Their dominance was so convincing that they gained a credible buzz as a title contender – impressive for a team that had three games under 0,500 in the first 39 games of the season. Boston repaired their ship from there and has been on fire since late January. “The series they are doing is as hot as anyone else I can remember,” Raptors coach Nick Nurs said before his side hosted the Celtics on Monday night. “I do not have the exact numbers, 24-4 or something? “I’m in there and I’m watching and every score that comes from all the clips that come in is 30 points. “It’s hard to find a competitive clip in there,” Nurse said. The rest of the league will now have one, as the Raptors beat the Celtics 115-112 in extra time thanks to another dominant performance by Pascal Shiakam. It was more difficult than one would expect, as the dominant Celtics version failed. Traveling the second night of the back-to-back, the Celtics kept the wings of stars Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown back in Boston. Also missing was Al Horford, who has lost two games for personal reasons. Of greater concern, Boston coach Ime Udoka has confirmed that Robert Williams – the agile backbone that was the backbone of their best defense in the NBA – will undergo surgery to repair a torn off and torn off for six weeks or maybe more. . And yes, the Raptors – led largely by their own star, Pascal Siakam – are doing very well in the new year and especially lately with eight wins in the last 10. So on paper it might have seemed like an easy night. It was not. Boston showed that it was more than its headlines, as it pushed Toronto to the limit and then some even while it was missing four of its top five. “It just shows you, I mean that’s why they’re so good,” the nurse said. “They have some kids who have played in this league and they have some serious depth. I knew it was difficult for us mentally to see these guys outside. We went out and played saying, “Oh, this is, you know, who we have to play with tonight.” “I knew it would be difficult for us and I knew these children were very good.” However, the Raptors showed why it is great to have their best players available and play better, as Shiakam scored 40 points, scored 40 points and received 13 rebounds before committing a 51.4-second foul on Toronto. scored three. He also had three steals and two blocks in 47 minutes. The Raptors were able to cross the finish line from there as Gary Trent Jr. and his two free throws had 14.4 seconds left to maintain the victory. The victory improved Toronto to 43-32 and with the defeat of the Chicago Bulls drew the Raptors to a tie for fifth place in the East, although Chicago has the tiebreak based on their victory in a row season with the Raptors. Boston fell to 47-29 and is in fourth place, a game behind first Miami in the tight East. In addition to the Shiakam heroes, the Raptors had all five key double-digit numbers and took 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks off the pitch from veteran Thad Young, who played 28 minutes off the pitch to fill Scotty’s back. who committed a foul. in the middle of the fourth quarter. But they won their game with their defense as Toronto kept Boston at 40.5% off the pitch in the second half and the 1-9 overtime was assisted by four block shots – two by Shiakam, who played with five fouls. , but did not let him hold him back. “It’s a tough line to cross and it’s difficult,” said Shiakam, who took his fifth foul with 2:49 remaining in the fourth quarter. “For me, it was just instinct to do what I was feeling at the time. For the longest time I thought I had four fouls, to be honest with you, when I had five fouls I thought I had four in my head, so maybe if I did not think I would be a little less aggressive, but I just wanted to do things and we needed to these projects. “I felt that, why not, I was not really thinking of committing a foul to be honest.” The Celtics opened the game with a quick three-pointer from their bench to start the fourth quarter as part of a 14-7 streak that put Toronto on their heels. But the Raptors came back with nails and Fred VanVlit’s consecutive three-pointers changed momentum in four minutes, helping the Celtics lead 4:12 to 4:12 to play in just one. But Toronto still had four to 58 seconds to go, before Shiakam scored on the edge in one of his spin moves and then tied the game on the line with 12.6 seconds to play, forcing overtime. The transfer of the attack has become a comfortable habit for Shiakam, who has averaged 27.5 points in a game in the last 14 starts of the Raptors, which have been covered with various injuries in VanVleet, Trent Jr. and Anunoby. “He did a good job reaching the front of the rim, making good decisions,” the nurse said. “And yes, I mean to hear that he was kind of available, and he took deep and scored.” Shiakam scored 10 in the first ten minutes, which Toronto fell 38-30 and burst for 15 in the second to give the Raptors a 59-58 lead at halftime. The Celtics tightened things up in the second half, but by then the Raptors’ defense had also locked in. Did Siakam say? “I don’t think the way I was kept there was very stressful, so I had a steam head to get to the rim and these baskets, these tactile baskets that I usually have, fell, which helped. “Again, it depends on how they play me and I felt I had an advantage.” The fact that the Celtics kept their top talents could be an issue as the regular season ends. Toronto still has seven games, five at home, and it is difficult to find too many opponents who will be so interested in playing. The Minnesota Timberwolves – in the city Wednesday – will be, as they try to take sixth place in the West. But otherwise? Like Boston, Miami and Philadelphia could well go back to third place and avoid a possible showdown with the dangerous Brooklyn Nets – who most believe will end up in seventh or eighth place after the playoffs. Atlanta will probably try to reach a favorable position in the play-in tournament, but all of Orlando, Houston and New York have more to gain from defeat than from victory. Everything foretells good for the Raptors to hang from the sixth seed and even ascend to the fifth. Nowhere did the Celtics show that they lacked the first two wings and the two top center-backs more than at the defensive end and no one was more effective than Siakam. Early in the first quarter, the Raptors acknowledged that Boston had no choice but to defend Siakam from dribbling in space, so they simply did everything they could to isolate Siakam in the middle of the pitch against Daniel Theis or Grant Williams. Theses in particular could not match the Raptors’ top scorer. At one point in the first ten minutes, Shiakam scored four consecutive buckets on his way to 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the match. However, it took some time for the Raptors to come in defensively and the rest of the Celtics seemed to appreciate the extra appearances that came with Brown and Tatum out. All eight Celtics who touched the floor in the first quarter scored as they combined 14-of-25 from the floor and 6-of-12 of the three to lead 38-30. Shiakam just finished and the Celtics were left with no answer – not many when the Raptors’ big wing has the ball in a drawstring, room to handle and is apt with floats and midfield jumpers. Shiakam continued to punish Boston by adding to his total with two steals on the perimeter and taking the ball back in the solo fast breaks. There were only a few downsides: One was that Shiakam picked up his third foul shortly before half-time as he whistled as he pulled his elbow in front of the Celtics on Grant Williams’s chest, one of his spin moves, the other was that even With Siakam 25 points in the first half, Toronto was just ahead of the Celtics 59-58 at halftime. Boston changed their tactics in the third quarter as many defenders began to overshadow, collapsing in turns or sometimes using a guard on it to limit its penetration. It was effective – Shiakam held on to five points on shots 1 to 3 and the Raptors had no one to go up immediately to play, as they only managed 21 points in 7 of 25 shots as Boston defended with five of their seven counters. . Fortunately, the Raptors made life just as difficult for Boston, who shot just 9 of 25. The two teams drew 80-80 to start the fourth. Three-point Grange

  1. Nick Nurse has developed a relationship with men’s soccer coach John Herdman and has closely followed the successful course of their World Cup qualifiers. Does he think he can inspire the men’s national basketball team to comparable heights? “I think the consequences of the texts and the things I got summarize it somewhat: [basketball people] associated with immense passion, pride [the soccer players] play for their country. Many people see this and hope that it can be somehow transferred and we are part of the same thing on the basketball front… I do not sell our passion and things like that. I think our children, when they are there, really play for their country with what they have. I think I hope …