All the talk this postseason about the Toronto Raptors has been about the play of superstar Kawhi Leonard. He’s had a sensational playoff run leading his team to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Trailing 2-1 in the series to the Milwaukee Bucks, it was important for the supporting cast of the Raptors to show up and help out a hobbled Leonard.
Toronto’s bench outscored the Bucks bench 48-23. With scoring pushes from guard Fred VanVleet (13), forward’s Serge Ibaka (17) and Norman Powell (18), the Raptors dominated game 4 with a 120-102 victory to even the series at 2-2.
Jurassic Park was electric all night as the home Toronto crowd wanted to make sure this wasn’t their final home game of the season. The fans were delighted by the show their team put on display, especially hip hop mogul Drake. He was energetic throughout the game chirping at opposing players including Giannis Antetokoumpo.
Point guard Kyle Lowry, who has been struggling for most of the postseason, came out aggressive and had 12 early points in the first quarter and finished with 25 for the game. His willingness to be assertive made up for Leonard’s health issues. He shot with confidence, put pressure on the defense by getting to the basket and drawing fouls, as well as playing sound defense.
Center Marc Gasol played a great game 4 and knocked down some timely three-point shots, finishing with 17 points and 7 assists.
The ball movement is what set up the majority of the quality looks Toronto made and that is the secret ingredient against a deep Bucks team. When the Raptors fall into a one-on-one trap then it’s feeding right into the Bucks’ hand, but when they play together as a team, they’ve shown how lethal they can be and pose a legitimate threat as one of the top teams in the NBA.
Antetokoumpo came out aggressive getting to the rim and putting pressure on the Raptors defense. He struggled for the rest of the game due to the continuous bodies that Toronto threw at him when he drove to the basket. His 25 points weren’t enough in the end and his supporting cast didn’t help out.
Khris Middleton was great with 30 points, but no one else on the Bucks scored in double digits. Milwaukee needs their bench to produce better at home in Game 5 in order to take back control of the series.
The series is heading back to Milwaukee on Thursday, May 23, at 8:30 PM EST.