The Toronto Raptors continue to show that they are a serious candidate to defend their title even after the departure of Kawhi Leonard. The Raptors demolished the short-handed Brooklyn Nets 150-122 in Game 4 on Sunday night and completed the First Round series sweep to advance to the next stage of NBA playoffs.
A particularly impressive stat from the Raptors’ win is that 100 of their points they scored against Brooklyn came from their bench. Since NBA began tracking scores of starters and bench players in 1970/71, no bench scored more than 94 in the regular season or more than 87 in the playoffs.
Toronto’s bench contribution was highlighted by center Serge Ibaka, who scored 27 points and added 15 rebounds, while guard Norman Powell added 29 points. All-Star forward Pascal Siakam was a standout among the starters, pouring in 20 points alongside 10 assists.
“I think we just have confidence in each and every one of us that step on the floor and we work on offense,” said Powell after the game. “I don’t think it really matters who’s in the game.”
The Nets, who came to Orlando without most of their starters, were led by Caris LeVert, who scored 35 points, while Tyler Jones and Dzanan Musa added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
“We had an extreme resilience as a group, a competitive nature about us as a group and a sacrifice as a group for the men who came, and extremely grateful for this group and the time we spent together,” said Nets’ interim head coach Jacque Vaughn.
With the first playoff series sweep in their history, the Toronto Raptors secured a Second Round matchup against Boston Celtics. The Celtics advanced thanks to their own sweep against Philadelphia 76ers.
