Kyle Lowry comes up huge for Raptors with Leonard, Siakam fatigued

It’s a script that likely should have indicated a different ending.

The Raptors were dealt a tough hand with Kawhi Leonard hobbling off the back of his monstrous 52-minute performance in Game 3 and Pascal Siakam struggling to find a rhythm, but Kyle Lowry wasn’t looking over his shoulder waiting for someone to lead the way.

He led all scorers with 12 first-quarter points, had 18 by the half, and finished with 25 points that included a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line, six assists, five rebounds (two on the offensive glass) and just a single turnover.

His energy was infectious, minus Leonard and Siakam, and unlike Game 1 where one of his best-ever playoff performances was wasted, Toronto’s bench ensured that this one wasn’t. After combining for just 12 points on 15 field goal attempts in Game 1, Norman Powell, Serge Ibaka and Fred VanVleet combined for 48 points, 19 rebounds and 11 assists to give the team a much-needed spark.

Still, the Raptors needed an all-star performance from their starting point guard with Leonard looking well short of his best health, Siakam scoring just seven points, and Lowry gave it to them. As is usually the case with the 33-year-old, it was a charge he picked up on Giannis Antetokounmpo that set the tone for the Raptors in the second half as well as a diving play to try and maintain possession for his team.

All that matters is that the Raptors have returned the favour. Faced with a mountain to climb after falling into an 0-2 series hole against the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, they’ve dug deep to make the Eastern Conference Finals a best-of-three.

It wasn’t pretty, but in winning ugly the Raptors have shown that they can find a way to buckle down and do what’s necessary even when they’re not playing their best basketball.

Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam, coming off playing 52 and 51 minutes, respectively, were clearly showing the ill-effects of fatigue, but it was everyone else who stepped up to the plate to lift the team to victory, an encouraging sign as they head back to Milwaukee for Game 5.

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