National Basketball Association

Celtics Seize Game 5 With Elite Defense

Updated Sep. 7, 2020 10:36 p.m. ET

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The Boston Celtics are one win away from the Eastern Conference Finals after their 111-89 win over the Toronto Raptors on Monday, the most lopsided victory of the series so far.

Here are the 3 biggest takeaways from Game 5.

1. What comes after C? D(efense)

Boston came out swarming on defense, as Toronto scored only 11 points on 4-of-20 shooting from the field in the first quarter.

The Cs held the Raptors to 38.8% shooting, and a paltry 30% from deep, on the night, blocking six shots.

Boston dominated from the outset and entered halftime with a 62-35 lead. The C's scored 37 points alone in the second quarter, two more than the Toronto notched in the entire first half.

The Raptors have lost by 15 or more points seven times this year, with four of those losses have come at the hands of the Celtics.

2. The Dunk: A Metaphor

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown threw down a monster dunk in traffic in the first quarter.

It's so nice, you might want to watch it twice.

Brown caught a bounce pass from Marcus Smart, attacked the basket and slammed it in over Raptors guard OG Anunoby – who scored the game-winning, clutch 3-pointer in Game 4 to keep Toronto alive in the series.

Poetic?

Oh, and Brown led all scorers with 27 points on a 10-of-18 clip. 

3. Raptors are an aggressive animal

Late in the third quarter and down by 25 points, tempers flared among Toronto's starters on the court.

Kyle Lowry received a technical foul for talking back to the referee after being handed a foul call following his 26-foot running pullup jump shot over Jayson Tatum.

Tatum went to the charity stripe, while Lowry ran his mouth.

With the Raptors' emotions running high, Serge Ibaka clapped back at Lowry, while Fred VanVleet stepped in to put the situation to bed.

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Boston Celtics

Jaylen Brown

Jayson Tatum

National Basketball Association

OG Anunoby

Toronto Raptors