Powell, Raptors a win from facing Cavaliers
Putting Norm Powell in the starting lineup has changed the playoff fortunes of the Toronto Raptors.
Powell scored a career-playoffhigh 25 points, Kyle Lowry had 16 points and 10 assists and the Raptors beat the visiting Milwaukee Bucks 118-93 in Game 5 of their first-round series Monday night.
Toronto head coach Dwane Casey said Powell has been “a spark plug.”
“In this series, he’s been the X-factor,” Casey said.
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.
“We’ve got to treat it like Game 7, period,” DeRozan said. “We can’t be happy with these last two games. We’ve just got to treat this next game like it’s Game 7.”
Many in the sellout crowd of 20,251 rose to their feet and chanted “Raps in six” in the final minute of the game.
“If we want to continue to play, if we want to push it to a Game 7, we’ve got to win at home,” Milwaukee rookie point guard Malcolm Brogdon said. “If we don’t come out and give the energy that we need to, then we’ll lose and we’ll be done.”
Pressed into action after Milwaukee routed Toronto 104-77 in Game 3, Powell delivered a jolt of energy as Toronto ground out a win in Game 4.
“Powell has come in with a lot of energy on both sides of the ball and they’re feeding off of that,” Milwaukee head coach Jason Kidd said.