Kawhi Leonard led the Toronto Raptors to another fine playoff win, scoring 34 points in their 107-85 triumph over the Orlando Magic at Amway Centre. Toronto now leads the series 3-1 for the first time in the history of this franchise.
Leonard looked impressive on the court, although he did miss a practice a couple of days prior to the game due to symptoms that resembled flu.
Pascal Siakam and Norman Powell scored 16 points each, with Serge Ibaka scoring 13. Kyle Lowery was a point and an assist away from a double-double. Now the Raptors are only a win away from advancing to the Conference semifinals.
They’ll have the chance to do so on Tuesday in front of their own crowd at Scotiabank Arena.
On the other side, Aaron Gordon’s 25 points couldn’t help the Magic even the series. Evan Fournier scored 19 points, while Nikola Vucevic had 11 points and 17 turnovers for his team.
Leonard did score 16 points in Game 3 on Friday, which the Raptors won 98-93, but his performance didn’t match up to his previous games. This time last year, his career was in danger, after missing out on all except nine games in the league due to his quadriceps injury.
But the Finals MVP from 2014 managed to recover and come back even stronger.
Kawhi Leonard will be one of the biggest names to hit the open market this summer and there’s certainly a chance he’ll be leaving Toronto – Getty
Orlando Started the Game Much Better
Orlando started the game with a 9-1 lead, while the Raptors took their first lead midway through the quarter, ending it with a two-point lead. After an even first quarter, the Raptors began to pull away in the second, outscoring their opponents 30-16. Siakam’s three-pointer gave the visitors a 58-42 lead at the break, while that advantage went up to 19 in the early moments of the third. The Magic didn’t go down without a fight and cut the lead to 10 later in the quarter.
The Raptors entered the last 12 minutes of the game leading 82-70.
After Khem Birch hit a three-pointer early in the fourth quarter, the Magic cut the Raptors lead to 11 points. Toronto responded with a 10-0 run and increased the lead to 21 points with 6:06 before the end of the game.
3:34 before the buzzer Siakam threw down a fantastic alley-oop to increase Toronto’s lead to 23, sending home fans to the exits.
The playoff series kicked off with Orlando’s surprise 104-101 win over the Raptors, but they replied with a nice 111-82 win the Game 2.
If necessary, Game 6 will be played in Orlando on Thursday. Whoever wins this series will face either Brooklyn or Philadelphia in the East semis.
You can check out the odds for the upcoming Game 5 at 22Bet.