Bruce Arthur: Same old Raptors or something more? We’ll find out in Game 4
PHILADELPHIA—The moment Kawhi Leonard must have felt so terribly alone was easy to spot. He had just spent the third quarter taking matters into his own enveloping hands, and good god what a show. Fourteen points in a little over eight minutes, no misses. The Toronto Raptors were down just seven to start the fourth quarter. They had played like crap — their coach used a more equine epithet — and it wasn’t over.
And with their second-, third- and fourth-best players on the floor — Pascal Siakam, Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol — the Raptors got crushed. An 11-0 Philadelphia run, an 18-point lead, and the road to Joel Embiid’s windmill dunk was paved. All season the Raptors played well without Leonard, as he was rigorously rested for exactly this moment. And without him against the 76ers, they have failed in spectacular fashion.
Published at Fri, 03 May 2019 22:39:22 +0000
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