It was over when… the Sixers subbed out four of their five starters by the 8:58 mark of the fourth quarter with Toronto leading by 28 points. The Raptors would go on to collect a 125-89 victory, set a franchise record for margin of victory in a postseason game and take a 3-2 series lead.
Close quarters: After scoring nine points in Game 4, Pascal Siakam got off to a hot start on Tuesday, scoring nine points in the first quarter to help the Raptors stay in front of the Sixers. Though the Raptors shot just 38 percent in the opening quarter of Game 5, they connected on four three-pointers and lead by one, 27-26, after the first 12 minutes.
Turning it up: Toronto dialled up their defence and the offence benefited as well as the Raptors outscored the Sixers 37-17 in the second quarter to take a dominant 64-43 lead into the halftime break. The Raptors shot 57 percent in the quarter, while holding Philadelphia to just 30 percent shooting. Toronto connected on 4-of-9 three-point attempts in the quarter as the Sixers went 0-for-8, helping Toronto to build its lead. Kawhi Leonard led the way with a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double in the half, putting an exclamation mark on the quarter with a huge dunk with 2.6 seconds remaining in the half.
Holding serve: Philadelphia got off to a quick start in the third, using a 10-2 run to cut Toronto’s lead to 13 on a three-pointer from JJ Redick. After calling a timeout, Toronto settled in and extended the lead to 24 points, the largest of the game. Much like the ending of the first half, Toronto’s final basket of the third was Kawhi Leonard again rising and slamming home a dunk to put Toronto ahead 92-70 heading into the fourth.
Closing time: The Raptors controlled the fourth from start to finish, leading by 22 to start the quarter, then extending the lead to 40 on a dunk from Norman Powell with 2:24 remaining. Toronto would go on to win 125-89, the largest ever margin of victory in a postseason game.
Raptors player of the game: Kawhi Leonard led the way once again, scoring 21 points to go with 13 rebounds, his second consecutive double-double against the Sixers, and third in five games in the series. He also added four assists and two steals without a turnover. Toronto was a +20 with Leonard in the game.
Underrated Raptors player(s) of the game: Pascal Siakam bounced back from a 2-for-10, nine-point performance in Game 4 where he was slowed by a sore calf to score a game-high 25 points in 34 minutes in Game 5. The Raptors were a +35 when Siakam was on the floor. Serge Ibaka came off the bench — and returned to the floor after taking an elbow to the head and receiving three stitches — to score 10 points in 22 minutes, but it was his energy, defence and presence that stood out to Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, who praised Ibaka for being “a force” in Game 5.
That’s a rap…
“It was a good team win. We needed this type of game where everyone played well. I don't think we’ve had a game like this in a while. We've still got another level that I think we can play at offensively and defensively, but it was a good team win. We needed that type of win just for our team.” - Kyle Lowry on a well-balanced team win
By the #’s…
42… Percent shooting for the Sixers, 49 percent shooting for the Raptors.
36… Point margin of victory sets a new franchise postseason record for Toronto.
33… The Raptors had 33 fast-break points, compared to just eight for the Sixers.
42… Rebounds for Toronto, compared to 37 for Philadelphia.
1000… Kyle Lowry joined DeMar DeRozan as the only Raptor in franchise history to score 1000 points in the postseason.
They said it…
“I knew that tonight’s game was very important for us. I wanted to just focus on going in and doing my job.” - Serge Ibaka on the energy he brought off the bench
“Serge is playing with a tremendous amount of pride right now. He’s being big, he’s being active, he’s being a force out there.” - Nick Nurse on Serge Ibaka’s impact
“They're being good together. They're out on the floor talking Spanish. We don't understand what they're saying, but whatever they're doing, they got to keep it up. But just being big and being athletic and being strong, we need that.“ - Kyle Lowry on Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka sharing the floor
“We're a team. All year, that's what we've done. Even times when Kawhi didn't play, we always came together. You know, Kawhi's an amazing player, and when there's nights where he's going the way he's going, and he's scoring 40, and shooting fadeaways, and making all those shots. It's kind of like, it's kind of amazing to see. But at the same time, we know we're a team, and we always have each other's back.” - Pascal Siakam on Kawhi Leonard leading the way and the team always supporting each other
Up next: Game 6 will be played in Philadelphia on Thursday at 8 P.M. ET.