Siakam leads Raptors’ blitz
Pascal Siakam had 30 points and 11 rebounds, Kawhi Leonard added 16 points and the Raptors held off the Magic 98-93 on Friday night in Orlando, Fla., to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference first-round series.
“He’s unbelievable,” Raptors guard Kyle Lowry said of Siakam. “He’s the most improved basketball player in the NBA this year and he’s only going to get better.”
Siakam was 13-for-20 from the floor and the Raptors held the Magic to 36% shooting.
“It’s just taking what a defense gives us and going with it,” Siakam said.
Leonard had 10 rebounds, Danny Green had 13 points and Lowry finished with 12 points and 10 assists. Terrence Ross led the Magic with 24 points, and Nikola Vucevic shook off a slow start to finish with 22 points and 14 rebounds.
Game 4 is Sunday night in Orlando.
The Raptors trailed 6160 midway through the third, then went on a 16-0 run over the next four minutes to take the lead for good. Siakam and Green were both 3-for-3 during the run, the Magic missed 10 consecutive shots over a span of 61⁄2 minutes and had to play uphill the rest of the way.
That being said, they went down swinging.
Lowry’s 3-pointer with 7:48 left gave the Raptors their biggest lead at 86-69. The Magic came flying back, and Ross’ 3-pointer with 41 seconds left got them to 96-93.
Leonard was short with a jumper on the next possession, but the Magic couldn’t control the rebound and were doomed shortly afterward. Leonard made two free throws with 12.9 seconds left to make it a two-possession game again, and that closed the scoring.
“It’s 2-1,” Magic coach Steve Clifford said. “It’s not like it’s 3-0. It’s 2-1. Handling disappointment is a huge part of NBA basketball and it’s a bigger part of playoff basketball.”
The 76ers are listing Joel Embiid as doubtful for Game 4 of their firstround series against the Nets. Embiid has been bothered by a sore left knee but was able to play in the first two games of the series before missing Game 3. Sixers coach Brett Brown said he didn’t know if his All-Star center would be able to go Saturday afternoon.
College basketball: Mike Anderson was hired as St. John’s coach after he was fired by Arkansas last month. The 59-year-old Anderson takes over for former St. John’s star Chris Mullin, who resigned April 10, citing a “recent personal loss.” His older brother, Roddy, died last month at 58 after battling cancer for years . ... North Carolina women’s coach Sylvia Hatchell built a Hall of Fame career over more than three decades with the Tar Heels, including a national championship. That tenure ended with her resignation after a program review found concerns over “racially insensitive” comments and pressuring players to compete through medical issues. The school announced the 67-year-old Hatchell’s resignation late Thursday, along with findings from that external review conducted this month by a Charlotte-based law firm. Among the issues: a “breakdown of connectivity” between Hatchell and the players after 28 interviews of current players and program personnel. The was enough to end Hatchell’s time in Chapel Hill, which began in 1986. Hatchell — who has 1,023 victories, with 751 coming in 33 seasons at UNC along with the 1994 NCAA title — and her coaching staff had been on paid administrative leave since April 1 . ... Michigan State All-America guard Cassius Winston is returning for his senior year, but forward Nick Ward is entering the NBA draft and plans to end his college career. Winston, the Big Ten player of the year, averaged nearly 19 points per game as a junior and broke a Big Ten singleseason record with 291 assists. Ward averaged nearly 13 points and sixplus rebounds per game in a season stunted by a broken left hand.
Golf: Shane Lowry led the RBC Heritage at 9 under par with two holes left when the rain-delayed second round was suspended because of darkness in Hilton Head Island, S.C. Trey Mullinax was a stroke back after a 68. Top-ranked Dustin Johnson and Emiliano Grillo were 7 under after 67s. There was a delay of 3 hours, 43 minutes when strong storms that caused problems elsewhere in the Southeast this week struck Harbour Town Golf Links . ... Scott McCarron topped the leaderboard at 4 under with two holes left when first-round play in the rain-delayed Mitsubishi Electric Classic was suspended because of darkness in Duluth, Ga. The start of the PGA Tour Champions event was delayed more than four hours because of 23⁄4 inches of rain overnight and severe weather in the morning at TPC Sugarloaf. Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz was 5 over with seven holes remaining. The 51-year-old former Atlanta Braves star got into the field on a sponsor exemption. He tied for 53rd this season in Tucson, Ariz., in his tour debut.
Tennis: An erratic Novak Djokovic suffered a surprise 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 defeat against Daniil Medvedev in the Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinals in Monaco. The top-ranked Serb produced 47 unforced errors. Defending champion Rafael Nadal rallied from 4-1 down against unseeded Guido Pella to win 7-6 (1), 6-3.