Three Thoughts: Energy, Fatigue, and Zone Defence

The Toronto Raptors will look to even their Eastern Conference semifinals series up at 2-2 when they take on the Boston Celtics in Game 4

The Toronto Raptors haven't made things easy on themselves three games into the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Boston Celtics.

They dropped Game 1 in blowout fashion, saw Boston's Marcus Smart takeover in the fourth quarter of Game 2 to squander a 12-point second-half lead, and needed a miracle game-winner from OG Anunoby to survive in Game 3. While 2-1 is certainly much better than the alternative of a 3-0 hole — ask the Milwaukee Bucks — the Raptors aren't out of the woods quite yet.

Only 12 teams in NBA history have ever come back from trailing 3-1 in a series, about 5%, and the prospect of crawling out of a 3-1 hole against the Celtics seems nearly impossible. That makes tonight's Game 4 pretty close to a must-win game for the Raptors who will look to even the series up at 2-2 and make it a best two-out-of-three the rest of the way.

Here's what to look for:

1. Energy

Game 3 ended in very emotional fashion with Anunoby's buzzer-beating 3-pointer to keep the Raptors alive.

After the game, Fred VanVleet reportedly walked off the court and murmured "They f*** up. They f**** up now," according to The Athletic's Sam Amick.

We may find out tonight how much the Celtics did f***ed up when the game tips off at 6:30 p.m. ET.

If the Raptors come out energetic and can maintain that energy, it's possible Anunoby's shot will be seen as a turning point for the Raptors in the series. That being said, as Raptors coach Nick Nurse pointed out, the Celtics will also be motivated to get back at Toronto after the emotional letdown of Game 3.

"I would imagine they’re going to play a little harder, not that they’re not, but sometimes when you’re pissed... you get a little more aggressive in some things, that would be a natural response to that type of game," Nurse said.

Managing that emotional energy is could be a key factor especially early on in Game 4.

2. Fatigue

The 34-year-old Kyle Lowry played 46:29 minutes in Game 3, the most any player has played in a non-overtime game this season, according to ESPN's Tim Reynolds. He was trailing closely by Anunoby who played 45:28 in the game, all of which the Raptors needed to secure the victory.

Even if the Raptors come out energetic to start the game, it'll be very tough for Nurse to ask Lowry to repeat his Game 3 performance with another long night. Instead, Toronto will have to get some contributions from bench players, specifically Norman Powell who hasn't looked strong against the Celtics so far. The Raptors have made things work all season using a committee approach, getting a little bit from everyone, and they'll need that again tonight to stave off fatigue in Game 4.

"I really do believe there’s some opportunities for some of these guys coming off the bench, I don’t know who but I do believe there is some," Nurse said. "We’re probably going to find somebody, it’s probably gonna be a wild card that comes into this series at some point, that’s all I can tell you."

3. Playing Zone

Few teams in the NBA roll out a zone defence as often as Nurse and the Raptors do. They've gone to it from time to time against the Celtics and found a lot of success. In Game 3, it forced the Celtics to turn to Enes Kanter for a few minutes, who helped beat the Raptors' zone, but struggled mightily on the defensive end, letting Toronto get its offence going again.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens said he expects to see more zone tonight. The trick for the Raptors will be mixing things up throughout the game to throw off the Celtics with a variety of zone schemes.

"It's just to disrupt rhythm, just to change the flow of what's happening," Nurse said of the zone defence. "It''s been pretty good at doing that for us."