Kawhi Leonard dominates in Toronto Raptors’ Game 1 victory over Philadelphia 76ers

Open this photo in gallery:

Kawhi Leonard put on the sort of show Saturday that had the Toronto crowd chanting “M-V-P” all night long.

A tsunami of offence from Leonard and Pascal Siakam, combined with punishing team defence, helped the Toronto Raptors to a dominant 108-95 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Leonard scored a new postseason career high 45 points on a wildly efficient 16-of-23 from the field, and added 11 rebounds — joining Vince Carter as the only Raptors to score 40-plus in a playoff game. Siakam pumped in 29 points on 12-of-15 shooting, and grabbed seven boards. Kyle Lowry added nine points and eight assists.

“I’m just thinking of the next game,” said the straight-faced Leonard afterward. “Tomorrow, this is gonna be erased.”

Kelly: Kawhi Leonard’s simple presence on the basketball court robs Raptors’ opponents of hope

Toronto held Philadelphia’s star-studded team to 39.3 percent shooting. JJ Redick led Philly with 17 points in the loss — including five three-pointers. All-star centre Joel Embiid was held to 16 points and eight boards, while being guarded by Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka. Ben Simmons had 14 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

It was a franchise-record fifth straight playoff win for the Raptors. Leonard, personally, improved to 14-0 all-time against the 76ers.

Both teams had punted their first-round opponents in five games, several of them blowouts — Toronto against the Orlando Magic, and Philly versus the Brooklyn Nets. This second-round series, brimming with talent, had an increased intensity from the tip-off.

The two clubs were meeting in the post-season for the first time since 2001. The Raps started a little slow defensively in the opening minutes.

Leonard and Siakam exploded for 17 points apiece in the first quarter — both of them on tidy 7-of-9 from the field — trading off buckets like they had some kind of contest going. Leonard charged, spun, and swiveled uninhibited to the hoop. Siakam hit a pair of three balls and pin-balled off defenders with force. The dynamic duo combined for 34 of Toronto’s 39 first-quarter points as they constructed a 39-31 lead going in to the second.

“I didn’t think we were moving great at the start, again; it’s the start of another big series and we weren’t pushing as hard as I would have liked,” said Toronto Coach Nick Nurse. “[Leonard and Siakam] kind [of] bailed us and actually played enough offence to get us a nice lead there at the start. It was big to have those two guys step up and jump start us.”

The 76ers use an unconventional substitution pattern — subbing in bench players much earlier in the first quarter than most NBA teams do. This enables Philly to get their starters rested up and back on the floor late in the first and to begin the second quarter — hoping to face opposing bench players.

That’s when the Sixers made a mini run. With Lowry, Gasol and Green on the bench — Leonard some of that stretch too — Embiid was able to score a few, Harris and Simmons too. Philly pulled to within one.

But just as the Sixers were generating momentum, the Raps snatched it right back. Gasol hit a three-pointer, and Leonard thrilled the crowd with an astounding dribble-crossover-spin move that left both Jimmy Butler in the dust.

The Raps led 61-52 at half-time.

This alluring NBA match-up drew out the stars. Blue Jays superstar newcomer Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was in the house, and drew a standing ovation. The Handmaid’s Tale actress Elisabeth Moss was in the crowd, so was pop star Shawn Mendes and Canadian basketball star R. J. Barrett. Drake was in his courtside seat. The half-time show was a league-wide favourite — the uni-cycling teacup juggler, Red Panda.

Redick hit four three-balls in a row to energize the 76ers in the third quarter.

However, Toronto’s pressure defence persisted. While Embiid got a few on Ibaka earlier, the Raptors centre picked it up off the bench late, bringing the heat on the 76ers big man when Gasol was resting.

“I thought the combination of Marc and Serge did a good job. [Embiid] was taking some tougher shots,” said Nurse. “I thought we had him picking up the ball a little further away than maybe he wanted a few times and then our team help was pretty good, too. I thought we were crowding the paint a little bit, making it look a little crowed in there for him so he wasn’t comfortable.”

On top of their defence, Gasol had eight points, while Ibaka added seven along with two blocked shots.

Meanwhile, Leonard and Siakam continued to overwhelm with waves of athletic offense. Both men brazenly bulldozed over and dribbled around whomever was guarding them. Leonard also had a pair of steals and a blocked shot, and earned 11 free throws. Both men drilled three apiece from beyond the arc. He tied his previous career-high of 45 points scored on Jan. 1 versus Utah.

“If we’re going to win the series, we have to do better in relation to both of those guys,” said 76ers coach Brett Brown. “We can all sit here and say, ‘no kidding’. The ripple effect is that this is the best three-point shooting team in the NBA after the trade. So the balance of going after somebody and getting picked apart with Kyle or Danny [Green] and others is real. So I feel like you certainly shake their hand — Kawhi and Pascal — they were excellent. But, are you just going to live with that throughout the series? I doubt it. What that looks like, how frequent is it, I’ll figure that out.”

There were six 76ers in double-digit scoring, including Harris (14 points plus 15 rebounds), Butler (10 points), and James Ennis III (11 points).

Game 2 is Monday night in Toronto, before the series swings to Philly on Thursday.