Lowry steers Raptors to winover Bucks, level Eastern finals

TORONTO: Kawhi Leonard carried the Toronto Raptors through most of the postseason.

However, after Leonard played 52 minutes in Toronto’s double-overtime win on Sunday and was noticeably favouring his left leg, Raptors guard Kyle Lowry said teammates knew Leonard was limited on Tuesday and that the rest of them “had to step up”.

The Raptors did, especially Lowry, who scored 18 points in the first half to set the tone and finished with 25 points as the Raptors defeated the visiting Milwaukee Bucks 120-102 to even the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece.

Game 5 is today in Milwaukee. The winner of the best-of-seven series will advance to meet Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.

“We have had to rely on (Leonard) so much, and when everybody steps up, it takes the load off him,” Lowry said.

Raptors coach Nick Nurse added of Leonard’s health: “I mean, yeah, we were concerned. I think (Leonard) is fine. I think he’s – you know, he logged a lot of minutes. He’s certainly tired, like a lot of guys in this series are. You know, he looks OK to me.

“I think there’s a number of guys out there that aren’t 100% on both sides of the ball. But, again, he’s got tremendous will.

“He’s got tremendous desire, and there’s one time I was trying to give him an extended rest there, and he didn’t really want it. So he must be OK.”

Leonard contributed 19 points and seven rebounds in 34 minutes.

Norman Powell added 18 points off the bench for the Raptors.

Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol each scored 17 points, and Fred VanVleet had 13 points. Ibaka also grabbed 13 rebounds.

Powell, Ibaka and VanVleet led a strong showing by Toronto’s bench that made the difference.

“I’m going out there and trying to impact the game where I see that I can,” Powell said.

“Just take what the defence is giving me and just stay confident in my reads. Just try to follow the game flow.

“We’re just playing for one another. We were talking to each other on different shots, different reads that are there.”

Khris Middleton amassed 30 points, six rebounds and seven assists for the Bucks.

Giannis Antetokounmpo added 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Nikola Mirotic contributed 11 points.

“They did a great job on us defensively,” Middleton said.

“They took advantage of some of our defensive coverages and just made shots.

“For the most part, they got anything they wanted. We’ve got to be better.”