Last night, was a must win for the Toronto Raptors, if they fell down 3-1 to the Philadelphia 76ers, they knew the series would be pretty much over.
Kyle Lowry actually showed up in the playoffs, he scored seven of his 14 total points on the first quarter. Lowry finally gave Kawhi the help he needed.
The Sixers, however were able to fight back in the first quarter to cut an 11 point lead to be only down 24-21 to end the first quarter, due to the contributions of Jimmy Butler and James Ennis III.
The Raptors and Sixers were going blow for blow in the second quarter, which lead to the Sixers being up 47-45, with a clutch three by Jimmy Butler to end the half.
Kawhi left his mark on the game as he usually does.
The third quarter, was nonetheless different from the second quarter, each team went shot for shot, Kawhi Leonard, Marc Gasol, Paschal Siakam lead the push in the third for the Raptors, whereas Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris, JJ Redick, and James Ennis III lead the push for the Sixers in the third quarter. Raptors-Sixers were tied 75-75 to end the third quarter.
Jimmy Butler scored the first few points in the fourth quarter from free throws. Kyle Lowry and Marc Gasol answered back with a jump shot and layup of their own to give the Raptors the lead 81-79 with 10:16 left in the fourth quarter. Both teams went back and forth exchanging the lead until Kawhi Leonard hit a clutch three over Joel Embiid and JJ Redick with the shot clock winding down, to give the Toronto Raptors a 94-90 lead over the Philadelphia 76ers with one minute left. That shot sealed the game and the Sixers could never regain composure.
Toronto went on to beat the Sixers 101-96 to even the series 2-2, the series will resume Tuesday in Toronto.
Kawhi Leonard finished with an astonishing 39 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists. Marc Gasol finished with 16 points. Kyle Lowry finished with 14 points, seven assists, and six rebounds. Danny Green finished 11 points. Serge Ibaka finished with 12 points and nine rebounds off the bench.
Jimmy Butler put the Sixers on his back again, finishing with 29 points and 11 rebounds. JJ Redick finished with 19 points. Tobias finished with 16 points and six rebounds, even though it looked like he was building a house with all the bricks he put up yesterday shooting 7 for 23 from the field. Ben Simmons finished with ten points. James Ennis III finished with nine points off the bench.
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