Dribbles: One shot goes down at buzzer and voilà, Raptors have life

OG Onunoby buries 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift defending champions past Boston and trim series deficit.

Random dribbles following the Toronto Raptors' thriller of a 104-103 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 3 of the East semifinals Thursday.

1. We probably all knew the Raptors weren't going to get swept. But my gosh, if OG Anunoby doesn't catch that pass from Kyle Lowry and bury a 3-pointer at the buzzer ... well, series over.

2. Anyone else suddenly find the NBA suddenly exciting? Two Game 7s go down to the wire, and now this.

3. The Celtics still lead, 2-1. But Onunoby's buzzer-beater gave the Raptors something no one had previously had against the Celtics -- life.

4. Prior to Onunoby becoming Mr. Big Shot, the honor belonged to Celtics center Daniel Theiss. He took a pass from Kemba Walker and dunked it. A half-second remained, Boston was up, and just about the entire basketball-loving universe probably thought it was over.

5. I'm not so sure even Onunoby thought the Raptors would win. And I'm really not sure about Lowry, who called the audible and somehow threw the game-winning assist over the head of 7-foot-5 Celtics center Tacko Fall. Lowry is 6-0.

6. Celtics wing Jaylen Brown: "That was one we wish we really could have back."

7. You can't blame him for saying that. There's a big difference between being up 3-0 and 2-1. Teams don't come back from 3-0. They do from 2-1 all the time.

8. Plus, the Raptors are sort of the Oklahoma City Thunder of the Eastern Conference. Nobody expected the Raptors to be this good after losing Kawhi Leonard to the Los Angeles Clippers for ... nothing. But the Raptors scrap, fight and give themselves a chance, and they have done it all season. It's just been their DNA.

9. Lowry was magnificent, playing almost the entire game and finishing with 31 points and eight assists. Fred VanVleet added 25 points, Pascal Siakam scored 16 and Onunoby had 12, including the Raptors' biggest three points of the season.

10. Walker was also fantastic, scoring 29 for the Celtics. Brown had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Jayson Tatum added 15 points and nine boards.

11. Prior to the game, Raptors coach Nick Nurse reacted to the Brooklyn Nets' decision to hire Steve Nash like most everyone else -- with surprise. "Caught me off guard, that's for sure," Nurse said. "He kept all that to himself, close to his chest. ... He'll be great, man. He's one of the greatest players ever."