Wednesday's NBA playoffs: Raptors beat Celtics in 2OT to force Game 7
Lake Buena Vista, Fla. — The Toronto Raptors faced a sizable early deficit. They trailed in the fourth quarter. And again in the first overtime. And again in the second overtime.
Exhausted and on the brink, the reigning NBA champions rose to the moment.
Next up: Game 7, for a spot in the Eastern Conference finals against Miami.
OG Anunoby — the hero of Game 3 with a buzzer-beating 3 — put the Raptors ahead to stay with a 3-pointer with just under a minute left in double overtime, Kyle Lowry got an acrobatic jumper to fall with 11.7 seconds left and the Raptors beat the Boston Celtics 125-122 in Game 6 on Wednesday night.
"Game 7 to go to the Eastern Conference finals," Toronto guard Fred VanVleet said. "All you can ask for is a chance."
Lowry scored 33 points in 53 minutes for Toronto. Norman Powell had 23, including a three-point play with about 39 seconds left and a pair of free throws to help finish it off. VanVleet scored 21 points for the Raptors, and Anunoby had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Lowry was on his back, laying on the court, breathing fairly heavily and with his fists thrown high in the air when Powell had the three-point play.
That's about when he realized the Raptors weren't flying home Thursday.
"Thank you, Norm. ... That was cool. We needed that," Lowry said.
Jaylen Brown had 31 points and 16 rebounds for the Celtics, who had their starters on the floor — without a single sub — for the final 22-plus minutes.
Jayson Tatum had 29 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists. Marcus Smart had 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and missed a 3-pointer that would have tied it with about 3 seconds left in the second extra session.
"We had a lot of opportunities down the stretch and we didn't take care of the all as good as we needed to," Brown said. "That's fine. We're heading into a Game 7. We feel good about ourselves."
More NBA playoffs
L.A. Clippers 96, Denver 85: Kawhi Leonard finished an assist shy of his first playoff triple-double and the Los Angeles moved a step closer to its first Western Conference finals.
Leonard filled up the stat sheet with 30 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots. He has scored 30 or more points six times during this postseason.
Reserve Montrezl Harrell added 15 points to help the Clippers take a 3-1 lead. They can close out the Nuggets on Friday night.
Nikola Jokic had 26 points and 11 boards for a Nuggets team that finds itself in an all-too-familiar situation. They were down in their first-round series against Utah before becoming the 12th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit.
Eastern Conference
Miami 4, Milwaukee 1
Monday, Aug. 31: Miami 115, Milwaukee 104
Wednesday, Sept. 2: Miami 116, Milwaukee 114
Friday, Sept. 4: Miami 115, Milwaukee 100
Sunday, Sept. 6: Milwaukee 118, Miami 115, OT
Tuesday, Sept. 8: Miami 103, Milwaukee 94
Boston 3, Toronto 3
Sunday, Aug. 30: Boston 112, Toronto 94
Tuesday, Sept. 1: Boston 102, Toronto 99
Thursday, Sept. 3: Toronto 104, Boston 103
Saturday, Sept. 5: Toronto 100, Boston 93
Monday, Sept. 7: Boston 111, Toronto 89
Wednesday, Sept. 9: Toronto 125, Boston 122, 2OT
Friday, Sept. 11: Boston vs. Toronto, 9 p.m.
Western Conference
L.A. Lakers 2, Houston 1
Friday, Sept. 4: Houston 112, L.A. Lakers 97
Sunday, Sept. 6: L.A. Lakers 117, Houston 109
Tuesday, Sept. 8: L.A. Lakers 112, Houston 102
Thursday, Sept. 10: L.A. Lakers vs. Houston, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 12: Houston vs. L.A. Lakers, 8 p.m.
x-Monday, Sept. 14: L.A. Lakers vs. Houston, TBD
x-Wednesday, Sept. 16: Houston vs. L.A. Lakers, TBD
L.A. Clippers 3, Denver 1
Thursday, Sept. 3: L.A. Clippers 120, Denver 97
Saturday, Sept. 5: Denver 110, L.A. Clippers 101
Monday, Sept. 7: L.A. Clippers 113, Denver 107
Wednesday, Sept. 9: L.A. Clippers 96, Denver 85
Friday, Sept. 11: Denver vs. L.A. Clippers, 6:30 p.m.
x-Sunday, Sept. 13: L.A. Clippers vs. Denver, TBD
x-Tuesday, Sept. 15: Denver vs. L.A. Clippers, TBD