ESPN’s broadcast called the Celtics “heavy favourites” in the East. Are we sure about that?
The Raptors new finishing move: the tandem chasedown pic.twitter.com/QrcXU3dVlQ
— Kawob Leonard (@World_Wide_Wob) October 20, 2018
This game almost felt like a dream. There is no LeBron anymore… THESE are the two legitimate teams in the East, and the best player in crunch time wears red and white.
Kawhi started out, well, not great, shooting just 3/11 in the first half. The Celtics played great defense against the Klaw, with Al Horford, in particular, putting the clamps on him. Still, Kawhi is a superstar and eventually began to beat the Celts from everywhere. A large portion of his play comes in the post, and when there was no double, the Celtics were toast. He was excellent off the bounce and from three as well. Imagine that… a star player being reliable from three. 31 and 10 for his second straight double-double isn’t too shabby for someone who hadn’t played since January.
The game felt like more than a regular season game. It was the NBA’s headlining game of tonight’s slate, and had an atmosphere that the ACC (yeah, whatever) hasn’t seen in the regular season in a while- maybe ever.
The other story of the night was Serge Ibaka. Thought to be more of a YouTube star than a key contributor on the basketball court, Serge was incredible tonight. This was likely his best game as a Raptor, with 21 points and some key plays down the stretch. He seems much more comfortable with this iteration of the roster both offensive and defensively.
