Raptors' Norman Powell is the ultimate Bucks killer

Just a minute-and-a-half into the second quarter in Game 4, the Toronto Raptors were out on the break, again. It was Fred VanVleet pushing the pace and Norman Powell filling the right lane. With virtually no resistance until it was too late — something so uncharacteristic of a Milwaukee Bucks team that takes a tremendous amount of pride in its defence — Powell went all the way to the cup and finished with a finger-roll, plus the foul.

He kept his hand raised, lapping up all the praise he could from the rabid Toronto fanbase. It’s not the first time Powell has put his hand up to be counted in the post-season, and it likely won’t be the last. Especially against these Bucks, a team that traded his draft rights for Greivis Vasquez and a 2017 first-round pick back in 2015.

In 2017, the Raptors looked lost after a blowout loss in Milwaukee that had them trailing a first round best-of-seven series as the three-seed 1-2. Powell played just six minutes in Game 1 of that series and didn’t feature at all in Game 2. The manner of the Game 3 defeat meant there was plenty of garbage time to go around, and Powell showed signs of life in a productive 15 minutes. Looking to change the dynamic of the series, then head coach Dwane Casey inserted Powell into the starting lineup in a bid to play faster. Known for his attacking prowess, it was actually Powell’s outside shooting that stole the show. He made all nine of his three-point attempts over the final three games in 99 minutes of action, and the Raptors won all three to take the series.

The introduction to Powell’s 2019 Bucks series hasn’t been quite the same, as this iteration of the Raptors sacrificed much of its depth during trade season and are now down both OG Anunoby and Patrick McCaw. Nick Nurse needed vintage Powell in Game 1, but the guard faded quickly after a couple of early triples. Perhaps he needed a good old fashioned blowout in Milwaukee to muster up all those good feelings again. Once again he was productive through inconsequential minutes, with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in 25 minutes, but it’s the manner in which he went about his business that led his coach to believe he’d be needed once again.

“I think he fits in this series a little more with his speed and strength and athleticism, his ability to take it off the bounce,” Nurse said after Game 2. “We're going to need that. It was good to get him going, and I would imagine going forward he'll be a critical part of the series for our rotation.”

Call him Nursetradamus, then, because Powell has delivered in spades since. There was the gutsy 19-point performance in the Raptors’ double-overtime victory in Game 3, and now another 18 points in a Game 4 blowout win. The efficiency looks a bit worse after missing his final four shots with the game in hand, but let’s go back to that second quarter where he was absolutely instrumental as part of a unit including Fred VanVleet, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard and Serge Ibaka that flipped the game on its head.

Trailing 27-24 and the Bucks looking to lay down the gauntlet by bringing Giannis Antetokounmpo back into the game, Toronto went on a 17-4 run to completely flip the script. First, Powell attacked Khris Middleton from the right corner, doing just enough to draw the attention of Antetokounmpo before kicking out to an open Pascal Siakam. With Bledsoe forced to rotate over, Siakam swung the ball over to VanVleet, who Bledsoe was unable to get back to because Powell stayed engaged and set a screen to ensure there was no hope for the Bucks point guard. With under two minutes remaining in the first quarter, he drew a foul on Middleton that sent him to the line. With a minute remaining, he hit a triple to tie the game.

The Bucks shot 54 percent in the first quarter, including 4-of-10 from three, but the Raptors won the quarter. Antetokounmpo came out like a man on a mission, their shooters were hitting their shots, Leonard and Pascal Siakam were both well short of their best, and Toronto had survived. Then, they dominated.

Even when the Bucks tried to will their way back, there was a Powell three that pushed a six-point lead late in the first half back up to six, and then a seven-point lead in the third quarter back up to 10. In the Raptors’ five most recent post-season wins against the Bucks, Powell is averaging 16.4 points on a bewildering 16-of-27 from beyond the three-point line compared to 11-of-28 shooting inside of it. Toronto won’t be asking questions, though, they just need the production. A man for these moments, the soon-to-be 26-year-old is thriving when the Raptors need him most.

“I think the first two games they really brought the intensity to us. They really came out and were more physical, were more active,” Powell said after the game. “We wanted to change that narrative coming home. We wanted to protect home court. We wanted to come out with a lot of juice, be the aggressors, be more physical and take the game to them. I think we really did that in Game 3 and Game 4. Being able to be the aggressors on defence, being tied into the fundamentals of our defence. Everybody has been rotating. Our communication has gotten a lot better here at home, and we've just got to do that on the road.”

Against Milwaukee, though, that’s where Powell feels right at home.

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