The Toronto Raptors must miss the services of Kawhi Leonard as they lost yet another game in the NBA Playoffs 2020. The eastern conference semis now have the Boston Celtics leading the series 2-0. It will be a herculean task for the ailing Raptors to make a comeback from here. 

After taking this 99-102 beating, the Raptors have now lost their third (out of four) overall meeting against the Celtics in this season. Celtics also take pride in the fact that they have lost no game since the post-season began. This must bring a crazy drive in them to close this one as well, with a 4-0 crushing.

The Raptors head coach looked disappointed

NBA Coach of the year 2020, Nick Nurse, was looking disappointed in the post-game press conference. He still had to agree that the Celtics, especially Jayson Tatum, played exceptionally well. The coach accepted the team’s poor defense and expressed, “The only frustrating part is that he [Tatum] shoots 14 free throws tonight, which is as much as our whole team shoots.  That’s the frustrating part, I think our guys are working hard on him. He did make some good shots. They were giving him ball a lot, giving him space. We could have helped it a little better here and there… They took very good care of him tonight.”

It must be ridiculous for a coach, who just won an NBA recognition, to see his side falling apart like this. Moreso when that side had a 53-19 record in the seeding games. Nevertheless, Jayson Tatum deserves all the lauding.

Jayson Tatum blew the Raptors for the Celtics

Both Tatum (34 pts, 8 rebs, 6 ast) and his partner Jaylen Brown (16 pts, 8 rebs, 3 steals, 2 blocks) took the offensive charge exceptionally well. They had excellent support from Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart, who posted points in double figures.  Tatum now averages 27.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game. Robert Williams also looked good for them, especially in the first quarter.

For the Raptors, Serge Ibaka had been good from the perimeter. But nothing that could contain Jayson Tatum’s flow. The two teams were 98-99 (Raptors leading) when Kemba Walker took a step back jump shot to get the three-point lead with 40-seconds remaining. When the score was 102-99, OG Anunoby passed the ball to Siakam, who could have converted a three-pointer, but he stepped out and led to a turnover.

The Raptors again had a chance when Jaylen Brown missed a three-pointer. Pascal Siakam rebounded it and passed it to Fred VanVleet, but he too failed to convert the buzzer-beater from the perimeter.

The Raptors would need to re-think the entire process to stop Jayson Tatum and his Celtics Crew.