Game Blog: Finding better three-pointers for Lowry a key to Raptors in Game 3, says Nick Nurse

There are a handful of things the Raptors need just a little better to get back into their NBA playoff series with the Boston Celtics.

Score three points in a better clip: They can’t win with Fred VanVleet and Kyle Lowry combining 3 fir-19s from over the arc like they did in Game 2.

Get out and run out of defensive stops – Celtics’ midfield defense can be stuffy.

“I think the overall look Fred got was pretty good,” coach Nick Nurse said in his pre-match chat with reporters. “He took a lot of pretty good ones. I didn’t think Kyle looked good, so I have to do a better job of giving him a cleaner look, for sure.

And the Raptors need to figure out how to stop Boston’s Jayson Tatum in Game 3 of the series going tonight.

Tatum was 17 of 35 from the field and 6 of 12 from three-pointers in his first two games, shedding a 34-point streak in Boston’s Game 2 win when he also landed on the free throw line 14 times.

“I think we did well in the middle of the field,” said the nurse. “They gave him the ball a lot and put him in a lot of isolation situations and we actually did pretty well in those, I think.

“I think Kyle protected him great, but we have to eliminate the matter of randomness; we have to find him better in transition, for sure, you can’t lose one of their best players in transition and free him and build confidence on that. “

And while there are other Celtics who have played important roles – Marcus Smart in the first place and even Robert Williams – keeping Tatum in check is a must for the Toronto defense.

“They are a great defensive team, so you can’t dance and play with the ball,” said Tatum after match 2. “They have good defenders and they play great team defense, so you just have to make quick decisions and play with a certain pace. “.

The nurse might mull over roster changes – which won’t be known until match time – but the fact is, her best players have to be better.

It’s not necessarily about looking at the starters, it’s mostly about looking at the final pieces of the rotation, where Norm Powell and whoever else Nurse uses as the eighth man, be it Terence Davis, Chris Boucher or maybe even Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.

According to John Schuhmann of NBA.com, the Raptors were a plus-11 in 32.9 minutes in Game 2 with Lowry, VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby and one of Marc Gasol or Serge Ibaka on the floor and a minus-14 with more deep bench players playing.