Kawhi Leonard Dominated Again As The Raptors Evened The Series With The Sixers In Game 4

After taking the last two games of the series, the Sixers entered Game 4 with a chance to take full control of their semifinals matchup with the Raptors if they could take care of business at home.

Joel Embiid, coming off a monster performance in Game 3, was under the weather prior to the game and it showed in his lack of ability to dominate, scoring just 11 points on 2-of-7 shooting, but he found other ways to make an impact, playing great defense at the rim and leading the team with seven assists.

With Embiid unable to be his usual self offensively, Jimmy Butler again stepped up in a big way to lead Philly’s effort. Butler had 29 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists, bringing some much needed juice to the Sixers offense.

However, it was Kawhi Leonard who once again proved to be the best player in the series, as he had 39 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists to lead Toronto and almost single-handedly keep them in the game. Leonard, as he has been all series, was uber efficient from the field, hitting 13 of his 20 shots, picking apart the Sixers defense.

The question entering Game 4 for Toronto wasn’t whether Leonard would play well, as he’s been unbelievable all series, but whether he’d get enough help from everyone else. Kyle Lowry gave them that boost early, scoring the first seven points for Toronto, but tapered off for a 14-point night. Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka combined for 28 points to give the Raptors some frontcourt pop, including a couple big three-pointers from Gasol in the second half.

In the fourth quarter, the defenses shined, as both teams locked down the other in impressive fashion. The Raptors were able to find more success from the field than the Sixers to take a four-point advantage late. Philly was held without a field goal for nearly seven minutes during Toronto’s run, before a J.J. Redick three-pointer with two minutes to play cut the Toronto lead to 91-90.

Philadelphia then got a big stop and Embiid found his way to the rim with his patented spin move, but missed the layup to go ahead by one. On the other end Kawhi Leonard came off a Gasol screen and rose over Embiid for a huge three to go up 94-90.

Tobias Harris missed an open corner three on the other end and a pair of Danny Green free throws all but put the game on ice for the Raptors. Toronto would ultimately pull away for a 99-92 win thanks to the foul game, evening the series and reclaiming homecourt advantage going back to Canada for Game 5.