The Toronto Raptors were half a second away from falling into an abyss that no NBA team has ever escaped. Down by two points, down by two games, the reigning champions needed a miracle.
Then O.G. Anunoby delivered.
Anunoby on Thursday caught a cross-court pass that Kyle Lowry threaded over everybody else on the floor and hit a three-pointer as time expired, giving the Raptors a 104-103 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference playoff series.
Photo: AP
The Celtics still lead the series 2-1, but it is not 3-0 and that means the Raptors still have realistic hope.
The Raptors mobbed Anunoby after the shot, reveling in the moment.
“Someone hit me in the nose,” Anunoby said. “It’s cool.”
The Celtics took a two-point lead when Kemba Walker found Daniel Theis for a dunk with half a second left.
No team in NBA history has rallied from a 3-0 series deficit. The Raptors will not have to try it now after Lowry elected to throw the long pass.
“The pass was nothing,” Lowry said. “O.G. made the shot. All the credit goes to the shot, man. That’s a tough shot. Give O.G. that credit. The pass was just to get it to a guy like O.G. It’s O.G.’s moment, man. That’s a great moment for that kid.”
Lowry played virtually the whole way, finishing with 31 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
Fred VanVleet scored 25 points, while Pascal Siakam had 16 and Anunoby 12.
Walker scored 29 points for Boston, who lost for the first time in seven playoff games.
Jaylen Brown had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Jayson Tatum finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Celtics.
“It hurts and stings to lose, but we’ll just get back to it and get ready for Saturday,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said.
Toronto were clawing uphill most of the night. The Raptors were outscored 19-10 at the end of the first half, a run that gave Boston a 57-47 lead at the break.
Walker had 17 points in the first quarter, capping that period with a three-pointer — and did it again to end the second to give Boston what was their biggest lead.
“We knew they wouldn’t quit,” Walker said.
He was right.
Lowry had been none for five from three-point range in the game — and one for 17 in the series — before connecting from the left corner midway through the third, getting the Raptors to 61-60.
Toronto would eventually lead by as many as four in the third quarter, but Boston reclaimed the lead and took an 80-76 edge into the fourth.
In the final moment, the Raptors found a way.
“I’m not sure that that doesn’t rank with our gutsiest performances,” Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse said.
CLIPPERS 120, NUGGETS 97
Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points as Los Angeles rolled past Denver in Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff.
Paul George scored 19 points and Marcus Morris added 18 as the Clippers shot 57 percent from the field.
Nikola Jokic scored 15 points for the Nuggets, who were coming off a seven-game series with Utah that ended Tuesday.
Jamal Murray, who scored at least 50 points twice in that series, finished with just 12 points on five-for-15 shooting. Denver shot just 42 percent.
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