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NBA Hoosiers (Sept. 1): OG Anunoby Scores 20, but Raptors Fall Into 0-2 Hole to Celtics

The defending champion Toronto Raptors blew a fourth-quarter lead on Tuesday night and lost to the Boston Celtics 102-99 in the second game of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

They call the Toronto Raptors the defending NBA champions, but for the first time in more than a year, it's become clear that this is a new season. Kawhi Leonard, last year's MVP, isn't there anymore.

And even though former Hoosier OG Anunoby scored a playoff-high 20 points Tuesday night, it still wasn't enough for the Raptors to hold off the Boston Celtics, and they lost 102-99 to fall behind two games to none in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Anunoby was 7-for-12 from the field, including 4-for-6 from three-point range, and his 20 points were tops on the Raptors. They had a 12-point lead late in the third quarter, and led by eight on several occasions in the fourth. Anunoby scored on a dunk and a free throw with 8:16 to go to give Toronto an 85-82 lead, but he wouldn't score again and the Raptors struggled down the stretch. 

Toronto's starting guards combined to shoot 3-for-19 from three-point range, and they did't have a go-to guy count on the fourth quarter, unlike last year when Leonard, who signed with the Los Angeles Clippers as a free agent last summer, would finish off each win on the way to the title.

"I think my shots feel good, but you want to see them go in a little bit more," Toronto All-Star Kyle Lowry said. "I haven't shot the ball extremely well, and I know I can shoot, so it's kind of like just being in the mindset of alright, there it is, there it is, keep getting a feel for it."

Boston's Marcus Smart didn't have a problem. He made five straight three-pointers in the fourth quarter to spur the Boston comeback. Jason Tatum was 14-for-14 from the free throw line for the Celtics, and they were 23-for-25 (92 percent) for the game.

The free throw disparity was 25-19.

"He shoots 14 free throws which is as much as our whole team shoots," Nurse said. "That's the frustrating part."

Game 3 is Thursday night inside the bubble in Orlando. Toronto has been in this situation before. In last year's second round, they were down 0-2 to the Milwaukee Bucks and came back to win the series. 

Boston rookie Romeo Langford did not play in Tuesday's game.

Monday's other NBA game

  • Denver Nuggets 80, Utah Jazz 78: Denver advanced to the second round with a hard-fought two-point win over the Jazz, ending the series in a low-scoring game that was a rapid departure from the first six games in the series. Former Hoosier Juwan Morgan played seven minutes for the Jazz and had one point and one rebounded. He took two shots, both three-pointers, but missed. Denver's Noah Vonleh did not dress.

Wednesday's NBA games

  • Milwaukee Bucks vs. Miami Heat, 6:30 p.m. ET (TV: ESPN): The top-seeded Bucks are in an early hole, too, after dropping Game 1 to the Heat on Monday night. Milwaukee lost the first game of their first-round series too, but then won four straight against Orlando. That might not be so easy against the Heat, who are playing as well as anyone in the bubble. They've won five straight playoff games now after sweeping the  Indiana Pacers in the first round.
  • Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 9 p.m. ET (TV: ESPN): The final game of the first round finally takes place Wednesday night when former Hoosier Eric Gordon and his Rockets take on the Thunder. Gordon is averaging 17.7 points per game in the series, and that's with not getting hot yet from three-point range. He's just 8-for-43 in the series (18.6 percent), which is tough for one of the best shooters in the game who's got a 37 percent career shooting percentage from threes.