few minutes that Enes Kanter did play in Game 3, the Raptors mercilessly targeted him.
The champs failed to execute
The Celtics finished the series plus-37 and missed their fair share of chances to make this a shorter series, so it certainly feels like the better team prevailed, but the Raptors should still be kicking themselves for their lack of execution in Game 7.
As much credit as the Celtics deserve for the role they played in frustrating Toronto, the Raptors also shot themselves in the foot, with 31 of Bostons' 92 points coming off the Raptors' 18 turnovers. Was it fatigue, just an off night, or simply the product of Boston's defense? The most sensible conclusion is probably an accumulation of all three.
The Raptors' half-court offense was a concern coming into the series and proved incapable for large stretches, with Lowry's brilliance and plain determination often bailing them out. On a night when even Lowry was far from his best, his supporting cast couldn't return the favor.
Possessions initiated by anyone other than Lowry usually went nowhere, all three of Siakam, Powell, and Fred VanVleet made a number of terrible decisions with the ball in their hands, and the Raptors as a whole made too many unforced errors to survive an elimination game in a matchup this tight.
A couple stretches stand out as backbreakers.
After rallying back from a 12-point, first-quarter deficit to take a seven-point lead midway through the second quarter, the Raptors turned the ball over five times in just 2:35 (from the 5:38-3:03 mark), which sparked an 11-0 Celtics run.
The game's final minute was even worse. Siakam collected a defensive rebound with the Raptors down two and 1:01 remaining, but rather than hand off to Lowry, he passed to Powell, who inexplicably blasted off on a 1-on-3 fast break that ended with Smart's sensational block. That led to the Celtics possession that resulted in Lowry fouling out and putting Grant Williams on the free-throw line with 35 seconds remaining. Williams then missed both, but Powell failed to box out Tatum, who secured the rebound, drew a foul from Powell in the process, and proceeded to knock down one of two free throws to put Boston up three.
With Lowry now watching from the bench, the Raptors got the ball back still in a one-possession game with 32 seconds left, but VanVleet dribbled out the shot clock to chuck up a prayer that caught nothing but air. It was the worst possible outcome for the Raptors, as they got a terrible look with their season on the line, but also didn't leave themselves enough time to extend the game.
Williams deserves credit for locking up VanVleet on the switch, but the Raptors guard needed to be better and smarter there, and Nurse should've used his final timeout once he realized VanVleet was in trouble and this would now be the Raptors' last chance at a good look.
Nurse has established himself as arguably the best tactician in the game, and his defensive adjustments were predictably fantastic all series, but no coach is perfect, not even the reigning Coach of the Year. In addition to not calling a timeout on that doomed VanVleet possession, Nurse probably should've given sharpshooter Matt Thomas some second-half minutes after he impressed in the first half and should've gone to the small-ball lineup the Raptors closed Game 6 with earlier in Game 7 as opposed to waiting until the fourth quarter.
Instead, Nurse actually went ultra big - with both Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol on the court - for a couple minutes in the second quarter, which coincided with the beginning of that aforementioned turnover spree.
In the end, a team that admirably defended its title by relying on the sum of its parts and ruthless execution, just wasn't sharp enough from top to bottom when it mattered most, and that's a painful pill for Toronto to swallow.