Siakam’s double-double leads Raptors to overtime win over depleted Celtics | CBC Sports

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Pascal Siakam had 40 points and 13 rebounds and the Toronto Raptors beat the hottest team in the Eastern Conference on Monday in Toronto, defeating the Boston Celtics 115-112 in overtime.

Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby scored 14 points apiece, while Gary Trent Jr. and Thaddeus Young finished with 12 apiece, and Scottie Barnes chipped in 10 for the Raptors (43-32), winners of nine of their last 11 games.

Marcus Smart scored 28 points to pace the East-leading Celtics (47-29), who had their streak of six straight wins snapped.

With seven games remaining in the regular season, the Raptors went into Monday with a one-game lead over Cleveland for sixth place in the East. A top-six finish would mean moving directly into the postseason and avoiding the playoffs.

The Raptors were down by 11 points in the first quarter of Monday’s eventful game. They finally took their first lead at the end of the second, and beat the Celtics basket for basket in a third quarter in which neither team was above three points. The score was 80-80 through three quarters in front of a crowd of 19,800, including the World Cup-bound Canadian men’s national soccer team.

A three-pointer by Payton Pritchard early in the fourth put Boston up by seven points, but Young responded with five straight points and VanVleet hit two straight three-pointers to cheers from the crowd and the game was within one point with 3:08 to go.

Trailing by four with a minute to play, Siakam drove to the hoop to cut the deficit to two, then grabbed a defensive rebound and was fouled with 12.6 seconds to play. He did both to tie and send the game into overtime, tied at 106-106.

Trailing by four in overtime, Anunoby connected from long distance, then Siakam scored on consecutive baskets for a Raptors three-point lead with 1:47 to play.

Siakam fouled out with 51.4 seconds left. The two teams traded free throws, and Trent Jr.’s two foul shots decided Toronto’s victory.

Coach Nick Nurse spoke before the game about the tremendous challenge posed by Boston, who came in on a 22-game winning streak in their previous 24 games.

“Their defense has been unbelievable. Their offense has been unbelievable,” Nurse said. “The streak they’re on is the hottest anyone has been on that I can remember.”

Smart had two of Boston’s six three-pointers in the first quarter Monday, his second putting the Celtics up by 11 points midway through the frame. Boston led 38-30 at the start of the second.

The Raptors outscored the Celtics 29-20 in an entertaining second that saw a flurry of steals by seventy. Anunoby’s steal and dunk allowed Toronto to take its first lead, 48-47, with 3:26 left in the first half. Siakam had a steal and basket on Toronto’s next possession for a three-point lead.

With three seconds left before halftime, VanVleet stripped the ball from Pritchard and was fouled for a three-point play. The Raptors went into halftime with a 59-58 lead.

Canada’s men’s national soccer team received a standing ovation during a timeout, center court during a tribute to the team a day after clinching the country’s first World Cup qualification since 1986 with a 4-0 win over Jamaica at BMO Field in Toronto.

“Congratulations to those guys,” said Nurse, who also coaches Canada’s men’s basketball team. “It’s really been a long wait, a long road, and they’ve been tremendous throughout this whole thing.”

Asked if the passion can transfer between national teams, Nurse said, “I think, hopefully, the specialness that they see is intriguing, being able to accomplish things on a national team, sport to sport.”

The Raptors host Minnesota on Wednesday and then head to Orlando for the first of their two remaining regular-season road games. The other is their season finale in New York on April 10.




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