The champion alive: Kyle Laurie found Oji Anonobi free from outside the half-second arc to finish, and his three set up a 103: 104 over Boston • Kwai Leonard easily settled for the Clippers 97: 120 over Denver, and a 0: 1 lead in the semifinal series
Anonobi scores a three-pointer
Photo:
AFP
Two games from the regional semifinal series were held tonight (Thursday through Friday).
Champion Toronto shrank to 2-1 against Boston thanks to a huge three by Oji Anonobi with the buzzer, while ex-Kwai Leonard had no trouble dismantling Denver and going up to 0-1 in the series.
Toronto Raptors - Boston Celtics 103: 104 (2: 1 in the series)
Toronto was half a second away from a 3-0 deficit in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but then came Oji Anonobi, who got the ball from Kyle Laurie and sniped a three that gave the champion the win.
The Raptors shrank to 2-1 the series and regained hope of reaching the regional finals.
THE LAST 30 SECONDS OF RAPTORS-CELTICS pic.twitter.com/zumBx7JSoh
- SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 4, 2020
In a game that was close for most of its length, Laurie led the Toronto scoring with 31 points and added 8 assists, one of which as mentioned was worth a win in the game.
He was assisted by Fred VanValit with 25, Pascal Siakam with 16, Vanunovi finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Boston shots were led by Kamba Walker with 29 points.
His great delivery to Daniel Theis gave Boston a 101: 103 lead but left Anunovi with enough time to score the three-pointer.
Jaylen Brown scored 19 points and added 12 rebounds, Jason Taitum stopped on just 15.
Denver Nuggets - Los Angeles Clippers 120: 97 (1: 0 in the series)
Meanwhile in the West, the semifinal series between the Clippers and the Nuggets opened tonight.
The first quarter was still close and ended in a 31:31 tie but in the second quarter the team from City of Angels made its escape and finished the half with a 51:69 advantage, the difference more or less maintained until the end.
Kwai Leonard, who wants to win the championship again this year, scored 29 points (12 from 16 from the field), Paul George scored 19, Marcus Morris 18 and Monterz Harrell 15. The losers were led by the Joker, Nikola Jukic, with 15 points .
Paul Millsap added 13, Jamal Marie (2-of-8 for three), Jeremy Grant and Monte Morris scored 12 points each.
