Toronto Raptors: 3 takeaways from historic Game 6 win vs Bucks

3. The bench mob at full effect

The Raptors’ bench outplayed the Bucks’ bench for the third straight game. The bench mob has been something of an afterthought during this year’s postseason run because of their collective poor play up until three games ago. The welcomed change was impacted by the aggressiveness shown by Norman Powell and the red hot shooting from FVV.

VanVleet was averaging 3.3 points per game in the first three games of the series. In the last three games, he averaged 16.0 points a night on an insanely efficient 68.0 percent shooting from the field with 5.7 makes on 82.4 percent from deep. Prior to Game 4, he only scored in double-figures once in this postseason run.  He has hit double-figures in three straight games and was a game-high +12 in Game 6.

Powell and Serge Ibaka combined for 18 points and seven rebounds on 7-for-12 shooting from the field. Their impact showed in the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters’ 26-3 run. They ran up the floor with conviction, boxed-out effectively for their teammates to collect the missed shots and Powell contributed an open corner 3-pointer to help extend their run.

Leonard praised his teammates off the bench for their great play, citing how championship teams get production from all sources. Needless to say, he was delighted, and so was everyone else. For all the struggles the bench has shown in this postseason run, reemerging like they did in the past three games shows the depth of this squad and the potential ceiling it could reach.