Kawhi Leonard is the story. In Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, he made a high-arcing, walk-off baseline jumper over the outstretched arms of Joel Embiid to send the Toronto Raptors to the conference finals. The ball bounced on the rim four times before dropping in, making it, immediately, the most significant made basket in franchise history.
You cannot fault the Sixers for that. They fought until the end, forced a difficult shot and a superstar made it. What you can fault them for, however, is their late-game execution. Three times in a row, with the series hanging in the balance, they not only failed to score, but they also used a full 24 seconds and failed to generate anything resembling a decent look.
First, the Raptors contained a dribble-handoff between Embiid and J.J. Redick, and Leonard deflected a pass from Embiid to Jimmy Butler in the corner. When Pascal Siakam closed out on Butler, the swingman did not appear to realize that the shot clock was expiring:
Second, the Sixers got nothing out of a pair of Butler-Embiid pick-and-rolls, with Butler eventually trying to launch a wild, contested stepback 3 over Marc Gasol, who blocked it.
Third, thanks to some smart switching, frenzied individual defense from Siakam and a timely trap, Toronto totally jammed up Philadelphia's offense and forced a live-ball turnover:
These possessions were both a reflection of the Sixers' inability to consistently find holes in Toronto's defense over the course of the series and the way the matchup evolved. After an awful opener, Philadelphia stole Game 2 by switching up its defensive assignments and empowering Butler to be its primary playmaker. The Sixers looked more cohesive than they had at any point in the season when they took a 2-1 lead at home with Embiid dominating, Butler running point and Ben Simmons filling in gaps. Philadelphia's halfcourt offense never ran as smoothly after that, though: It lost an ugly Game 4, was blown out in Game 5 and cruised to a Game 6 victory largely because it got stops, pushed the ball in transition and owned the offensive glass. On Sunday, the Sixers had trouble dealing with the Raptors' super-sized lineup -- Kyle Lowry, Leonard, Siakam, Serge Ibaka and Gasol -- because they could no longer use their size to force mismatches.
Overall, Philadelphia scored 103.6 points per 100 possessions in the series. It was obviously not going to duplicate the 115.7-points-per-100-possessions mark it had in the first round against the Brooklyn Nets against a team that boasts two former Defensive Players of the Year and three more elite defenders in the starting lineup, but, after acquiring Butler and Tobias Harris in midseason trades, that number represents a disappointment. The degree to which it is a disappointment depends on how much you are willing to chalk that up to Embiid's up-and-down health, the shaky bench and the opponent.
The Sixers came as close as you possibly can to get to the conference finals, so their season should not be defined by Leonard's jumper or the terrible offensive possessions that preceded it. Game 7s are often ugly, and both teams -- as talented as they are, as many weapons as they have -- had to work extremely hard to create decent looks. It is worth remembering how their offense collapsed when they were most desperate, though, especially considering what's up next.
Harris and Butler will be free agents in July, and all of Philadelphia's big-name players will have to continue sacrificing touches and scoring attempts if the two of them re-sign. The unconventional nature of this arrangement has been discussed to death, and there have been rumors about coach Brett Brown's job security for some time. In this context, the Sixers need to figure out how much they weigh the promise of that exhilarating Game 3 against the rest of the series, including its frustrating, heartbreaking end.
