There is no question that Kawhi Leonard of the Toronto Raptors is playing like one of the best basketball talents on the planet during the 2019 playoffs. Unfortunately for “The Claw,” he is not getting much scoring support from his teammates.
Through the first three games of their Eastern Conference semifinal against the Philadelphia 76ers, Leonard is averaging over 36 points on nearly 61 percent shooting from the field, completely dominating the Sixers with an assortment of pull-up jumpers and isolation dribble drives.
Pascal Siakam–the likely recipient of the NBA's Most Improved Player award–has been equally tremendous, averaging over 23 points per contest. But in terms of helping to carry the scoring load, the buck stops there for the Raptors.
Kyle Lowry was an All-Star and is the third option, but he has failed to score in double figures in two of the last three games, and is barely shooting above 35 percent (including an abhorrent 14 percent from beyond the arc) through the first three games of the series.
Marc Gasol has yet to gel in the Raptors offense, and Serge Ibaka has practically been reduced to the role of spectator after averaging 15.0 points and 8.1 rebounds during the regular season.
Additionally, Philly's bench unit has outscored Toronto's second team in all three games.
Former NBA superstar Tracy McGrady empathized with Leonard on “The Jump” earlier today.
McGrady would certainly know plenty about having a weak supporting cast. During the 2000-01 season with the Orlando Magic, McGrady averaged 33.8 points, 8.3 assists, 6.5 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks in a series the Magic lost in four games.
One year later, it was the same story for T-Mac and the Magic. McGrady averaged over 30 points, six boards and five assists, but the Magic lost in four. In fact, McGrady averaged more than 30 points in each of the three seasons that he took Orlando to the playoffs, but would win just win playoff series in those three years.
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