Raptors rally past Bucks for first Finals appearance

Trailing by 15 points with 2:18 remaining in the third quarter, the Raptorsscored the final 10 points of the frame. Then, with Kawhi Leonard on the benchfor the first 3:30 of the fourth quarter, they took a two-point lead.

Leonard returned, and the game was in good hands. He finished with 27 points-- seven in the fourth quarter -- a career-best 17 rebounds and seven assists.

"Just one possession at a time," Leonard said, describing the comeback. "Wekept fighting the whole game."

The Raptors, who lost the first two games of the Eastern Conference finalsbefore winning four straight, will open the NBA Finals at home on Thursdaynight against the Golden State Warriors.

"It's still surreal to me right now," Leonard said. "But this is what we'vebeen striving for all season. It's not over yet."

Pascal Siakam added 18 points, Kyle Lowry had 17 and Fred VanVleet scored 14for the Raptors.

"Kawhi stays level-headed all the time," Lowry said. "He brought that pedigreewith him."

"He inspired us tonight with monster rebounds," Raptors coach Nick Nurseadded. "It wasn't going well for us, it was kind of a frustrating night. ...But we kept playing."

Lowry has been through many playoff failures in seven years with the Raptors.

"It means a lot to me," Lowry said. "We beat a really good team in Milwaukee.But I'm not satisfied yet. Our goal is to win the NBA championship."

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucks, who had theNBA's best record (60-22) during the regular season. Brook Lopez added 18points with nine rebounds and three blocks, Khris Middleton had 14 points,Ersan Ilyasova 13, and Malcolm Brogdon and George Hill 10 each.

"This hurts," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "But what they did in theplayoffs tonight against a really good Toronto Raptors team, and to get to theEastern Conference finals, the regular season, a special season for us. Wefeel like we're just getting started."

"We have to get better as a team and get better as individuals," Antetokounmposaid. "This is the beginning of a long journey for us."

"We had a great season, we just fell short of our goals," Middleton said.

Antetokounmpo was asked about Leonard's playoff experience.

"You can tell from the way he plays," Antetokounmpo said of the 2014 FinalsMVP. "He has so much patience, he knows what we wants to do, he has faith inhimself and he has been in the Finals before."

Serge Ibaka's dunk tied the game at 78 with 10:31 to play in the game, andSiakam's jumper and VanVleet's 3-pointer capped a 10-0 run to give Toronto afive-point lead.

A key play was Lowry's steal and his handoff to Leonard, who dunked toincrease the lead to eight with 6:46 remaining.

The Bucks came back with a 7-0 run to pull within one point on Antetokounmpo'slayup with 5:19 to play.

Marc Gasol's 3-pointer had Toronto ahead by four, but Lopez reduced it to twowith a layup at 3:29. The Raptors went up by five on Siakam's tip-in with 2:06to play.

Lopez made two free throws with 29.6 seconds to play, cutting the lead tothree, but Milwaukee never had the ball within one possession in the closingminutes. Siakam and Leonard finished the game off with free throws.

The Bucks were 6-for-9 from 3-point range to earn a 31-18 lead after onequarter.

Ilyasova's 3-pointer with 7:48 to play in the first half put the Bucks ahead38-23.

VanVleet's 3-pointer with 2:28 to play in the half cut the lead to seven.

Ibaka's dunk with 1:32 left had the Raptors within five points, and VanVleet'sjumper reduced the lead to three with 1:07 left.

The Bucks scored the final four points of the half to lead 50-43.

Middleton's second 3-pointer in three minutes had the lead at 14 with 3:46left in the third. The Bucks worked the lead to 15 before the Raptors went ona 10-0 run, with Leonard scoring eight. The Bucks led 76-71 after threequarters.