TORONTO -- There's very little about Kawhi Leonard that screams "mindfulness guru," but as the Toronto Raptors gathered on the bench during a timeout in the midst of the team's big 26-3 run in the second half, he told his teammates, "Enjoy the moment, stay here, stay together, we're good," according to Raptors guard Norman Powell.
The opening minutes of Game 5 between the Raptors and Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals went as we expected. Milwaukee roared out to a lead, the crowd was going wild, and the Raptors were shrinking from the moment. Turnovers, clanged shots, fouls against — the whole ordeal. Basketball is indeed a game of runs, but it felt like Toronto was merely staving off the inevitable. The Bucks hadn’t lost three games all year, and we were watching how exactly they had managed that feat.
Consider how tough the NBA’s Western Conference has been for two decades.
Back in the early 2000s, the Sacramento Kings built an all-time team around Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic. That team never made the NBA Finals, because the West also had a Lakers team with peak Shaq and a rising Kobe Bryant.
Kawhi Leonard had 35 points, nine assists and seven rebounds as the No. 2 seed Toronto Raptors beat the No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks 105-99 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday at Fiserv Forum.
Fred VanVleet posted a plus-28 and added 21 points on seven three-pointers, including one with 2:19 remaining to give the Raps a 96-93 edge:
After the Raptors outlasted the Bucks in double overtime to win Game 3 and get on the board in the conference finals, there was a sense that Toronto had merely postponed the inevitable. Milwaukee had worn down the Raps in Game 1 and busted them up in Game 2; they’d pushed Toronto to two extra sessions in Game 3 despite Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Eric Bledsoe’s combined 11-for-48 shooting from the field.
ESPN's Brian Windhorst went on Pardon The Interruption Thursday and claimed Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James is recruiting a few stars to play alongside him next season.
"From what I understand he's already begun the recruiting process...I have heard he's had contact with Kawhi Leonard," Windhorst said. "I have heard he's had contact with Jimmy Butler...LeBron is tamper-in-chief right now."
The Golden State Warriors faced another double-digit deficit against the Blazers Monday night. The Warriors, once again calling on their championship mettle, used tough defense to rally and earn another trip to the NBA Finals.
The Warriors held the Blazers to 22 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to win 119-117 in Game 4 and sweep the Blazers out of the Western Conference finals at the Moda Center.
It is now officially official.
Klay Thompson is not eligible to sign a "supermax" extension with the Warriors this summer because the shooting guard did not make an All-NBA team (the same goes for Draymond Green).
PORTLAND, Ore. -- When coach Steve Kerr came up with “Strength in Numbers” as the slogan as the latest -- and one of the greatest -- NBA dynasties took root, who knew it would remain in vogue five years running? It defined the Warriors then and still does today as they prepare for this final step of yet another chase of the Larry O’Brien trophy in earnest, because it accurately captured the reality of these handicapped Warriors in the spring of 2019.
