Is Kemba Walker Is The Key To Game 7 For Boston?
After a thrilling Game 6 between the Celtics and the Raptors, the Raptors won a double OT game and forced a Game 7. Who will win the Game 7 and the series?
After a thrilling Game 6 between the Celtics and the Raptors, the Raptors won a double OT game and forced a Game 7. Who will win the Game 7 and the series?
After a great series so far between two of the best in the Eastern Conference, the Toronto Raptors and the Boston Celtics. This series has been a mostly defensive battle featuring some thrilling endings. With the series tied 3-3, who will win Game 7.
The Celtics won the first two games of the series as they controlled the Raptors. They shot the ball well from 3 and got great performance from Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kemba Walker, and Marcus Smart. The Celtics looked unbeatable.
But the Raptors started to fight back. In Game 3, the Raptors and Celtics were engaged in quite the battle. The Celtics led 103-101 with the Raptors having just 0.5 seconds on the clock. Enter questionable coaching. The Celtics decided to put the 7’5″ Tacko Fall on the inbound. While it seems smart, the Celtics were over-thinking this. Even worse, the Celtics were in a zone instead of man-to-man. OG Anunoby got wide open, and the Raptors won the game at the buzzer. The Celtics should have been leading 3-0, instead it was 2-1.
In Game 4, the Celtics offense sputtered and the Raptors took advantage as Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry were great in a 100-93 win. The Raptors had managed to tie the series.
In Game 5, the Raptors held the momentum and a chance to take a 3-2 series lead over the stumbling Celtics. Instead they crumbled. The Raptors scored 11 points in the 1st quarter and just 89 points overall. The Celtics had 6 players in double-figures and they took a 3-2 series lead.
Now I expected the Celtics to win Game 6, but I was expecting it to be close. Only 1/2 of those predictions were correct. After a terrible 3rd quarter, the Celtics found themselves down by 4 entering the 4th. After some back-and-forth action, the Celtics tied the game at 98. Pascal Siakam missed, and we were heading for OT. In OT, the Celtics led by 4 but the Raptors battled back and tied the game. Norman Powell missed at the buzzer and we headed for a 2nd OT. The Celtics again led by 4 in the 2nd OT, but they allowed the Raptors to get back in it. After a Norman Powell and-one, the Celtics found themselves down 4. Despite Tatum trying, the Celtics lost 118-115, and the series would go to a 7th and final game to decide it all.
My initial pick for the Game 7 is the Celtics is all of their scoring capabilities and their defense. Pascal Siakam has been a no-show all series because of great Celtics defense, but the Celtics will have to slow down Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet. A tough task, but needed for a win.
On offense, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will need to play well. Both of these guys have been good and bad in this series, but in Game 6 they were great. They should look for their shots and be aggressive. Marcus Smart has also been great and needs to his his open 3’s, because he will get them.
The key for the Celtics is Kemba Walker. When he plays well, so do the Celtics. Walker had 18 points and 10 assists in Game 1, a Celtics win. Walker had 17 points and 6 rebounds in Game 2, also a Celtics win. He had 29 in Game 3 and 15 in Game 4, both losses. He had 21 in Game 5, but just 5 points in Game 6. He was the reason they lost.
Walker has to be aggressive and attack the Raptors defense. Because if he doesn’t, than it will be tough for the Celtics to win. Now in Walker’s defense, they were doing everything in Game 6 to deny him the ball. Full-court pressure, denying him the ball on offense, the whole ordeal. If Toronto does this, Walker should still be aggressive, but look for other people as the defense collapses on him.
If Walker and the Celtics play well on offense, there is almost no way that the Celtics lose Game 7. They need their best players to play.. well and their defense has been great all series long. So I expect a Celtics win, but Toronto will likely make it interesting. This will be another great game.
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