The No. 1 and No. 2 Eastern Conference seeds are one step closer to moving on in the playoffs after a pair of comfortable home wins on Tuesday.
Raptors jumped out to an early 17-point first-quarter lead and never looked back, beating Wizards 130-119 in Toronto to take a 2-0 series lead as the match-up switches to Washington.
DeMar DeRozan matched a career playoff-high with 37 points and Jonas Valanciunas had strong 19-point, 14-rebound double-double as Raptors took a two-game lead for the first time in franchise history. Toronto also set team playoff records for points in a quarter, a half, and a game.
Bucks couldn't take advantage of the injury-riddled Celtics despite solid games from Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton in a 120-106 loss. The two Bucks combined for 55 points but the Bucks bench registered a combined minus-36 and were outscored by 16 as Boston's balanced offensive attack shined through again with six players in double-figures, led by Jaylen Brown's 30.
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Bucks lost despite shooting 59 percent from the field and 41 percent from beyond the arc. They'll look to improve on 15 turnovers and 10 missed free throws as the series moves to Milwaukee.
In the nightcap, Pelicans used a 9-0 fourth-quarter run in the waning minutes to stave off another Trail Blazers rally to take a 2-0 series lead. Nikola Mirotic, Jrue Holiday, Rajon Rondo knocked down 3-pointers to give New Orleans a 108-100 lead with 38 seconds remaining en route to a 111-102 win.
Portland All-Star Damian Lillard struggled once again, scoring 17 on 7-of-18 shooting with seven turnovers. He's 13 of 41 from the field after two games and Blazers fans let him and his underperforming team-mates hear it after the game.
STUD OF THE NIGHT
Celtics point guard Terry Rozier forced Eric Bledsoe's hand for a second consecutive game. In Game 1, Bledsoe scored just nine points on 4-of-12 shooting and turned the ball over five times with just four assists. In Tuesday's game, he wasn't much better offensively, with Rozier guarding him the majority of the game en route to 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting in 34 minutes.
Rozier scored 23 with eight assists while registering a plus-19 on Tuesday and hasn't turned the ball over thus far in the series (78 minutes).
Holiday scored a career playoff-high 33 points and Rondo was an assist shy of a triple-double in the Pelicans' win.
DUDS OF THE NIGHT
Wizards guard Bradley Beal missed 8 of his 11 shots and finished with nine points with a point differential of minus-34. He had more fouls in the first half (three) than made shots (two).
Blazers forward Evan Turner left with a toe injury but not before registering a minus-16 and zero points on 0-for-6 shooting.
HIGHLIGHT
Brown with the left-hand monster dunk:
WHAT'S NEXT
Pacers (1-0) at Cavaliers (0-1), 7 p.m. ET — LeBron James and the Cavs lost 98-80 in Game 1 after Indiana outscored them 33-14 in the first quarter. Victor Oladipo led Pacers with 32 points, six rebounds and four assists to snap James' streak of 21 straight first-round playoff victories. Cavs role players will need to step up in Game 2 after no one else in the starting lineup besides James scored more than nine points on Sunday.
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