Jayson Tatum scored a playoff-career-high 34 points, Marcus Smart slapped five 3-pointers in a hot fourth-quarter comeback and the Boston Celtics outscored the Toronto Raptors, 102-99, in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinals. series on Tuesday night near Orlando. Smart scored 19 points, and Kemba Walker added 17 and Jaylen Brown added 16 for the Celtics who took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series. Game 3 is set for Thursday (US time). OG Anunoby scored 20 points and Fred VanVleet had 19 for the Raptors, falling 0-3 against Boston in the NBA bubble. Chasing up to 12 points in the latter part of the third quarter, the Celtics entered fourth with a 70-78 deficit. Smart, led by 3 points in the first three quarters, led the Boston offense. Smart scored a three to put the Celtics close to 80-79. He tied the record at 82 with another three to complete Boston’s 16-4 run. Anunoby completed a three-point play for the Raptors, and Smart responded with another three and a foul for an 86-85 lead, with 7:55 left. Tatum scored a three, and Boston advanced to 93-87, with 5:41 on the clock. A VanVleet threes approached Toronto 95-92. After Tatum and Kyle Lowry scored two free throws each, Walker hit a three for a 100-94 lead, with 2:24 left. Lowry scored a technical free throw and two more in the line to get the Raptors to 100-99, but Walker took another bucket for the Celtics' three-point lead. 41.6 seconds left. VanVleet's chance to tie the game bounced on the board. NUGGETS 80, JAZZ 78 The Denver Nuggets went through a chaotic ending to defeat the Utah Jazz, 80-78, in the exciting Game 7 of their first-round series. Nikola Jokic jumped for a hook shot, with 27.8 seconds left, to give the Nuggets an advantage, after losing Denver's 19-point lead to a close win. Utah still have a chance to snatch the win, but Donovan Mitchell made it - the third-quarter scoring spree returned to the Jazz in a turnover game, with less than 10 seconds left, after beating a double team. Denver advanced, trailing 1-3 in the best-of-seven series, in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs where they will face the Los Angeles Clippers.
