Toronto Raptors center Serge Ibaka battles for the ball against Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo during the second half of Game 4 of the NBA basketball playoffs Eastern Conference finals, Tuesday, May 21, 2019, in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
TORONTO — With a weary Kawhi Leonard fighting through fatigue, the Toronto Raptors found enough energy to pull away from the Milwaukee Bucks.
Kyle Lowry led the way.
Lowry scored 25 points, Leonard had 19 and the Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks 120-102 on Tuesday night to even the Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece.
Leonard played 52 minutes in a double-overtime win in Game 3 on Sunday despite dealing with leg soreness. He limped away from the basket following a third-quarter dunk in Game 4, but still toughed it out for 34 minutes.
Raptors coach Nick Nurse said he’s not worried about Leonard’s health.
“He’s certainly tired, like a lot of guys in this series are,” Nurse said. “He looks OK to me. There was one time I was trying to give him an extended rest and he didn’t really want it so he must be OK.”
Serge Ibaka had 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors, who improved to 7-2 at home this postseason. Reserve Norm Powell scored 18 points, and Marc Gasol had 17 points and a team-high seven assists.
The home team has won all four games in the series so far. Game 5 is Thursday night in Milwaukee.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the top-seeded Bucks. Khris Middleton scored 30 points, but no one else had more than 11.
Milwaukee lost its second straight following a six-game winning streak. It dropped consecutive games just once during the regular season, at Utah on March 2 and at Phoenix on March 4.
Antetokounmpo shot 5 for 8 in the opening frame, matching the number of made baskets he had during Game 3. However, the Bucks star went 4 for 9 the rest of the way.
Leonard and Pascal Siakam, who both played more than 50 minutes Sunday, looked sluggish in the opening half. Leonard missed the only shot he took in the second, while Siakam played fewer than three minutes in the second after picking up his third foul. Siakam had two points at halftime.
Leonard came up limping after dunking against Antetokounmpo early in the third, but remained in the game. Moments later, Siakam completed a three-point play that put Toronto up 73-60 with 8:43 left.
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