Leonard's wild buzzer-beater tows Raptors to East finals

LOS ANGELES – Kawhi Leonard bounced in the game-winning shot at the buzzer as the Toronto Raptors advanced to the Eastern Conference finals with a 92-90 win over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers in a heart-stopping Game Seven on Sunday (Monday Manila time).

Game Seven was a microcosm of the wildly unpredictable series with each team taking turns making runs or being inept until the biggest twist of all from Leonard finished it off in dramatic style.

"I got a fortuitous bounce," said Leonard. "I just shot it as hard as I could. I got some loft on it and it made the ball bounce soft and it ended up going in."

KAWHI FOR THE WIN

NASDPIFHBKADNS;GBF pic.twitter.com/Qn0z2GOOoj

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 13, 2019

The Raptors advance to the NBA Final Four where they will play the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in game one of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday.

With the score tied 90-90 and the game appearing to be headed to overtime, Leonard took matters into his own hands by getting open for a long shot from the right side. His arching moon ball at the buzzer bounced twice on each side of the rim before dropping in to clinch the series for the Raptors.

Leonard finished with a game-high 41 points while Pascal Siakam tallied 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors, whose players had a combined 21 games of experience in game sevens compared to just nine combined games by the Sixers players.

Toronto has leaned heavily on Leonard all season long and Sunday he delivered with the help of his supporting staff. Serge Ibaka had 17 points, Kyle Lowry chipped in 10 and Marc Gasol grabbed 11 rebounds.

Joel Embiid led the Sixers attack with 21 points and 11 rebounds and Tobias Harris had 15 points and 10 rebounds.