The Toronto Raptors are just one win away from a second-round meeting with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Led by 25 points from Norman Powell in the best playoff performance of his young career, the Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks 118-93 in Game 5 Monday, taking a 3-2 lead in their first-round best-of-seven series.
With a victory on Thursday in Milwaukee, Toronto would earn a rematch with the Cavs, the team that ended their playoff run last year in the Eastern Conference finals.
The Raptors returned home after splitting games on the road with Milwaukee, and had a dominant win. Powell was remarkable in his second straight start, recording four 3-pointers, four rebounds, three assists, three steals and thrilled with dunks and hustle plays.
"It's all about giving myself up for the team," said Powell. "I'm trying to get better, whether it's coming off the bench, cheering for Kyle and DeMar, the guys on the floor, going in there, making hustle plays, focusing on defence, pushing the ball in transition….just trying to accomplish the things that I have set out for myself within the aspect of the team."
Five other Raptors scored in double digits, including Kyle Lowry (16), Serge Ibaka (19), DeMar DeRozan (18), DeMarre Carroll (12), and Cory Joseph (10), who also had 10 assists.
Lowy started the game, even though he sat out Monday morning's shoot-around due to stiffness in his back. He was visibly in pain at some points in the game, and was lying on the floor when he was out.
"Once you stop and sit down, it sucks. You've got to just keep going," said Lowry. "I just want to be out there with my guys."
The Raps went with the same starting lineup that produced a win on Saturday – Powell starting at small forward to guard Khris Middleton, while Jonas Valaniunas came off the bench.
Ibaka, who had 10 points on mediocre 4-of-16 shooting in Game 4, hit three of Toronto's first four buckets on Monday – a three, a jumper and a big dunk – and held down Milwaukee's Thon Maker. It was a bounce-back night for him.
The Raptors built a commanding 15-point lead before the first quarter was over. To that point the game was peppered with dominant Toronto moments. Ibaka was hot, DeRozan nabbed a turnover and took it coast to coast, deking Greg Monroe out of his shoes, and delivered a monster dunk. Carroll finally found his shot, while Powell drained a pair of threes and kept Middleton in check. What's more, they were keeping a thumb on Giannis Antetokounmpo – the Bucks start began one for six.
The Raps led 31-20 after the quarter.
In the second quarter, the Greek star was finding his groove. The Bucks only scored 16 points in the quarter, but 13 of them were from Antetokounmpo, from driving layups to dunks and floating jumpers. Milwaukee chipped Toronto's 19-point lead down to nine.
This was far from the dominant Bucks team who had trapped the Raptors hard in Games 1 and 3, played with more physicality and stalled Lowry and DeRozan with their defensive schemes.
Valanciunas added perhaps the first bite of real hostility to the series by going nose to nose with Monroe in the third quarter. The two had tangled aggressively under the hoop, and Monroe came down on Valanciunas's back, so the big man appeared to land him to the ground with a strong box out. At the other end of the floor, the two got face to face, and the Toronto faithful rose to their feet in excitement, chanting, "JV-JV-JV" – to which the fiery Lithuanian flexed his muscles and encouraged the applause.
"The fans were great," said a pleased Valanciunas when asked about the incident. "I'm an emotional player."
Both players were assessed technical fouls.
Valanciunas was inciting the crowd each time he touched the ball after that, including a big fourth-quarter slam dunk that sent the Air Canada Centre fans into a frenzy. He concluded the night with eight points and seven rebounds to Monroe's 11 points and two boards.
Toronto never lost control, although Antetokounmpo still had many marvellous moments and finished the night with 30 points and nine rebounds, while Malcolm Brogdon had 19.
Carroll said the difference since Toronto was throttled in Game 3 has been a weekend film session that was very difficult but really productive.
"It was just a heated film session," said Carroll. "Heated film sessions can go one of two ways – bad or good. We came together and we saw the problem. Then we kept building from it."
Game 5 was never in doubt, and Toronto's bench players finished the game. Fans ended the night chanting, "Raps in six, Raps in six!"
Should a Game 7 be needed after the two teams tangle on Thursday in Milwaukee, that would take place Saturday in Toronto.
Rachel Brady