The Toronto Raptors on Monday moved within one win of advancing in the NBA playoffs with a 118-93 home victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Norman Powell, starting for the second time in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series, scored 25 points for the Raptors, who took a 3-2 lead and will try to clinch the series in Milwaukee tomorrow.
The winners of the series take on defending champions the Cleveland Cavaliers, who swept their series against the Indiana Pacers.
Photo: AP
The Cavaliers beat the Raptors in the Eastern Conference finals last season.
Kyle Lowry had 16 points and 10 assists for the Raptors, while Serge Ibaka contributed 19 points, DeMar DeRozan had 18, DeMarre Carroll added 12 and Cory Joseph scored 10 off the bench.
However, Bucks coach Jason Kidd said it was Powell, a reserve guard most of the season, who has made a big difference since he was inserted in the starting lineup by Raptors coach Dwane Casey.
“I think Powell is coming out with a lot of energy on both sides of the ball and they’re feeding off that,” said Kidd, whose Bucks were led by the 30 points and nine rebounds of Giannis Antetokounmpo. “He’s playing extremely hard and he’s knocking down shots, but he’s in there to play defense and he’s playing at a very high level for those guys right now ... He’s picked them up here in the last couple of games just with his energy and spirit.”
Energy is what Casey wanted when he opted to start Powell.
Powell “is a spark plug,” Casey said. “He’s the X factor. So many times you’re so concerned about DeMar [DeRozan] and Kyle [Lowry], and rightfully so. So, that next spark plug, that next guy, that next instigator is the guy. So, this series he’s been an X factor, the next game it might be a different story, but he’s done an excellent job playing off those two and taking what the game has given him, whether it’s a three-point shot or attack to the basket.”
Bucks center Greg Monroe, who scored 11 points, said Powell was “playing harder than everybody.”
“We just have to match his energy,” Monroe said.
The Raptors got off to a strong start, using a 17-0 first-quarter run to take a 26-11 lead.
Milwaukee responded with a 9-0 run, but the Raptors were up 31-20 at the end of the first period.
Toronto led by as many as 19 before taking a 57-48 lead into halftime.
“I think they just did a great job of setting the tone, hitting first,” Antetokounmpo said. “We just have to do a better job of being ready, try and hit first and be more focused at the beginning of the game.”
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set