[ad_1]
PHILADELPHIA – Toronto Raptors striker Kawhi Leonard has added to his historic playoff run with 39 points and 14 rebounds in the Raptors' 101-96 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in their fourth half game -final of the Eastern Conference.
The series, tied 2-2, returns to Toronto for the fifth game on Tuesday.
"Kawhi is dominant, just dominant," Raptors goalkeeper Kyle Lowry told ESPN.com. "I only played with another guy like that, Yao Ming, and when he started, you can not stop him, Kawhi has been doing this for a month."
Leonard continued to score effectively, eliminating 13 of his 20 placement attempts this Sunday, and converted 21 of his 24 uncontested placement attempts into four games against Philadelphia.
Kobe Bryant breaks the performance of Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard against Orlando Magic in the first round of the playoffs. Watch on ESPN +
In the first nine games of the 2019 playoffs, Leonard became the first player in the NBA's playoff history with an average of 30 points, five rebounds and three assists for an effective percentage of success over 65. He averaged 32.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists with an effective percentage of goals of 66.2%.
Only three other players in NBA history posted an average of 30 points, five rebounds and three assists for an effective placement percentage of over 60 in a playoff series of more than $ 50. a turn: LeBron James (2016-17), Shaquille O-Neal (1997-98) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1976-77).
"He's done it over and over again," said Danny Green, the Raptors' guard, who has played with Leonard in San Antonio for seven seasons. "He improves with time and every game, separating the defense and taking what they give him."
In a game that started as a defensive fight, Leonard gave the Raptors 17 points and 10 rebounds in the first period. The Sixers sent several bodies to Leonard when he attacked the screens of his teammates or invaded the paint from the ground. However, Leonard consistently managed to get closer to the defenders to hit outside shots or make contact and win a lap on the foul line, where he converted eight attempts out of 12.
1 related
1:36
Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler hit big shots in the fourth quarter, but the Raptors won in Game 4 to tie the game at 2-2.
"What he can do – and we have two people on the outside – what he can do to create his own shot looks like Kobe's," said the coach. Sixers, Brett Brown.
On the defensive side, Leonard exerted strong pressure on Sixers point guard Ben Simmons, who was his main defensive mission to start the game. He also played the active defender role when Simmons dropped the ball.
Midway through the third quarter, Leonard, a two-time NBA defensive player of the year, was replaced by Sixers guard Jimmy Butler, who led the offensive on Saturday. Philadelphia for much of the series. After scoring 19 points on a 7-on-11 shot from the ground, Butler only converted two of the seven field goal attempts with a turn-over the rest of the match.
After a haul of 116 points on 95 possessions against Philadelphia in Game 3, the Raptors restored their strong defense in Game 4, limiting the Sixers to an effective 47.6.
"In Game 3, we released them and they scored 116 or 120 points, that's not what we do," said Leonard. "The tight matches in which we are, the games we won, we held them to less than 100 points, and that's what we have to do."
In the final moments, the Raptors have relied heavily on a regular diet of pick and roll starring Leonard as handler of the ball. With Toronto center Marc Gasol as the usual examiner, Leonard was able to fill the deficiencies of the Philadelphia defense and find enough space for his shot.
"It's been a long time since he's in the league," Butler said. "He did this every game of this series, so I do not know what else you can do."
Leonard's signature is possession of the game with the Raptors leading by one point with just over a minute to play in regulation. After Gasol gave Leonard a screen over the 3-point arc on the left side, Leonard dribbled right and confronted the Sixers' center with Joel Embiid before going back to tie a shot from 3 points to give Toronto a 94-90 lead with 1:01 to play.
"I really got out of a pick-and-roll and I tried to stay aggressive," said Leonard. "They ended up changing, Embiid is a good defender, so I just watched the shot clock and tried to get as much space as I could. shot and I thought the shot was coming and he did it. "
Leonard stated that during the ball's throw-in, he wanted to make sure there was no shortage of shots, remembering some unsuccessful attempts.
"I had times when I took those shots, and they were disappointed," said Leonard. "So, remember such moments, practice yourself and tell me, try to get it to the back."
With this win, the Raptors found the advantage of the home ground against Philadelphia before the fifth game, in which Leonard will have the opportunity to score 30 points or more in his fifth straight game in the semifinal of conference.
"It's Kawhi, dude," the great man of the Raptors Serge Ibaka said. "It's what it does in life."
[ad_2]
Source link