TORONTO – If it feels like the Toronto Raptors have never, ever — not even one time — actually asserted themselves and taken control of a best-of-seven playoff series, well that’s understandable.
And not that those feelings are wrong. When the current edition of the team, built around Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, has been the higher seed in five of their past six playoffs series but has a 15-22 post-season record over that span, it might be hard to remember that the rollercoaster sometimes peaks, the teeter-totter isn’t always stuck at the bottom.
But the facts are more encouraging. Game 5 at the Air Canada Centre Monday night marked the fifth time Lowry and company were tied 2-2, and in their previous four the Raptors were 3-1 and 3-0 at the ACC.
It’s figuring out what to do from there that has been a massive issue. They get that chance again on Thursday night in Milwaukee thanks to an impressive 118-93 win over the Bucks, a win so thorough the crowd was chanting “Raps in Six” by midway through the fourth quarter.
That will be the test, of course. With a 3-2 lead, what will the Raptors do with their winnings — invest wisely or blow it all on a wild night in Wisconsin?
That’s for later. But make no mistake, this felt like a massive moment.
“This is what basketball is about this time of the year,” said Bucks coach Jason Kidd before the game. “The swing games. Games 3 and 5 are always important games for momentum, and whoever wins this game controls the series.”
Well Jason, the Raptors control the series after one of their most complete post-season efforts of the past four seasons as they shot 57.7 per cent from the floor and 12-of-27 from three, although they still allowed the Bucks to shoot 50 per cent from the floor and 10-of-22 from deep.
Still, by the time Jonas Valanciunas rolled down the lane for a left-handed dunk with just under eight minutes left in the fourth quarter to put the Raptors up by 16, six different Raptors were in double figures and neither Lowry or DeRozan were in the team’s top three, which seems unfathomable when you think about it.
But it was an all-hands-on-deck kind of an affair, no hero-ball required, unless you count Norm Powell’s audition for the first-round post-season all-star team as the second-year guard making his second straight start ripped off 25 points on 10 shots, including four straight threes — this on top of his three-of-three showing from deep in Game 4.
It was much needed. With many hands making light work it meant the crowd inside and outside the ACC could allow themselves to enjoy things, rather than spend the night breathing slowly into a brown paper bag.
The big boys ate — Lowry shook off a stiff back that has been bothering him since Game 3 to add 16 points along with nine assists, while DeRozan chipped in 18 points and six assists as he seemed more comfortable than usual letting his teammates help carry the load.
Despite their high success rate in Game 5s, their recent history has the Raptors’ habit of building up large reservoirs of goodwill in the regular season only to treat the playoffs like a lost weekend in Vegas.
This edition of the Raptors — experienced, playoff hardened, appreciative of what it takes to play deep in the post-season — is supposed to be different. Their experience from a year ago — running out of gas after pushing it to the limit in the first two rounds — supposedly a reminder that wasting too much time and effort in the opening rounds can come back to haunt you.
So it was welcome, from a Raptors point of view, that they came out in the early moments of a pivotal game and seemed determined to sidle up to the young Bucks, peer deep into their eyes and pee all over the visitors’ sneakers.
And even more welcome, from a Raptors point of view, that it was someone other than DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry eager to set the tone. In particular, Serge Ibaka (19 points on 10 shots) looked like he wanted to make up for his 4-of-16 stinker in Game 4 in the first 12 minutes. He dunked over Giannis Antetokounmpo not once but twice, the second on a pretty passing play that saw Ibaka start with the ball and three other Raptors touch it before feeding it back so Ibaka could have the rare privilege of putting the super-limbed Greek on a poster.
But Ibaka had help. DeMarre Carroll made like Lazarus and reeled off seven points of his 12 in the quarter, while Powell made it seem like starting in the playoffs and knocking down big shots is an everyday thing for him. By the end of the first quarter the Raptors led 31-23 with 25 points coming from the “Big Three” of Powell, Ibaka and Carroll, none from Lowry and only six from DeRozan.
Things kept rolling in the second quarter, and it briefly seemed like the Raptors would be putting a beating on the Bucks reminiscent of the one the Milwaukee put on Toronto back in Game 3.
In a three-minute stretch during the second quarter, the Raptors went three-pointer (Cory Joseph), jumper (Lowry), three-pointer (Patrick Patterson), three-pointer (Lowry) and three-point play (Joseph) as part of a 15-5 run that gave the Raptors a 19-point lead and threatened to put the game out of reach early.
But Raps didn’t close well. They coughed up turnovers and didn’t seem to have answer for Antetokounmpo, who scored 13 of his game-high 30 in the period. What could have been an overwhelming advantage was whittled to nine by the half. The Raptors allowed the Bucks to shoot like the Warriors, as they were 55.6 per cent from the floor and 50 per cent from three in the first two quarters before finally putting a definitive stamp on the game in third quarter.
But the Raptors have done this before. In fact, it would be weird if just once the Raptors would build a little breathing room in a playoffs series, or maybe play from the front a little bit. Or maybe not watch it extend to seven games.
As the game finally turned to a blowout, the crowd took up the chant: “Raps in Six, Raps in Six.”
What a concept.
They head to Milwaukee for Game 6 Thursday night with a chance to do just that for the first time in franchise history — win a best-of-seven series in less than the maximum — and buy themselves a little bit of downtime in the process.
Will be this be the time they can build on their Game 5 track record?
There is a first time for everything.