How Norman Powell has neutralized the Bucks and saved Toronto's season
TORONTO - Though he put together a season-saving performance against the Indiana Pacers around this time last year, Norman Powell entered the Raptors' Game 4 starting lineup against the Milwaukee Bucks as a relative unknown outside of Toronto.
The 23-year-old averaged fewer than 17 minutes per game through his first two seasons and just over 11 minutes in his first 20 playoff appearances, but the two-way spark he's provided a Raptors team in desperate need of one after Game 3 was always a tantalizing subplot when Toronto traded Terrence Ross (and a first-round pick) for Serge Ibaka.
More Norm
Since logging just 21 total minutes as the Raptors dug themselves a 2-1 series hole in embarrassing fashion last week, Powell has logged 34 minutes in each of the last two games. He poured in a team-high 25 points in a resounding Game 5 win, adding four rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a block, while stabilizing a starting lineup that the Raptors hadn't been able to figure out over the last two seasons.
| Raps vs. Bucks | Net Rating (Rank among NBA's 18 most used playoff lineups) |
|---|---|
| Lowry-DeRozan-Powell-Carroll-Ibaka | +19.3 (3rd) |
| Lowry-DeRozan-Carroll-Ibaka-Valanciunas | -20.6 (15th) |
There are myriad reasons why Powell replacing Jonas Valanciunas in the starting five has been such a two-way boon, but a couple of factors, in particular, have stood out.
Release valve on offense
Nowhere has Powell's impact been more evident than on the offensive end, where he's alleviated the pressure that Milwaukee's lanky traps had placed on Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.
Powell's shooting (7-of-7 from 3-point range in Games 4 and 5) has stretched the Bucks' defense, unclogged the lane, and given Lowry and DeRozan more room to operate, while his ability to handle the ball and make a play off the bounce has given Toronto's All-Star guards a reliable outlet when drawing extra defenders.
"We have to account for him," Bucks head coach Jason Kidd said before Game 5. "He's not just a guy who can play defense. He can also put the ball in the basket. We have to make sure we're aware where he's at on the floor."
With Cory Joseph struggling mightily in the series' first four games, and sophomore Delon Wright still far too passive to keep a defense honest, no Raptors ball-handler outside of the team's All-Star backcourt can come close to attracting the type of attention Powell demands of the Bucks' defense.
"It takes the pressure off us," DeRozan said after Toronto's 118-93 victory Monday. "To be able to have us spot up, be cutters, do other things, and try to space out the floor, Norm did a great job. When you bring the ball up, you're aggressive getting to the basket, and making the right play, it takes the pressure off of us offensively to get a little bit more movement."
It's no wonder, then, that after combining to average 32.3 points and 5.7 assists in three mostly Powell-less games to start the series, DeRozan and Lowry have combined to average 42.5 points and 12.5 assists in Games 4 and 5.
| Raps vs. Bucks | Offensive rating | DeRozan's eFG% | Lowry's AST-TO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powell on court | 110.0 | 51.7 | 12.0 |
| Powell on bench | 94.0 | 37.7 | 1.67 |
Transition defense
Replacing a traditional big man with an athletic wing makes for more switch-ability on the defensive end, but Casey pointed to another crucial component of swapping the plodding Valanciunas for the fleet-footed Powell against the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Bucks.
"The speed of our transition defense is helped immensely," Casey noted after a Game 5 in which the free-running Bucks managed just 11 fast-break points. "That's where it starts. We're getting back. We had more bodies back, giving ourselves a better chance of having guys in front of (Antetokounmpo) in transition. Norm's speed helps that."
What could've been for Milwaukee
The irony of Powell's star turn coming against the Bucks can't be overstated, as it was Milwaukee who sent Norm's draft rights - and the Clippers' 2017 first-rounder, which the Raptors used in the Ibaka deal - to Toronto in a 2015 draft-night trade (though the Powell selection was likely made by the Raptors). In exchange, the Bucks received Greivis Vasquez, who went on to play only 23 games for Milwaukee.
"I remember his (draft) workout," Casey reminisced about the process behind acquiring Powell. "I think it was on a Saturday morning. He came in and was just a physical, tough kid. We needed toughness, and he's the kind of player who can play in a playoff-type game - his physical toughness, his mental toughness ... I'm glad we got him."
Landing a player like Powell as part of a seemingly subtle, second-round deal is how well-run organizations crack their window of contention open just a little wider, and how good teams find a way to elevate their long-term ceiling while continuing to win in the short term.
For now, the Raptors will simply concern themselves with closing out the Bucks in Milwaukee on Thursday - a task that suddenly seems a lot less daunting with Powell playing a starting and starring role.
The Bucks, on the other hand, will need to find a counter for Powell if they're to extend a series that's no longer about the bevy of young talent at their disposal, but rather the young talent they gave away.