Raptors one game from Cavs rematch

Toronto guard Kyle Lowry (right) slips a pass behind Milwaukee center Greg Monroe in the first half of Monday’s game. Lowry’s 16 points and 10 assists helped the Raptors grab a 3-2 lead in their NBA Eastern Conference playoff series with a 118-93 victory.
Toronto guard Kyle Lowry (right) slips a pass behind Milwaukee center Greg Monroe in the first half of Monday’s game. Lowry’s 16 points and 10 assists helped the Raptors grab a 3-2 lead in their NBA Eastern Conference playoff series with a 118-93 victory.

TORONTO — Norm Powell scored a career playoff-high 25 points, Kyle Lowry had 16 points and 10 assists and the Toronto Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks 118-93 in Game 5 of their NBA Eastern Conference first-round playoff series Monday night.

Serge Ibaka scored 19 points and DeMar DeRozan had 18 for the Raptors, who can advance to face defending champion Cleveland in the second round with a victory in Game 6 at Milwaukee on Thursday night.

Many in the sellout crowd of 20,251 rose to their feet and chanted “Raps in six” in the final minute of the game.

Toronto lost Game 6 on the road at Indiana in the first round and at Miami in the second round last year, rebounding to win Game 7 at home each time. They were eliminated in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cavaliers, losing at home in the clincher.

DeMarre Carroll scored 12 points as all five Raptors starters reached double figures. Cory Joseph had 10 points off the bench for Toronto.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 30 points and 9 rebounds while Malcolm Brogdon scored 19 points and Greg Monroe had 11. Milwaukee has lost back-to-back games after routing Toronto 104-77 in Game 3.

Making his second consecutive start, Powell connected on all four of his three-point attempts and went 5 for 5 at the free-throw line. He brought the crowd to its feet with a baseline dunk over Antetokounmpo and Thon Maker in the fourth quarter.

Ibaka and Powell each scored nine points in the first quarter and the Raptors used a 17-0 run to open a 31-20 lead after the opening quarter. Milwaukee committed five turnovers in the first quarter, leading to 10 points for Toronto.

After shooting 1 for 6 in the first quarter, Antetokounmpo was 6 for 6 in the second quarter, scoring 13 points to help the Bucks close the gap. Lowry had 12 for Toronto, which led 57-48 at halftime.

Powell scored 12 points in the third quarter as the Raptors widened their lead again, taking a 90-73 edge into the final quarter.

Monroe and Jonas Valanciunas were called for double technicals after a minor shoving match under the Milwaukee basket in the third. After Valanciunas took exception to a hard foul from Khris Middleton, Monroe pushed his own teammate out of the way so he could shove Valanciunas.

HAWKS 111, WIZARDS 101

ATLANTA — Paul Millsap bounced back from a sluggish start to score 19 points, Dwight Howard had his best game of the postseason and Atlanta pulled away from Washington to even their opening-round playoff series at 2-2.

Howard, a nonfactor for much of the first three games, finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds. The Hawks got double-figure scoring from seven players, including 16 points from Kent Bazemore and 10 points from Jose Calderon off the bench.

Bradley Beal scored 32 points, bouncing back from a dismal performance in Game 3, and John Wall had another stellar performance with 22 points and 10 assists. But those two, as good as they were, couldn’t match a more balanced approach by the Hawks.

Game 6 is Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

WARRIORS 128,

TRAIL BLAZERS 103

PORTLAND, Ore. — Stephen Curry had 37 points before sitting out the final quarter and the Golden State Warriors welcomed back teammate Kevin Durant with a victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night to sweep their Western Conference first-round playoff series.

The Warriors advanced to the conference semifinals, where they’ll face the winner of the series between the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Golden State played for the second consecutive game without Coach Steve Kerr, who has been experiencing a flareup of symptoms stemming from back surgery a couple of years ago. Assistant Mike Brown has served as head coach in Kerr’s absence.

Damian Lillard had a team-high 34 points for the Trail Blazers.

Sports on 04/25/2017

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