Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet played a pivotal role in cooling the heads of Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka during a tense moment in Game 5 of their second-round series against the Boston Celtics.
Concerns on the Raptors' chemistry arose after the tense moment, but VanVleet downplayed such worries.
Per Josh Lewenberg of The Sports Network, VanVleet noted that heated moments between teammates could occur especially in the playoffs. He pointed out that both parties, as well as the entire team, have moved on from that episode.
“Kyle had his moment with the refs, Serge had his moment with Kyle, and then we moved on, moved past it. It happens – brothers, there's a lot at stake, a lot on the line. Those type of things are gonna happen, but it wasn't as bad as it looked,” the Raptors guard explained.
Below is the clip of the incident, per Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report. As observed, Fred VanVleet is talking to Serge Ibaka, trying to calm down his nerves. The Raptors were down by 25 points at that point and Ibaka, being the competitor that he is, wanted to win through any means. If it included calling out Kyle Lowry, then so be it.
Serge Ibaka had a moment of frustration with Kyle Lowry after that technical. Said “come on man, we’re losing!” While gesturing to the scoreboard. Fred VanVleet spoke to him seemingly to calm him down. Celtics bench started cheering pic.twitter.com/meqQjeI10E
— Taylor Rooks (@TaylorRooks) September 8, 2020
It was a frustrating night for the defending champions. They never led the game and were down by as much as 30 points. They shot just 38.8 percent from the field compared to the Celtics' 49.4 percent clip.
The Raptors were also pummeled in the paint, with the Celtics scoring 48 points near the rim. The Toronto-based squad also had a mere 26 defensive rebounds as opposed to the Boston's 41.
Nick Nurse and Co. are now down 3-2. Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semis will be on Wednesday.
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