In a game played on the edge of a knife, three plays in the final two minutes could have very easily gone against the visiting team
MILWAUKEE — There were two minutes and six seconds left in Game 5 on Thursday night, and it was all there for the Toronto Raptors. It was also all there for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had just finished a soaring alley-oop, of the kind he does where his hands at the time of the catch look to be about at the level of the luxury suites. The basket cut the Toronto lead to one. Fiserv Forum was a bowl of rolling thunder, and despite all the Raptors had done to that point to recover from getting speed-bagged by the Bucks to open the first and third quarters, they still needed to close the game out.
The biggest Raptors win ever was, remarkably, in their grasp, but it was precarious. Kawhi Leonard, with a dozen points already in the frame, brought the ball down the court, and attempted a long pull-up three-pointer. Not his finest moment: it was early in the shot-clock, and the attempt hit the front iron, and in most instances this would have given the Bucks a chance to take the lead. But Leonard followed his miss and grabbed the rebound under the basket, where he was immediately fouled. He made both free throws for a 98-95 Toronto lead.
“That is a critical play that can’t happen,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said after the game. He was then asked how deflating that kind of a play can be in crunch time. His answer was succinct: “Very.”
Leonard followed his miss and grabbed the rebound under the basket, where he was immediately fouled. He made both free throws for a 98-95 Toronto lead
The highlights of Toronto’s tremendous win, the ones immediately etched into NBA lore, will be the shots hit by Leonard and Fred VanVleet in the fourth quarter, as the Raptors seized the game in the final minutes, and seized a 3-2 lead in a series that is, incredibly, tied in total points after five games.
