National Basketball Association
Boston 111, Toronto 89
When: 6:30 PM ET, Monday, September 7, 2020
Where: The Field House, Orlando, Florida
Officials: #5 Kane Fitzgerald, #42 Eric Lewis, #61 Courtney Kirkland
Attendance: N/A

Six Celtics scored in double figures, led by Jaylen Brown with 27 points, as Boston dominated the Toronto Raptors 111-89 Monday night to take a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series near Orlando.

Kemba Walker added 21 points, Jayson Tatum had 18 with 10 rebounds, Brad Wanamaker and Daniel Theis scored 15 apiece and Marcus Smart 12 for the Celtics, who rebounded from two consecutive losses after they had blown a 2-0 lead in the series.

Boston will get the chance to clinch a conference-finals berth with a Game 6 victory Wednesday.

Fred VanVleet had 18 points to top the Raptors, who never led in the contest and trailed by as many as 30 points.

The Celtics ran away early as the Raptors endured one of their worst scoring playoff quarters in franchise history. Boston was up 18-5 after 8 1/2 minutes as Toronto began 2-of-14 from the field.

The Raptors ended the quarter shooting 4-for-20, and they trailed 25-11. They hit one of nine shots from 3-point range.

Boston's advantage hit 46-25 on a Tatum 3-pointer with 4:55 to go in the second. The lead reached as high as 28 before halftime, and the Celtics entered the break up 62-35 after Walker beat the buzzer with a floater.

Brown led Boston with 16 first-half points, Tatum added 12 and Smart and Wanamaker each had 10. Meanwhile, no Raptors players were in double figures. Toronto shot 13 of 43 (30.2 percent) in the half and 4 of 18 from 3-point range (22.2 percent). The 27-point halftime deficit tied the largest ever faced by a defending NBA champion during a playoff game, according to STATS.

The Raptors began the third with a 6-0 run, Pascal Siakam making a trio of short-range buckets, but the Celtics' lead never dropped below 20 in the quarter. At 4:23, Boston's advantage reached 79-49 on a Brown step-back jumper.

The Celtics led 87-63 after three, and the Raptors emptied their bench by midway through the fourth.

For the game, the Celtics outshot the Raptors 49.4 percent to 38.8 percent. Boston hit 24 of 27 free throws while Toronto made 11 of 13.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Boston   Toronto
Jaylen Brown 27 Scoring Fred VanVleet 18
Kemba Walker 7 Assists Kyle Lowry 5
Jayson Tatum 10 Rebounds OG Anunoby 7
Jayson Tatum 7 Free Throws Made Fred VanVleet 4
Jaylen Brown 3 Steals Fred VanVleet 3
Daniel Theis 2 Blocks Chris Boucher 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Boston 111 49.4 11-34 24-27 23 45 6 5 13
Toronto 89 38.8 12-40 11-13 19 36 5 8 14
Upcoming Games
  • Toronto will play their next game on the road against Boston. The Raptors have a W/L % of .731 after a win and .750 after a loss.
  • Boston will play their next game at home against Toronto. The Celtics have a W/L % of .688 after a win and .625 after a loss.