With 2-OT win, Raptors trim East deficit to 2-1
Kawhi Leonard scored 36 points, including eight in the second overtime, as the Raptors beat the Bucks 118-112 on Sunday in Toronto to cut Milwaukee’s lead in the Eastern Conference finals to 2-1.
Pascal Siakam had 25 points and 11 rebounds, Norman Powell scored 19 points and Marc Gasol added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Raptors, who will try to draw even in the best-of-seven series when they host Game 4 on Tuesday.
“We just played a lot tougher, man,” Toronto head coach Nick Nurse said in comparing Game 3 to the first two games in the series in Milwaukee. “We were up guarding and we were physical and we were ready to play tonight.”
Toronto won even though guards Kyle Lowry and Powell fouled out in the fourth quarter. Siakam also missed two foul shots with the Raptors up by two with 7.4 seconds left in regulation.
Siakam redeemed himself by blocking a potential tying shot by Brook Lopez with 43 seconds to go in the second overtime, leading to a layup for Leonard that put Toronto up 114-110 with just more than 30 seconds to play.
Leonard made 11 of 25 shots and went 12-for-13 at the freethrow line. He added nine rebounds and five assists despite appearing to be bothered by some leg pain.
“I’m feeling all right. This is playoff basketball,” Leonard said. “Everybody’s hurting, so I’ve just got to keep fighting.”
George Hill scored 24 points and Malcolm Brogdon had 20 for the Bucks, who lost for the first time in five road games this postseason.
The Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo had 12 points and 23 rebounds before fouling out with 4:24 to go in the second overtime. He shot 5-for-16.
“They were just playing better than us,” Antetokounmpo said. “Whenever we got close, they’d hit some shots and take the lead back to seven or eight. At the end of the day, it wasn’t our best game. We can get a lot better.” Briefly: Trajan Langdon, who had been the assistant general manager with the Nets, was hired by the Pelicans to serve as their GM under executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin . ... The Cavaliers have hired exMemphis head coach J.B. Bickerstaff as associate head coach, ESPN reported. Cleveland hired John Beilein, who had been at the University of Michigan, as its head coach May 13.