Stephen A. Smith makes bold claim about Celtics vs. Raptors series after Game 2

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/stephen-smith-makes-bold-claim-193905803.html




Stephen A. Smith makes bold claim about Celtics vs. Raptors series after Game 2



Nick Goss
NBC Sports Boston

September 2, 2020, 12:39 PM PDT


Stephen A. Smith makes bold claim about Celtics-Raptors series after Game 2 originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Toronto Raptors are facing an uphill battle in their Eastern Conference semifinals series versus the Boston Celtics.

Toronto held a 78-70 lead entering the fourth quarter of Tuesday night's Game 2, but was outscored by Boston 32-21 over the final 12 minutes. The C's escaped with a 102-99 victory to take a 2-0 series advantage.

The Raptors are the defending NBA champions, they are well coached and they have a deep roster of players who consistently give A-plus effort. But what are the chances that Toronto is actually able to win four of the next five games and advance to the Eastern Conference finals?

Well, according to Stephen A. Smith, this series is done.

I think its all over because of the different manner in which theyve lost both games," Smith said Wednesday on ESPN's "First Take" show. "Toronto forfeited a 31-13 lead in the first quarter of Game 1, gave up 39 points in that quarter, a quarter in which Jayson Tatum only scored two points. And they still ended up in a huge deficit that they had to climb out of and they were not able to do it.

"They came out like gangbusters in Game 2. They made sure that they didnt have to experience any kind of deficit and they still managed to lose that game. Jayson Tatum put on a show. Marcus Smart hit five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, he looked absolutely phenomenal.

"I cannot say enough about Bostons defense. Theyre No. 1 in points allowed, theyre No. 1 in 3-point field-goal percentage defensively. They really locked down, and Toronto has a real tough time dealing with them because they can get out on Torontos perimeter shooters, they can suffocate the lane, they have enough long and lanky athletes to really get out and defend.

"On the offensive end they can go one-on-one, they have a slew of perimeter shooters, and its very difficult for Toronto to defend them. If its a back-and-forth series, I think its a pick 'em, like I said. But the fact that Boston is up 2-0, do I see Toronto winning four of the next five games in order to win this series? Absolutely not. I think its over.

The Raptors had to win Game 2. The Celtics committed 17 turnovers and Kemba Walker struggled offensively for most of the game. Walker scored 17 points on 6-of-18 from the field (1-of-8 from 3-point range). Jaylen Brown also scored just 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting.

Toronto has been in this spot before.

The Raptors trailed 0-2 to the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference finals last season and won four straight to reach the NBA Finals. The difference now is Kawhi Leonard -- arguably the league's best player -- is playing for the Los Angeles Clippers and not Toronto. The Raptors don't have a superstar capable of taking over late in the fourth quarter without Leonard. The Celtics have at least two of those players -- Tatum and Walker.

The Celtics are in a strong position entering Thursday night's Game 3, and if history is any indication, the Raptors are in huge trouble. Boston has only lost one playoff series in its storied history after jumping out to a 2-0 lead.




bob


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Stephen A is a front runner.

Smith is a front runner, but we Cs fans hope that he is right this time.

So much for that.How can you leave a guy open for a corner three with a 2 point lead and half a second left? Maybe somebody smarter tnan me can explain it.

jrleftfoot wrote:So much for that.How can you leave a guy open for a corner three with a 2 point lead and half a second left? Maybe somebody smarter tnan me can explain it.

Somehow he got away from JB. I'm sure Jaylen will take this hard.

Yeah, JB was pretty po'ed given his comments after the game. I think it was JT's fault though. He had OG in the corner on the far side before OG slowly moved all the way to the other side to be wide open. Don't know why Brad put Tacko in there either. The guy passing the ball in was completely irrelevant. His one job was to inbound the ball. He could not take a shot. Not with 0.5 seconds left. Use that guy to double someone else... like OG that was wide open

What's important is what happens tomorrow. TOR was very fortunate. Lucky if you will. But these teams are evenly matched we have said. Now they are playing like it. N-Sqaured is still COY until proven otherwise. G3 ain't coming back. It's 2-1 now. I'm quite sure we will see a completely different, highly motivated Celtics team coming out for G4.

We should be po'ed because we should not have lost that game for sure.

db

Miscommunication between JT and JB according to JB presser. No good way to take such a crucial mistake except to learn from it and become mentally tougher and fit. Head shaker. Could anyone see Larry and DJ screwing up coverage assignments with 0.5 on the clock? Or KG and PP?

Yep. We're still young in the NBA sense of the word. Forget it and get ready for tomorrow. TOR now thinks they can win this series because again, nothing is any different for them this year than last year at this time. It looked like JT was barking at Marcus Smart to cover OG.

Celtics need to slam the door shut tomorrow. Remove all doubt.

db

Why not just play man? For 0.5 seconds, strict man D seems safest.

Or use the old John Havlicek countdown and steal the ball.

db

Jaylen was not to blame for this loss, although he took full responsibility. Tatum had OG but failed to pass him off to Jaylen who did not even know OG was at the elbow free and clear. Jaylen was dug in guarding Siakem and had no view of OG. This was all on Jayson. A commiunication breakdown. He should have rotated off with Jaylen or else followed OG to the corner. Jaylen played a great defensive game, and his final effort to block that last shot was almost superhuman. Kudos still go to Jaylen. We should have never lost this game. JT will rectify with a 40 point game Saturday.

worcester wrote:Jaylen was not to blame for this loss, although he took full responsibility. Tatum had OG but failed to pass him off to Jaylen who did not even know OG was at the elbow free and clear. Jaylen was dug in guarding Siakem and had no view of OG. This was all on Jayson. A commiunication breakdown. He should have rotated off with Jaylen or else followed OG to the corner. Jaylen played a great defensive game, and his final effort to block that last shot was almost superhuman. Kudos still go to Jaylen. We should have never lost this game. JT will rectify with a 40 point game Saturday.

I was thinking the same thing after hearing JB and JT talk about the play. JB not willing to throw JT under the bus though - stand up guy! As I said in an earlier post, why not go for strict man D - each guy only has to stay with his assignment for 0.5 seconds. As I type this though, I am thinking "who am I to question Brad....I am sure he thought about all possibilities...".

I'm going to say that is a bit of an understatement, worcester.  Both He and JB will go off for 40+ each and KW will drop in a "quiet" 32 while N-Sqaured and TOR are trying to find their asses with both hands.  

Marcus, unfortunately, will have an off night and only come in with 24 via 8 for 8 3-pointers in a row in the 4th to add to the 36-point lead already before Brad could get a timeout and pull the starters.  This will be a great gut check game for the Celtics.  I know I ached like all of us after this one, but nowhere near what our guys went through.  I'm sure Disney has already sent the Celtics a bill for some busted lockers.  

db

P.S.  I know, I know.  I'm right!

Yes you are dbrown. I will say this, Toronto is a worthy opponent.

Yeah, you're right. This is the 2nd round. No riff-raff left now. We aren't going 16-0. Neither is MIA.

Has any team swept the playoffs? I know there have been a couple of close ones, ourselves included.

db

GSW?

I don't think so unless it was the 70's team. They did power through it though. Didn't Jordan's 90's team go through 16-1?

db

Probably.

Shamrock1000 wrote:Why not just play man? For 0.5 seconds, strict man D seems safest.

                  +1

Please see my comment about the last play.  I wanted to see what happened.  Go watch the film.  I posted under our post game thread.  

The coverage was bad simply because no one was with OG.

JT blew the  play.  He will learn from it.

I have never seen JB so pissed off.  

A loss like this has only one cure.

Dboss, You're obviously not referring to the only cure Elvis was singing about in All Shook Up...his is in verse three...

[Verse 1]
Uh, well, a-bless my soul
What's wrong with me?
I'm itching like a man on a fuzzy tree
My friends say I'm actin' wild as a bug
I'm in love
I'm all shook up
Mm ooh, yeah, yeah

[Verse 2]
Well, my hands are shaky and my knees are weak
I can't seem to stand on my own two feet
Who do you thank when you have such luck?
I'm in love
I'm all shook up
Mm ooh, yeah, yeah

[Bridge]
Well, please don't ask me what's on my mind
I'm a little mixed up, but I feel fine
When I'm near the girl that I love best
My heart beats so it scares me to death

[Verse 3]
When she touched my hand, what a chill I got
Her lips are like a volcano that's hot
I'm proud to say that she's my buttercup
I'm in love
I'm all shook up
Mm ooh, yeah, yeah

[Bridge]
My tongue gets tied when I try to speak
My insides shake like a leaf on a tree
There's only one cure for this body of mine
That's to have that girl that I love so fine

[Verse 3]
She touched my hand, what a chill I got
Her lips are like a volcano that's hot
I'm proud to say that she's my buttercup
I'm in love
I'm all shook up
Mm ooh, yeah, yeah
Mm ooh, yeah, yeah
I'm all shook up

Worcester

Who taught him that song?

Forrest Gump!

dboss wrote:Please see my comment about the last play.  I wanted to see what happened.  Go watch the film.  I posted under our post game thread.  

The coverage was bad simply because no one was with OG.

JT blew the  play.  He will learn from it.

I have never seen JB so pissed off.  

A loss like this has only one cure.

I am going to take back what I said about JT. During his post game he was asked about Marcus telling him to play up so he did.

Brad said they were in a zone defense. A zone is not going to guard against a catch and shoot. But Brad has used a zone before in similar situations so I guess he went with that. I would have preferred to see a man to man or a match up zone where all of there 4 guys are guarded. Lowery obviously was not going to get a shot.

Expect some fire and brimstone for game 4.

Bucks just lost again. Spo is really outcoaching Bud. Let's finish off Toronto, handle the Heat and then go sailing with the Clippers.