Raptors push Bucks to the brink
TORONTO — Norm Powell scored a career playoff-high 25 points, Kyle Lowry had 16 points and 10 assists and the Toronto Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks 118-93 in Game 5 of their firstround playoff series on Monday night.
Serge Ibaka scored 19 points and DeMar DeRozan had 18 for the Raptors, who can advance to face defending champion Cleveland in the second round with a victory in Game 6 at Milwaukee on Thursday night.
Many in the sellout crowd of 20,251 rose to their feet and chanted ‘Raps in six’ in the final minute of the game.
Toronto lost Game 6 on the road at Indiana in the first round and at Miami in the second round last year, rebounding to win Game 7 at home each time. They were eliminated in six games in the Eastern Conference Final against the Cavs, losing at home in the clincher.
DeMarre Carroll scored 12 points as all five Raptors starters reached double figures. Cory Joseph had 10 points off the bench for Toronto.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 30 points and nine rebounds while Malcolm Brogdon scored 19 points and Greg Monroe had 11. Milwaukee has lost back-to-back games after routing Toronto 104-77 in Game 3.
Making his second straight start, Powell connected on all four of his 3-point attempts and went 5 for 5 at the free-throw line. He brought the crowd to its feet with a baseline dunk over Antetokounmpo and Thon Maker in the fourth quarter.
Ibaka and Powell each scored nine points in the first and the Raptors used a 17-0 run to open a 31-20 lead after the opening quarter. Milwaukee committed five turnovers in the first, leading to 10 points for Toronto. Paul Millsap bounced back from a sluggish start to score 19 points, Dwight Howard had his best game of the postseason and the Atlanta Hawks pulled away from the Washington Wizards to even the openinground playoff series at 2-all. Howard, who was a non-factor through the first three games, had a double-double by halftime and finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds. The Hawks got doublefigure scoring from seven players, including huge contributions off the bench from Kent Bazemore and Jose Calderon.