Conference semis vs. Philadelphia, Game 7

The Sixers and Raptors waged a classic contest in Game 7 of the East semis.

NBA.com/Stats video box score: Raptors 92, Sixers 90

There's nothing better than a Game 7 that goes down to the wire. And this one went all the way down.

Key stat: The Sixers totaled just six second-chance points, after averaging 12.5 through the first six games.

Key sequence: Fourth quarter, 3:15 - 1:10. With the score tied after a 5-0 run from Philly, the Raptors came up with three of the best defensive possessions (for any team) in this postseason.

The first was five players on a string and working hard... Gasol making the initial entry pass tough and then hedging an Embiid-J.J. Redick dribble handoff, Ibaka rotating out to Embiid, Gasol meeting Embiid's drive with help, Leonard rotating down to Ibaka's man, and Siakam rotating over to Leonard's man in the weakside corner. That was Butler, who tried to get the ball back to Embiid, but there was no time left on the shot clock.

With the score still tied on the Sixers' next possession, they set three different ball screens for Butler, but he still couldn't shake loose, and Gasol forced him into an impossible, step-back 3-point attempt at the shot-clock buzzer.

After Leonard put the Raptors ahead by two with another jumper over Embiid, the Raptors locked the Sixers down one last time. Siakam denied an entry to Harris in the post, Lowry denied a handoff to Redick, and then Siakam denied another handoff to Harris. Embiid finally got the ball to Harris, but the forward was then 30 feet from the basket with less than five seconds left on the shot clock. Siakam and Gasol trapped him and when he tried to get the ball back to Embiid, Lowry came off his man to steal the ball and lead a break that put the Raptors up four.

Kawhi Leoanrd saved the day for Toronto in Game 7 vs. Philly.

Three offensive possessions for a Philadelphia lineup that scored 116.2 points per 100 possessions this season (regular season and playoffs combined), and the ball never even got to the rim.

"There are some stretches where it's darned hard to complete a pass against us," Nurse said. "That wears into a team after a while when you're up into them and you're denying and everybody is just that connected and playing that hard."

Of course, the Sixers managed to tie the game with 4.2 seconds left. And that, of course, led to one last Kawhi Leonard shot over Joel Embiid ...

It was the first Game 7, buzzer-beating game-winner in NBA history. And it took four bounces for it to go in.

Inside The NBA's experts shared their thoughts on Kawhi's series-clinching shot.

"You're within that moment," Leonard would say about pressure situations, "You're embracing it and enjoying what's going to happen next."

It's still not clear that the Raptors were the better team in that series. But all that matters is they were the team that won four of seven games.