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The Philadelphia 76ers try to overcome the dominance of Kawhi Leonard when they visit the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night for Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal.
Leonard is the main reason that the Raptors are tied at two games each with the 76ers in the best-of-seven series.
He scored 39 points and gathered 14 rebounds Sunday in Philadelphia in a 101-96 victory over the 76ers in Game 4.
In the series, Leonard is averaging 38 points and nine rebounds a game and shooting 61.8 percent from the field — including 46.4 percent from 3-point range.
“Funny enough, with our wings, I think we’ve done a decent job on him,” 76ers coach Brett Brown said. “Might we look to double team him a little bit more? Possibly. But we were able to create, I think, seven turnovers and just try to do our best to kind of show him a crowd. But at the end of the day, that’s a hell of a playoff game. Thirty-nine points, and you really felt all of them.”
The Sixers won Games 2 and 3 after being blown out in the opener. They dominated the Raptors 116-95 in Game 3 at Philadelphia, but for Game 4 Raptors coach Nick Nurse improvised, partially because Pascal Siakam — hampered by a calf injury — was held to nine points and three rebounds.
Nurse used Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka together for 25 minutes Sunday. The pair had been on the court together for a total of 31 minutes during the regular season since Gasol arrived in a February trade.
“We weren’t in great rhythm, right?” Nurse said. “But we were good enough (Sunday) and we were fighting and figuring some things out on the fly. We were running some stuff we’ve never run before with Marc and Serge and trying to figure out how to best use the kind of stuff.”
Gasol had 16 points and five rebounds Sunday, and Ibaka added 12 points and nine rebounds.
“It just felt like we were getting pushed around a lot by the glass the (previous) two games,” Nurse said. “That would happen with our small lineup. They were just throwing it up there and revving their engines and flying to the rim. (Sunday) we just had more size that way, and it kind of looked like the rebounds were affected by that.”
The teams had 43 rebounds each.
The 76ers hope Joel Embiid will be healthy on Tuesday. He was ill for Game 4 and was limited to 11 points on 2-for-7 shooting from the field, eight rebounds and seven assists in 35 minutes. He had 33 points and 10 rebounds in an aggressive Game 3 performance.
Jimmy Butler led the Sixers with 29 points and 11 rebounds Sunday.
Embiid — who missed three straight free throws late in the fourth quarter Sunday and then was called for traveling — had a cold and a headache and said that he felt bad “everywhere.”
“I didn’t have a good night; didn’t sleep,” Embiid said. “Was throwing up. I needed an IV at 6 in the morning. I tried to play and tried to get the win. Obviously, it wasn’t enough. … It doesn’t really matter. Once I step on the court, I have to do a better job, no matter what the situation is.”
He said he needs to be more aggressive on Tuesday.
“If you’re going to go 2-for-7, go 2-for-20,” Butler said. “We’re rocking with Joel. I’m with it. That’s what we need out of him — to always be aggressive. Go show why you’re so dominant, night in and night out, at both ends of the floor.”
–Field Level Media