Raptors Storm Back in Fourth, Punch Ticket to NBA Finals

Here it comes:

Kawhi Leonard can do to the Dubs what Lebron James did to lead Cleveland to the NBA title.

Of course he can.

Dude just led a Toronto Raptors crew that personnified listless for most of the game to a final-quarter charge that overcame a 15-point deficit late in the third and propelled the North to their first NBA Finals appearance.

Should be exciting. Novelty plays well up there.

 

This one had Game 7 written all over it, as the Milwaukee Bucks -- holders of the NBA's best record, for what it's worth -- raced out to run after run, controlled the boards, went 12-23 from behind the arc at one point, and held Marc Gasol and Danny Green to a combined six points.

However ...

 

Guess so ...

 

Speaking of, here's the stat that matters, though:

 

This is what points out a pet peeve that most reports on player performance are limited to points scored without giving much heed to how they were scored and, in some cases, against whom.

Seems like Giannis Antetokounmpo isn't unguardable, after all.

 

Through this game and the season in general, it's easy to see -- on the surface, anyway -- why superficial observers opine that Leonard will do a LeBron 2016 on Golden State in the Finals.

Toss in the fact that other Bucks -- looking at you, Khris Middleton -- went into hero-ball mode a tad early, making TO's 26-3 run at the end possible in the Raps' 100-94 series clincher:

 

Toronto fans were overjoyed, of course. They haven't seen anything like this since the Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series in 1992-1993 and the Maple Leafs hoisted the Stanley Cup in 1967 AD before Leafness settled in.

While this is rarefied air for the Raptors, being their first trip to the Finals and all, they've got a long way to go before updating Toronto sports history.

The Dubs are definitely not the Bucks.