BOSTON Celtics pushed defending champions Toronto Raptors to the brink of elimination following a wire-to-wire 111-89 victory in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday night (Tuesday in the Philippines).
Jaylen Brown blazed early on as he finished with 27 points while Kemba Walker chipped in 21 points and seven assists as the Celtics halted its two-game slide and took a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven series.
Jayson Tatum added double-double 18 points and 10 rebounds, Daniel Theis and Brad Wanamaker each contributed 15 markers, while Marcus Smart piled up 12 points for Boston.
The Celtics are in command early in the game on conversions from Brown and Walker to finish the first quarter at 25-11. The lead grew further for Boston since then as it reached its highest at 79-49 in the third period.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles Clippers surged to a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinals series after a come-from-behind 113-107 triumph over Denver Nuggets in Game 3.
Down 90-97 midway in the fourth quarter, the Clippers went on an 8-0 run behind Marcus Morris Sr., Lou Williams and Paul George to take a 98-97 edge. The lead went up to 111-103 on free throws by Kawhi Leonard and baskets from Williams and Ivica Zubac.
The Nuggets made its last push to trim the deficit to 107-111 on back-to-back hits by Nikola JokiÄ and Jamal Murray, but two free throws from Leonard sealed the victory for the Clippers.
George top-scored for the Clippers with 32 points, including five triples, Leonard chipped in double-double 23 points and 14 rebounds while Morris ended up with 12 points.
The National Basketball Association holds all matches of its 2019-2020 playoffs at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex inside Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, United States./PN
