Patty Mills sinks Raptors at buzzer in Finals rematch, 113-111.
Mills' desperate pull-up jumper broke hearts in Toronto tonight. |
A finals rematch underway, the Spurs took a decent lead early, but the Raptors would seize control after a 39-31 third quarter. DeMarr DeRozan led the Raptors with 33 points and 7 assists, including a crowd-roaring dunk over Kawhi Leonard (21 points, 8-21/1-8 3PT) that gave the Raptors a one-point lead. Leonard would return the gesture with an and-1 layup past former teammate Danny Green (17 points/7 rebounds/3 steals). Clutch as ever, Leonard nailed the free throw to put the Spurs back up by two. Kawhi would suffer his final sixth foul as he reached in next on DeRozan with the seconds counting down. Unintentionally, this would set up Australian marksman Mills for the game-winning shot after DeRozan notched the score one last time.
Toronto rode a wave of momentum at home after that strong third quarter, ball movement a'flowing as Fred VanFleet scorched the Spurs for 15 points. Kyle Lowry had 15 points and 10 assists for Toronto. Jonas Valanciunas had 9 points with 8 rebounds, moving well in transition for easy layups. Paskal Siakam yanked in 11 rebounds for the Raps.
For San Antone, Avery Bradley powered the victory with 25 points and 5 steals, sharp from deep range on 4-7. Dejounte Murray had a solid outing of 17 points with 8 assists. Joakim Noah returned to the starting center spot with 13 rebounds, 8 points and 2 blocks. Pau Gasol had 8 points and 7 boards. In this thrilling Finals rematch, nearly every stat column was a stalemate.
All except for total points scored, courtesy of Patty Mills.